Ilhabela

Ilhabela is mountainous - Pico de Sao Sebastiao reaches over thirteen hundred metres - and something over eighty per cent of it is protected state park, which is why the developed strip is confined to the west-facing coast and the rest is forest, trails and a large number of waterfalls, of which Agua Branca and Tres Tombos are the accessible ones. The east side, facing open ocean, has the wilder beaches and is reached only by 4x4 track or boat. The channel between island and mainland holds a number of wrecks and is a regular dive site, and the sheltered water makes Ilhabela the main sailing centre in Brazil, with a long-running regatta week each July. The borrachudo, a small biting blackfly, is a genuine and much-discussed feature of the island.

History

For at least 2,000 years before the Portuguese the islands were home to the shell-mound peoples, later replaced by Tupi-Guarani and Jê peoples, and an expedition with Amerigo Vespucci reached the main island on 20 January 1502, naming it after the saint of the day, Sebastian. Pirates and corsairs from England, France and the Netherlands sheltered here and raided Portuguese ships and towns, Thomas Cavendish among them in the years around 1590, the first land grant dates from 1603, and from the 17th century sugarcane was planted along the side facing the mainland (Wikipedia, Ilhabela).

The landscape

• A mountain island - peaks over 1,300 metres with most of the island protected.
• Waterfalls in the forest - Agua Branca and Tres Tombos among many.
• The wild east coast - beaches reachable only by 4x4 track or boat.
• Wrecks in the channel - the diving between island and mainland.

When to go

April to September - drier, and the borrachudos are less active. Three days.

Practical notes

The ferry queues for hours on summer weekends and holidays. Borrachudo bites are itchy for days and repellent is essential. The east side needs a hired 4x4 with driver. Rain is frequent, the island is one of the wetter parts of the Sao Paulo coast.

Nearby

Sao Sebastiao is across the channel; Maresias and Camburi are along the mainland coast.