South for the Summer: Ihla Grande

Ihla Grande, Rio de Janeiro state, Brasil

When planning my trip to Brazil, I had originally intended to visit 6 cities in two weeks. However, as I got closer to my actual arrival, I decided to really focus on what really mattered to me at the end of my trip: beach bumming. Ihla Grande, located on the “Costa Verde” wasn’t originally on my list of sights to see in Brazil, but I had stumbled upon the island in a travel magazine that I had randomly picked up in the Marriott hotel in Buenos Aires. It was also recommended to me by other traveling friends and because there was an easy transfer to the island offered by my hostel in Rio, I decided that it was where I would go.

The transfer I paid for picked me up at my hostel in a van filled with other travelers, and dropped us off in Angra dos Reis where we hopped on a boat that took us directly to the main town on the island, Abrao. The boat was packed with 15 travelers and our heavy luggage. Mid-way to the island, the manager came along in a speedboat and demanded that 6 people transfer from our boat to the speedboat because it was way too heavy. The boat ride took about an hour, but I was pretty entertained by the “captain,” a super tan overweight 50-year-old man with a beer belly, wearing a speedo. He was constantly pulling the Captain Morgan pose by propping his leg up and smoking his pipe. He and his chain-smoking first mate sounded like they were angrily yelling at each other every time they spoke, but I quickly realized it was just the way they spoke. It was quite a sight to see.

The afternoon I arrived in Ihla Grande, I took a sunset stroll in Abrao and ran into my two British girlfriends that I had met at my hostel in Rio. Later that night we went to dinner, but called it and early night. The next day we all took an all day boat ride to three different beaches. The boat kind of just coasted along all day, played music, and served drinks. We sunbathed, went snorkeling (didn’t see anything though), saw some sights, and had a great lunch. It was an awesome day. That night, I ran into two more friends that I had met in Rio, who were also staying at my hostel.

The next day, my friends and I set off on a two-hour hike to Lopes Mendes, a top 10 world famous beach. The hike was amazing, I got to see a lot of the island, and got a great workout. Unfortunately, by the time we reached the beach a storm had rolled in and it was pretty cold, windy, and cloudy; which was really weird considering that just on the other side of the mountain, the weather was picture perfect. Unfortunately, I’m not sure Lopes Mendes really qualifies as a top ten beach, but if the weather had been better, I’m sure it would have been amazing. Since we barely got any beach time, we decided to hike the whole way back as well (we could have payed 15 Reias for a one way boat ride to or from the island, but we all decided we needed the exercise).

Overall, Ihla Grande was great. I would have opted to spend more time there if I had had more time. People on the island are super easygoing, and the island itself is safe and tourist-friendly.