Angra dos Reis

The bay is usually described as having three hundred and sixty-five islands, one for each day of the year, which is a round figure rather than a survey - the actual count of islands and islets is somewhere near that and depends on where you draw the line. What is real is the geography: a deeply indented coast of forested granite, sheltered water, and hundreds of small anchorages, which makes it the sailing and schooner centre of the Rio coast. Day trips run out from the town to Ilha Grande, the Lagoa Azul and Cataguases with swimming and snorkelling stops. Angra town itself is unremarkable and the bay also holds the Angra 1 and 2 nuclear plants at Itaorna, visible from the water.

History

The Portuguese navigator Gaspar de Lemos landed at Ilha Grande on 6 January 1502, Kings' Day, which gave the place its name, bay of the Kings, and it has been settled continuously since 1556. The port declined after 1872, bypassed by the railways, revived in the 1920s when a railway linked it to Minas Gerais and Goiás, and in the middle of the 20th century became the port for the coking coal of the national steelworks at Volta Redonda; landslides early in 2010 badly damaged many homes and hotels, mainly on Ilha Grande (Wikipedia, Angra dos Reis).

What's there

• A bay of hundreds of islands - forested granite in sheltered water.
• Schooner day trips - the standard circuit with swimming stops.
• Lagoa Azul - the clear-water anchorage most boats visit.
• The nuclear plants - Angra 1 and 2 on the shore at Itaorna.

When to go

April to October. Two days.

Before you go

The town is a working port with little to see; the bay is the point. Schooners are crowded and follow identical routes with loud music. The BR-101 from Rio is slow and subject to landslide closures. Water quality varies near the town.

Nearby

Ilha Grande is offshore; Paraty is west along the Costa Verde.