After a less than sunny time in Paraty, we chased the sun to Ilha Grande, hoping to start working off those Canadian tans. An island off the coast of Rio de Janeiro state, Ilha Grande is home to pristine, untouched beaches and expansive jungles.
Much of the island is undeveloped, due in part to the majority of the island being a protected state park, and the fact that the island was closed off to the public up until the 90s. First, because of it’s beginnings as a leper colony, and then home to a top security prison.
Abraao village is the largest settlement on the island, consisting of a few blocks of sandy pathways and cobblestone roads. You can walk the entire town in a half hour, which works out well, since the island is motor-free!
We hadn’t given ourselves much time on Ilha Grande, mostly because accommodation was over double what we had seen elsewhere in Brazil. So, it was going to be two quick nights to do some exploring before we headed to Rio.
Our first night on the island it quickly became obvious that Ilha Grande is meant for the great outdoors, not the night life. Home to surfers and outdoor enthusiasts (beach bum and the more active kind), the front beach is lined with restaurants that quickly fill up at dusk when the tide goes out, and empty out fairly early as well.
We grabbed dinner at one of the many seafood restaurants in the village and had our first experience with the larger than life dessert carts that are set up on the streets at night.
It’s unfortunate our time on the island was going to be so short, since Ilha Grande has more than enough outdoor offerings to fill a couple of days. SUP, boat tours, kayak trips, hikes.
We finished off our first night by heading to bed early, since we planned on tackling one of Ilha Grande’s many hiking trails the next day.
Ilha Grande is crisscrossed with sixteen well maintained hiking trails, and there’s large maps posted throughout Abraao Village with the different routes and their approximate hiking times. There’s quite a few different lookouts and beaches you can hike to, or taxi boats to or from quite a few of the surrounding beaches.
We were going to be hiking the six kilometres to Lopes Mendes, supposedly the nicest beach on the island, and then catch a boat back to Abraao. We headed out early in the morning in the hopes of reaching the beach before it became unbearably hot.
It was super easy to find the beginning of the path, if you’re good with directions you just head east through the village, or if you’re like me, facing the water you turn right and head down the beach until you reach the Lopes Mendes sign.
From here we began a bit of an uphill trek, but nothing crazy! It’s almost entirely through the jungle, so we were in the shade most of the way.
We reached the first beach, Praia de Palmas, in 45 minutes, and on our way off the trail there was a woman behind a booth selling tickets for the boats back to Abraao. We asked if we had to buy the tickets beforehand or if we could just buy them at the boats, and she told us beforehand.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t true, which we remembered about 5 minutes after we had bought the tickets. We paid 25 riels per person for a speedboat ticket, while the larger ferry back is 15. You can also catch the ferry boat back whenever one is leaving, there’s no need to buy your ticket in advance.
Praia de Palmas was postcard perfect, with white sand beaches and turquoise waters. This is why it came as a huge surprise that besides us, there were only 3 other people on the beach at that time! We easily could of stayed there all day, but figured we should at least finish the hike.
About an hour after leaving Praia de Palmas we reached the next beach enroute, Praia dos Mangues. There’s a floating restaurant on the beach, and a couple vendors selling coconuts and snacks. Also, boats don’t actually run to Lopes Mendes, the drop off is at Praia dos Mangues, so this is also the beach where we got the taxi boat back to Abraao.
From here it was another 15 minutes to Lopes Mendes, and while the hike wasn’t super difficult, we were working up a sweat. When we walked out of the trees onto the beach, it was definitely worth it. White sand extends forever, and since you have to carry your things about a kilometre to get there, the stereotypical Brazilian army of beach chairs and umbrellas are non-existent.
If you’re planning on spending the day, definitely bring some snacks and drinks with you. There are a few vendors on the beach, but everything they’re selling is crazy expensive. We found an empty spot on the beach, threw our things down, and spent the rest of the day lazing on the beach until we caught our boat back!
The morning we were leaving we walked to the old waterworks and natural pools that were also shown on the trusty map. It’s really easy (flip flops approved). There’s a waterfall we wish we had hiked to as well from this route, but we didn’t have enough time for that one. We were told that one is a bit more strenuous than the waterworks though.
Word of warning when planning a trip to Abraao, the village is prone to fairly lengthy power outages. The power went out at 8:00 PM our second night there, and hadn’t come back on by the time we left at 2:00 PM the next day.
While it’s entirely our fault for leaving it to the last minute, without internet it was a bit more difficult to figure out our next route. After speaking to a couple different people around the island we decided to go with Easytransfer.
From Paraty we took the bus to Angra dos Reis from the rodoviario in the centre of town (the schedules are all posted on the wall next to the ticket window). It was about an hour and a half to Angra dos Reis, and when we arrived we got off the bus at the harbour, not the bus station. You’ll know you’re at the right stop when there’s a mass exodus off the bus.
When looking towards the water, head right, and it’s a 5-10 minute walk to Lapa Pier, where the ferry leaves from. The ferry is about an hour and a half and it lands in the middle of Abraao Village.
Bus: Paraty to Angra dos Reis – 18 riels
Ferry: Angra dos Reis to Ilha Grande – 17 riels
We took Easytransfer, a shuttle service that drops you at your door in Rio. For 90 riels they transport you from Ilha Grande to the mainland on their speedboat, and from there you get a shuttle van to Rio.
You can also get a ferry to the mainland, and from there the Costa Verde bus line runs to Rio. We tried to figure out the boat and bus ourselves, but as hard as we looked, we couldn’t find a bus schedule from Conceição de Jacarei (the closest port to Rio) to Rio.
Also, the ferry from Ilha Grande to Conceição de Jacarei was going to cost 45 riels, and the bus was going to be 30-40 riels, from what we could figure out. So, as far as we could tell, once we booked our ferry ticket and our bus ticket, it was going to cost around the same as the Easytransfer ticket.
– There are no ATMs on Ilha Grande, so make sure to bring enough cash.
– If you’re looking for somewhere cheaper to eat, try Master Burger. You pick your protein from the grill and then there’s an unlimited salad/sides bar you can choose from, for 20 riels.
– Paes e cia, a bakery/pizzaria on Rua Santana has the best pizza salgados, great for a snack. You order and pay at the cash first, and then bring your receipt over to order your food. (A lot of counter service spots in Brazil are done this way)!
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