Ilha do Mel

Ilha do Mel guards the entrance to Paranagua Bay and has no roads, no cars and a limit on how many people may be on it at once, which is enforced at the ferry and is the reason it stays quiet even in summer. It is effectively two lobes joined by a sand neck: the Nova Brasilia side has the Farol das Conchas lighthouse, built in 1872 on a hill with a view over the bay mouth, and the Encantadas side has the Gruta das Encantadas, a sea grotto at the base of the rocks with a mermaid legend attached. Fortaleza de Nossa Senhora dos Prazeres, a Portuguese fort of 1767 built to close the bay to invasion, stands on the northern point. Walking between the settlements takes a couple of hours along the beach.

History

Two shell mounds show people on the island some 6,000 years ago, and before the Portuguese came the area belonged to the Carijó, of the Tupi-Guarani family; settlers reached the nearby island of Superagui in 1545, fishing and growing bananas and aipim. The island stayed remote and little touched: piped water came only in 1985 and electric light in 1988, at first from a generator running from seven in the evening to two at night, with power around the clock only from 1998 (Wikipedia, Ilha do Mel).

Highlights

• No cars and a headcount cap - visitor numbers limited at the ferry.
• Farol das Conchas - the 1872 lighthouse over the bay mouth.
• Gruta das Encantadas - the sea grotto below the rocks.
• A 1767 Portuguese fort - built to close Paranagua Bay to attack.

When to go

April to October for quiet; summer is capped but still busy. Two days.

Before you go

Everything is carried on foot, including luggage, over sand. The cap means arriving without a booking in high season can mean being turned back. Facilities are simple, power is limited and cash is needed. Trails flood at high tide in places.

Nearby

Paranagua is up the bay; Curitiba is inland to the west.

Key facts