Ilha Grande
Ilha Grande has no cars anywhere, and luggage moves by hand cart. It was a prison island until 1994 and is now half of Brazil's first mixed World Heritage site.
Ilha Grande in a nutshell
Ilha Grande: what to expect
What follows sits on 71,000+ stops planned in Brazil on Stippl.
Ilha Grande has no cars on it, so you move on foot or by boat and your luggage moves by hand cart. Vila do Abraão is the only real village and where every boat lands. Lopes Mendes, over the ridge or by boat to Pouso and the last stretch walked, is the beach everyone names among Brazil's best, and there are more than a hundred others. Dois Rios is two hours across the island to a prison village the forest is taking back.
Almost nobody gives Ilha Grande a single night. Barely one stay in eight is one night and under two stops in a hundred carry none at all, the lowest we measure anywhere in this knowledge base. It also needs the longest Brazilian itinerary of any destination here, and three in five of its trips carry Paraty, which is the strongest relationship in the country and one UNESCO site read from both ends.
3 nights, and the island barely varies from it. The trails are the transport and the beaches are at the ends of them, so the walking is the point rather than a way of getting somewhere. Leave the wheeled suitcase behind, because it is sand, cobbles and dirt from the jetty onwards. And do not come if you need to be reachable: the signal drops away from the coast and the power cuts are routine.
Para quem é Ilha Grande
Walkers.
The island is a trail network with beaches at the ends of it, and the trails are the transport
A beach without a resort
No cars, no chains, no strip
People already going to Paraty.
Three in five Ilha Grande trips carry Paraty, and the two are one UNESCO site
Divers and snorkellers
for the Lagoa Azul reefs on the sheltered north side
Not for a night.
Only 12.8% of stays are one night and just 1.6% carry no nights at all: the lowest anywhere in this knowledge base, and tied with Paraty. Nobody passes through here
Quando ir a Ilha Grande
Wet summer
December–March
219–302 mm a month, hottest, busiest, most expensive. Our peak.
Dry winter
May–September
61–110 mm, 18–20 °C, clear trails, thin crowds. The best value and the best walking.
- The booking peak (Q1): 34.1% of trip starts against a national 30.2%
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Descreva a sua viagem e obtenha um roteiro de Ilha Grande em segundos
Tudo neste guia já está na Stippl. Diga ao planeador quanto tempo tem e do que gosta: ele constrói o roteiro, os dias e os tempos de viagem, e você edita o que quiser.
O que não perder em Ilha Grande
Photo by Desert Morocco Adventure via UnsplashLopes Mendes
on foot over the ridge or by boat to Pouso and the last stretch on foot. No boat lands on the beach itself
The Lagoa Azul boat day
a schooner or speedboat circuit of the sheltered north coast with snorkelling stops
Pico do Papagaio at sunrise
a guided night start for the island's highest viewpoint
Dois Rios and the prison museum
two hours on the island's only road, through forest, to a village the jungle is taking back
Kayaking the bay from the village
which several pousadas lend boats for
Diving and snorkelling on the north-side reefs
calm and shallow
Os bairros de Ilha Grande
Abraãozinho & the near bays
couples
A short walk or boat hop from the village: small pousadas facing their own beach, quiet in the evening
A beach outside the door, a short walk or water taxi from the village.
Dois Rios
history-buffs
The far south coast, two hours on foot from Abraão. The old prison village, a museum and a beach: a day trip, not a base
The prison museum and a beach, two hours through forest on the island's only road.
Lopes Mendes & the east
beach
Protected beach with no accommodation and no boat landing. The reason most people come, and nobody sleeps there
The beach every source names among Brazil's best, and no boat may land on it.
Vila do Abraão, west
first-timers, comfort
The cobbled half of the village: pousadas, restaurants, the pier and the trailheads. Suitcases are manageable here
Cobbled streets where the boats land, with the pousadas, restaurants and trailheads.
Vila do Abraão, centre & east
budget
Unpaved sand and dirt that floods in rain, which is why beds are cheaper. Same village, harder luggage
The cheapest beds in the village, a few sandy streets from the same pier.
