After about 1h20 by car from Ilhéus, in south of Bahia a riverside ferry awaits visitors for a quick crossing between the mainland and the island of Comandatuba.
To the sound of typical Bahian music, the boat pulls over on the other side after a few minutes on the water and tourists are invited by women with refreshing towels and coconut water and, right away, you can see one of the greatest attributes of the place: the countless coconut trees which create a green expanse along the horizon.
The latest official count cites 25,000 trees. Exact number or not, the fact is that they dominate the landscape and make up the perfect environment for the Transamerica Comandatuba where the biggest concern of all is just relaxing on vacation with the family.
Covering 62 thousand m² of Comandatuba’s 8 million m², the large resort is the only building on the entire island and its extensive horizontal buildings do not exceed the height of the coconut grove.
To get to the reception, a small train takes passengers along the roads that cut through the lawn. The path is permeated by the sound of birds and here it is clear, again, that the abundant nature it is one of the greatest qualities of destiny.
If today the resort operates under all inclusive system and has new spaces with an eye on the future, such as a fully renovated swimming pool, its past is also noteworthy: the Transamerica Comandatuba has a history that helped catapult the beach resort model in the country and still carries impressive numbers.
resort construction
The history of Transamerica Comandatuba begins four years before its opening, in March 1989. Signed by the architect Ricardo Julião with landscaping by Edward Stone, the project was ambitious: to build a huge property on an island of virgin forests in the south of Bahia, in Cocoa Coast 🇧🇷
But how did the construction take place in an unexplored location? If for guests the resort is synonymous with zero worries, having everything they need during their vacation at their disposal, from an entrepreneurial point of view, the same space is the stage for major operations.
An infrastructure was then created that required solutions such as potable water supply, electricity and sewage.
To this end, the official figures for the period are monumental. During the four years, around 15,000 people were mobilized and reinforced ferries were built especially for the transport of materials between the mainland and the island – the vessels supported trips throughout the day and up to three trucks on board.
Building a bridge would make the job easier, but, according to the resort, “all the magic of the place would be compromised.”
In all, 43,000 ferry trips were recorded to take materials from one place to another and 27,000 tons of concrete were used to build the project. More impressive numbers: 845 thousand tiles, 8 million bricks, 7 thousand paint cans and 270 thousand floor ceramics were used.
Source: CNN Brasil
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