It is located at the entrance of the Baía de Todos os Santos (Bay of All Saints), is 300 metres (980 ft), and ranges between numerous Portuguese colonial-period military fortifications.

It is one of the few west-facing beaches in Brazil and attracts numerous residents and tourists to watch the sunset.

[2] Porto da Barra was the site of Bahia's first European settlement, Vila Velha, or the Old Village.

[2] The beach was a popular hangout for the Tropicalistas in the 1960s, notably Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil.

The Porto da Barra Beach suffers from marine pollution due to the underdeveloped sewage system of Salvador and inadequate garbage collection.