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Onde ficar em Ilha Grande
Pousadas are the format. Small, family-run guesthouses rather than hotels, most of them in or just outside Vila do Abraão
Abraãozinho & the near bays
A short walk or boat hop from the village: small pousadas facing their own beach, quiet in the evening
Dois Rios
The far south coast, two hours on foot from Abraão. The old prison village, a museum and a beach: a day trip, not a base
Lopes Mendes & the east
Protected beach with no accommodation and no boat landing. The reason most people come, and nobody sleeps there
Vila do Abraão, west
The cobbled half of the village: pousadas, restaurants, the pier and the trailheads. Suitcases are manageable here
Vila do Abraão, centre & east
Unpaved sand and dirt that floods in rain, which is why beds are cheaper. Same village, harder luggage
O que comer em Ilha Grande
Fish or seafood stew with coconut milk and dendê palm oil
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Ilha Grande customs and what not to do
The history is not decoration
Enslaved Africans were landed here in thousands, the plantations became a prison, and the prison ran until 1994. The museum at Dois Rios is run by a state university, not by a tour company
People live inside the listing
Caiçara and Quilombola communities do, and their presence is part of why the site was listed
Pack out what you carry.
The island is a state park and most of it has no waste collection
Free camping is not permitted
and fires are prohibited in most places
Orçamento diário em Ilha Grande
Budget
€39 · ≈ €45 (R$265)
Hostel bed or camping, eating along the Abraão beachfront, though the island's own operator prices a genuine budget day nearer €34 (R$200), since everything arrives by boat
Mid-range
€105 · ≈ €118 (R$700)
Simple to mid-range pousada, restaurant meals, day-boat tours
High-end
€340 · ≈ €393 (R$2,340)
Beachfront pousada (from €118), the same operator's "comfortable" day runs nearer €134 (R$800)
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Curiosidades sobre Ilha Grande
Half of Brazil's first mixed UNESCO World Heritage site, inscribed with Paraty in 2019 for culture and biodiversity together
A prison island until 1994, and before that a slave-landing site, the two histories are 200 metres apart at Dois Rios
No cars, anywhere, at all
The wettest destination we cover at 1,912 mm, more than Rio and São Paulo
The strongest pair measured in Brazil. Paraty is on 61.6% of Ilha Grande trips, a lift of 3.06 and +79% over the mechanical floor, three times the best row in either city file
The lowest zero-night share measured anywhere: 1.6%, against São Paulo's 12.2%, tied with Paraty, which is on the mainland. Neither is a place anyone passes through
Dicas locais para Ilha Grande
Angra's tourism tax
Angra dos Reis has charged a Sustainable Tourism Tax since 1 June 2026: R$50, valid 30 days, issued as a QR voucher through the municipal Viva Angra system, and required to reach the islands. Residents, service providers and their close family are exempt
Fast door, cheap door
Conceição de Jacareí is the fast door and Angra dos Reis the cheap one. 20–25 minutes at R$45–150, against 1h 20 at R$20.50 with very few sailings
Buy the return outbound
Buy the return crossing with the outbound. It is usually cheaper and it guarantees a seat on the Sunday boat, which sells out first
Terrain, not crime
The risk here is the terrain, not crime.
Trails are long and unlit
Trails are long, unlit and easy to underestimate. Two hours each way to Lopes Mendes or Dois Rios, and no phone signal for most of it
Ilha Grande questions, answered
Around the boats. Ilha Grande carries 7.8% of everything planned in Brazil on Stippl, and there are no cars and no roads on it: you arrive by ferry from Angra dos Reis or on the faster crossing from Conceicao de Jacarei. Put three nights into Stippl and pair it with Paraty.
Three nights. People who plan Ilha Grande and the single most common plan on Stippl give it 3 nights, because Lopes Mendes takes a day, a boat trip round the island takes another, and the last one is for doing nothing at all.
Not really. Only 12.8% of Ilha Grande stops planned on Stippl are a single night, the lowest share in Brazil, because the crossing eats a piece of each end and the good beaches are a walk or a boat ride beyond the village where you land.
Two hours on foot over the T10 trail from Abraao, or a boat to Praia do Pouso and twenty minutes' walk over the headland. No boat lands on Lopes Mendes itself, which is part of why it stays as empty as it does. Take water, because very little is sold there.
None at all, beyond a couple of service vehicles. The village of Abraao is sand streets and footpaths, and everything past it is reached on foot or by boat. That single fact is what makes the island feel like a different country from the mainland coast an hour away.
No. There are no machines anywhere on the island, so bring what you need over from the mainland. Cards and Pix are widely accepted in Abraao now, which softens it, but the boatmen and the smaller kiosks still want notes. Take more than you think and you will spend it.
Every guide is written by the Stippl editors and checked against the trips our travellers actually plan. Spotted something out of date? Let us know.
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