Escape to Ilha Grande, a car-free haven off the coast of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Lush rainforest carpets rolling hills, meeting crystalline waters that lap at over 100 pristine beaches. Hike through the jungle to discover hidden coves, sail around untouched islands teeming with marine life, or simply bask on soft, white sand. Vila do Abraão, the island's heart, offers charming cafes and lively bars where you can trade city sirens for the melodic calls of exotic birds and unwind in this enchanting slice of Brazilian paradise.
Sound appealing? Let's go!
FIRST AND FOREMOST, HOW MANY DAYS TO VISIT ILHA GRANDE?:
I was surprised to read on other sites that people around the web really don't recommend spending much time in Ilha Grande! For me, Ilha Grande is much more than a day trip or even a two day destination. It has 100 beaches, so while there isn't a lot to do per say....if you're a beach / water person, simply spend your days checking out the different beaches -easy.
We chose to spend 4 days, 5 nights here and we were totally happy with our decision to devote this much time.
WHERE TO STAY IN ILHA GRANDE?
We travelled to Brazil over our Christmas holiday break from December 24 to January 9. Because of Ilha Grande's close proximity to Rio de Janeiro, Ilha Grande is a hot spot during this time. Everyone wants to come here to enjoy the beautiful beaches and this timing is the busiest the island is going to get. It remains popular from the holidays to March.
Because of this (and our semi last minute trip) I would recommend booking your hotel/AirBnb EARLY. We had very limited options while planning which was less than ideal.
The majority of ferries will arrive into Abraão. This is the main town on the island and the easiest place to stay. Almost all of the groceries, restaurants and tours are location/based from here.
You can alternatively stay in Praia de Araçatiba which is on the opposite side of the island. We didn't visit but my impression is that everything is just a bit less accessible there. We love the freedom of walking to wherever we liked for food and the variety of options Abraão gave us.
WHERE TO STAY IN ABRAÃO TOWN?
The majority of restaurants are located here with in this highlighted area. You'll also be close to the ferry and hiking paths. The main roads seem to be the waterfront, Rue Santana for tours & shopping and Rue de Getulio Vargas.
WHAT TO KNOW BEFORE VISITING ILHA GRANDE?
For being a (semi) remote island Ilha Grande really has everything you're going to need while here! Food and water can be easily purchased at markets like Hakuna Matata, sunscreen, bug spray and shampoo at the drug store on Rue Santana and restaurants and tours are plentiful enough you can plan day of.
A couple of things to be aware of though:
There are no ATMs on Ilha Grande. We were originally quite concerned about having enough cash but every single purchase we made, including açaí ON THE BEACH could be done with card. I would still bring some just in case but 99% of your purchases can be on credit.
Check for wifi at your accommodations - I was surprised by the number of AirBnbs that didn't seem to have wifi included so if it's something you'll want, double check!
HOW TO GET TO ILHA GRANDE?
Ilha Grande is a quick 20 minute ferry ride from Conceicao de Jacareí. There are several ferry companies that operate out of here but all seem to offer the same service. Simply go up to the ticket booth at the counter located here and purchase tickets for the next ferry.
Getting to Conceicao de Jacareí was more of a task though and will vary depending on where you are coming from.
We landed into GIG airport in Rio and went directly to Ilha Grande. We also landed on Christmas morning. From GIG, Conceicao de Jacareí is just slightly over a 2 hour drive. I've read on other sites you can call an Uber to take you to the ferry but was slightly worried about driver's refusing such a long distance (or even working on Christmas day). Our solution? Easy Transfer Brazil. With pick ups in the South Zone, Centro, Rodoviaria and all airports, Easy Transfer Brazil provides shuttle service to Conceicao de Jacareí and your ferry ticket for just 150 reals ($30USD). Check with them on pickup times, but at time of writing they offered 3 shuttles every day.
We were able to find our driver easily at the airport and left right on time. The shuttle vans were nice, air conditioned and everything was super smooth. We used them to leave Ilha Grande as well but were dropped directly in front of our Copacabana AirBnb, which was great!
Again this may be a holiday timing thing but we were advised to make our Easy Transfer Brazil reservation early - apparently they book up quickly, so keep that in mind.
Ok you've made it to Ilha Grande, now what should you do?
BEST BEACHES/PRAIAS IN ILHA GRANDE, BRAZIL
Ilha Grande is full of praias aka beaches, so which are the best? Unfortunately, the bulk of them can only be reached by boat. If you're interested in reaching some of these harder to get to beaches, jump here to learn about tours on Ilha Grande.
