Tropical island paradise with glorious beaches and no roads
Ilha Grande (Big Island), is along the south-eastern Brazilian coast from Rio de Janeiro, about three hours by bus followed by two hours by boat from the coastal town of Angra dos Reis. It lies within a state park which has prevented the development of mass tourism, and while it feels somewhat off the beaten track it’s a well known destination for backpackers, such as ourselves. Things did pick up after the penal colony closed in 1994, itself preceded by a leper colony as an effective deterrent for visitors. The main town, Vila do Abraão, hosts around two thousand inhabitants, and there are no cars on the island but many miles of hiking trails.
Ilha Grande was our first stop in Brazil outside of Rio, and we spent two nights in this sun-soaked paradise. As there are no roads on the island and very few offroad vehicles, to get anywhere it’s generally either by boat or on foot. The island is about twenty miles long by ten miles wide, but we underestimated the distance on our walk back to Abraão from Lopes Mendes beach, and were lucky to get back before nightfall as it took a lot longer than we’d expected. The boat to get there was much more straightforward!
Vila do Abraão, buried in the Brazilian jungle. The mountains in the distance rise over three thousand feet, and the big rock on the horizon reminded me of Monkey Island.
Hostel Aquário was as idyllic as we could ever have imagined, right on the water with the jungle out the back. There was a tide pool out the front, filled with starfish and urchins – and not just the guests.
View of the shoreline as we sailed out from the hostel to Lopes Mendes beach one morning.
Lopes Mendes beach is probably the most famous on Ilha Grande, after a short boat trip we spent most of the day there, attempting and failing to surf, playing sumo and getting badly sunburnt. It was more than ten years before I attempted surfing again, in Costa Rica, with marginally more success.
Our walk back from Lopes Mendes to Abraão took us quite high up over the island, and took about two and a half hours. We nearly ran out of water and arrived just as it was getting dark, a good thing as we had no torches and the footpaths certainly aren’t lit! This was our first sighting of the village on the descent.
In the Aquario hostel we would sit in the courtyard by this picture perfect view and eat watermelon and pineapple for our breakfast – pure tranquillity.
We reluctantly departed Ilha Grande the same we we arrived, by boat to the mainland and onwards to Paraty then Iguazu.
Upon our return to Angra dos Reis the illusion of paradise was somewhat broken by a giant semi-submersible drilling rig blotting out the view. Having an interest in the industry as I do, this is the Petrobras XIII, built in 1983 and subsequently renamed Olinda Star. She nearly sank off India in 2018 and was listing badly after a cyclone, but recovered for several more years of operation until finally being scrapped in 2024, also in India.
Created 2006 | Updated 2018, 2025
SnapHappyRoss 
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