Brazil’s Ilha Grande is indeed, as its name humbly translates, a Big Island. It’s just, well, so much more than that.
Ilha Grande attractions
Why not tell the world of the vast array of assets that it boasts: impeccable white sand beaches; a dense and vibrant Brazilian jungle; azure and aqua lagoons; world-class dive sites; an adorable car-less township arced by sharp mountain peaks; and its uninterrupted blessedness.
There is no indication of the fascinating offerings that lie behind. There’s a village back there that follows no clock or schedule, where excitable barefoot kids churn up the dusty streets, where lighthearted locals gather for hours outside the tiny shops, where ageing locals congregate in dimly lit cafes to laugh and gamble over cards, where distant samba beats echo through the trees.
It’s not surprising that this place has an international flavour to its workforce, those who travelled here as wide-eyed tourists only to forgo their former lives and set up camp under the Brazilian sun, having succumbed to Ilha Grande’s charm. They elicit much envy.
The crystal clear waters of Ilha Grande, Brazil
There are no ATMs, no cars, no neon lights. Internet facilities are scarce and after three days I’m yet to see a mobile phone.
Theirs is a blissful existence, from the hirsute Laurent, a Frenchman who spends six months of the year looking after the Pousada Naturalia guesthouse to affable Peter, who understandably swapped his dull desk job in freezing Copenhagen to operate a funky lay-about bar and barbecue joint on the sands of Vila do Abraao.
Here, night after night, patrons dip their toes into the soft Brazilian sand and watch the sun fade to nothing, as their fresh fish is barbecued to perfection by this gabby Dane.
Getting around
There are two (affordable) ways to navigate your way around – aboard a grand schooner or hiking over the steep mountains in search of glory. And no glory is like Lopes Mendes glory; a 3km ocean beach so white it hurts your eyes, hemmed in by lush green verdure and inviting blue waters.
This stretch of sand is often quoted among the top 10 beaches in the cosmos. Some say it has no peer. The purists love it because of the lack of infrastructure. There are no hotels, restaurants, or even toilets – nothing but three sandwich and beer vendors.
The naturalists love it because the only way into Lopes Mendes is a sweaty 30-minute hike over a jungle pass, an adventure guaranteed to include howler monkeys. Boats are not allowed to land directly on the sand. Myself? After spending a week crushed by the ebb and flow of 100,000 buffed and brown Brazilians on Copacabana and Ipanema beaches in Rio, I’m digging the utter serenity.
Everywhere your schooner skipper directs his craft around this isle, an empty white sand beach stands to amaze its guests. After naming 22 coves and beaches, locals simply gave up on the rest, such is the glut.
Underwater delights
Even where sand is not present along the shoreline, this island still serves up delicacies. Snorkelling off the back of a speedboat (less affordable) in the Green Lagoon yet another underwhelming title that understates its true beauty we share a treasured moment with a trio of turtles, inquisitive, but gracefully keeping a few feet of distance.
If green is not your colour, the Blue Lagoon is a mere kilometre away and sheltered by a privately owned isthmus. It’s a fashionable parade of who’s who in the aqua realm.
The last dive site deserves mention, not for its abundance of marine life, or the aquatic tapestry of colours. It’s a helicopter. In 8m of water at Laja do Matardz. Rotors still intact. Thankfully, pilot nowhere to be seen.
Smirking islanders will quickly tell you it was a classic life insurance con, executed by a businessman up to his eyeballs in debt, who staged his own death by parking his chopper on the ocean floor.
Nice try buddy. If you really wanted to escape the hazards of city living and flee to Ilha Grande to live an anonymous lifestyle in tropical jungle or hulled up in a deserted beach bungalow, just catch the ferry.
Nobody here would care.