Here I'll cover the beaches within walking distance of Abraão. There are several nice ones you can visit without a lot of fuss.
Located in Abraão is Praia do Abraão. This is the beach you will see directly upon arriving on the ferry. It stretches almost the entire length of the Abraão town. It's not the nicest beach in Ilha Grande but its super convenient and if you want to just hang for an hour or so, its a nice stop. In my opinion, the best section of beach is in front of Steak 'n Beach. The water is nice and Steak 'n Beach is also a great spot to hang if you want to sip a caipirinha while you bask in the sun. They play music and the waiters will bring drinks directly to your towel. There are a lot of boats parked in this section of the beach, but you can still take a dip if you like.
In need of a snack? Look no further than the açaí bowls at Café do Mar Bar e Restaurante. It was one of our favorite açaí bowls of the trip and you don't even need to leave the beach to eat it.
If you're up for a little stroll, located just 5 minutes from the main stretch of Praia do Abraão is Praia da Julia. Walk all the way to the east end of Praia do Abraão and look for the little trail headed up a slight hill. There are markers and you'd have a hard time missing the path. It's a quick and easy walk to the slightly sheltered and calm waters of Praia Julia. While small, the beach here seems to be a popular one with locals. It gets pretty packed in the shaded sections but has a great vibe with lots of people drinking beers from the cute Júlia Surtô restaurant. The salmon here for lunch was amazing and highly recommended. They also have free wifi if you need service while you relax. I spent almost a full day at Praia Julia on our last day and loved it. The sand is nice, vibes are great and water perfect for swimming around.
If you're up for more of an adventure, check out Praia de Abraaozinho. We went here accidentally on our first day (read my how to on Lopes Mendes to see why) but found this to be a lovely beach well worth the walk. To get here continue THROUGH Praia da Julia, walking east along the coast line. It's a fairly easy to follow path, with only one turn off which is clearly marked. The walk should take you around 40 minutes. Descend the final steps down to Praia de Abraaozinho where you'll find a long skinny beach littered with 3-4 restaurants/bars. The day we visited was fairly windy and this beach seems much more exposed to the elements than the sheltered Praia da Julia. Something to factor in when making your beach choice for the day! We saw signs for water taxis while here so likely possible to take a boat ride back should you want to avoid the walk.
Ilha Grande's most famous beach and #5 most beautiful in all of Brazil: Lopes Mendes. It's the perfect way to spend a day on Ilha Grande. Sure you could take the boat but you didn't come all the way to Brazil to not explore a little. We likely were ill prepared on our first attempt to make the 3 hour hike but learn from our mistakes and read on for the complete guide to hiking to Lopes Mendes.
Some background first. Lopes Mendes is a 3km stretch of beach located on Ilha Grande's south side. While the north side is protected by the bay into mainland Brazil, the south side is totally exposed to open ocean. You'll find big waves here and lifeguards whistling almost constantly at swimmers going out too far. It's a popular beach for surfers because of this. It's not the best place to visit if you're hoping to spend a lot of time in the water but a beautiful and scenic location with pristine sand if you're looking for some sun. There was one food stand set up when we visited, where it was possible to buy water, beer and chips. I've read sometimes he's there, sometimes he's not, so I wouldn't depend on it. It is possible to take a boat both to and from Lopes Mendes, but you miss a lot of the adventure by doing so!
HOW TO HIKE TO LOPES MENDES, ILHA GRANDE
Our first day attempting to go to Lopes Mendes we sort of blindly took off. We figured there would be signs - how hard could it be? There was also a family in front of us almost the whole way and we joked about how helpful it was we could just follow them along. The laughs were over when we wound up at Praia de Abraaozinho, completely in the wrong direction.
So to do it correctly, follow the same starting path as you did to go to Praia da Julia. Walk all the way to the east end of Praia do Abraão and look for the little trail headed up a slight hill. The key is BEFORE you get to Praia da Julia you need to turn right. If you hit the beach at Julia you've gone too far. It's actually fairly well marked as you can see here, I dunno what we were looking at when we started on day 1 but you should be able to find it easily.
The first section of this hike to Lopes Mendes takes you to Enseada das Palmas. Of this hour long walk, the first 30 minutes will be almost all up hill. This is the hardest section of the walk so better to get it done while you're feeling fresh! Take lots of water and enjoy the beautiful scenery around you as you try to catch your breath.
