while the region is a small paradise today, its history is fraught with the activities of european explorers, pirates, and tribal wars. arraial do cabo used to be a small archipelago of beautiful islands that were combined in a small peninsula by geological and marine forces, creating pontal do atalaia, morros do mirante, and morro do forno.

following a shipwreck in the northeast of brazil that caused the sailors to continue south along the coast, in 1503 the portuguese arrived to this peninsula.

at the time of the colonization, this region of rio de janeiro state was inhabited by indigenous tupinambás, part of the tupi-guarani nation, with the part corresponding to arraial do cabo home to the tamoios tribe.