Once there, Enseada das Palmas is a great spot to take a break. Congrats the hardest part of your walk is over! There are a handful of restaurants here should you need a snack or more water. It also looks like a nice spot to take a dip. With another almost two hours still to go though we didn't linger long.
To get to the next section, walk the length of Enseada das Palmas before looking for a sign that directs you right to Lopes Mendes. If I remember correctly there is a fairly steep rock with a rope guide you need to get up before heading on.
You'll climb a bit at the start but its only a 30 minute walk to your next beach, Praia de Mangues. While this beach is quite nice, I preferred the 5 minute further Praia do Pouso. To get there just continue walking along the beach straight, you'll hit Praia do Pouso shortly after.
Praia do Pouso is the biggest hub before you get to Lopes Mendes and the spot you will eventually walk back to to take the water taxi home to Abraão. There is a super cute over the water restaurant/bar here called Marola Restaurante. Even if you're not eating its worth a walk out on their cute dock.
We loaded up on water and had Argentinian empanadas before continuing on turning right at the end of the beach. If you decided to take the water taxi back be sure to pre buy your taxi ticket in advance. The people selling tickets were sitting directly in front of the path to Lopes Mendes. Boats leave at 3:00, 4:00 & 5:00 and cost 50 reals per person.
With just one section to go you are getting super close to finishing your hike. Lopes Mendes is just a quick 20 minutes further.
With a total walking time of 2.5 hours (this is not included a few breaks here or there) we finally made it! We didn't encounter a lot of other walkers and were surprised by how many people we found once we arrived. Spaces in the shade were limited so consider leaving as early as possible to get here around the same time as the water taxis. Relax the day away before heading back to Praia do Pouso for your ride home.
We got lucky and saw monkeys in the trees on our way out so keep your eyes peeled!
The boat ride back takes under 30 minutes.
TAKING A TOUR IN ILHA GRANDE, BRAZIL
Walking around Ilha Grande on Rue Santana there seemed to be tons of options to take for tours around the island. What we didn't realize though is that almost all of them were operated by the same company. Seriously the company Nativos has like 8 offices in the tiny town! What they don't seem to have though is a website. You can check out their instagram here but there isn't a whole lot of information. We had no issues booking our tour the night before though so I would hold off and just talk to them in person.
Nativos (and the other companies around the island) offer a variety of 6-8 tours. Each one makes a different set of stops so you can pick the one that is best for you. It was a bit hard to decide not knowing a ton about the different beaches prior but we thought the Acaia cave sounded cool so we opted for that one that.
We paid around 200 reals each - which did not include lunch. The operator will tell you what time to meet (seemed like most were around 8am) and last around 8 hours.
We unfortunately didn't have the best weather on our tour day - but not Nativos fault and I would highly recommend them as guides. They seemed super organized given the amount of people they tour guide each day.
Some highlights of our tour in Ilha Grande.
STOP ONE: LAGOA AZUL
This area was FULL of boats. It's probably your best spot to snorkel should you want to. The snorkeling here (and in Ilha Grande in general) is nothing grand. We rented snorkels through Nativos prior, I probably wouldn't bother if I were to do it again.
STOP TWO: LAGOA VERDE
Nice, very shallow here with big schools of fish. Our weather not the best as you can see
STOP THREE: ACAIA CAVE
I really don't get claustrophobic but Acaia has to be the tiniest cave I've ever been in! You'll need cash in order to pay a small entry fee to the cave. It's also highly recommended that you wear shorts inside. You'll be sliding on your butt almost the entire time and with a women's swimsuit on it would not be pleasant.
To enter Acaia cave climb one at a time down a small ladder. It's tight y'all!
They cap the number of people allowed inside due to space. You'll slide and angle your way through until you get to the main opening. Here you can barely sit upright at its tallest parts. Further down you can see the glowing edges of the blue water and feel the wind as the waves crash in. It's beautiful to see but there isn't much to explore, so take your pictures and head back up when you're ready. Our total time inside Acaia cave was probably under 15 minutes.
STOP FOUR: LUNCH
As I mentioned lunch was not included in our initial fee. The boat captain had menus for a nearby restaurant that he passed around before phoning in our order. I honestly don't know where we were, potentially Maguariquessaba? but the food was good and it was a pleasant stop.
STOP FIVE: PRAIA DE ARACA
This was different than our itinerary had originally stated but it was raining by this time and Araca seemed to be a nice beach anyway. We took a little path on the right side of the beach that had some pretty views if you have time to spare!
Thank you for reading along as we discovered the best beaches and activities for what to do in Ilha Grande, Brazil!