Ilha Grande Boat Tour: Schooner vs Speedboat

Ilha Grande is certainly a place where everyone should visit one day. With its 193 km² of ecological diversity, beautiful beaches, well cared for by the islanders, it is the perfect landscape of a paradise. There are several ways to get to Ilha Grande, as can be seen in the article “How to get to Ilha Grande” that was already posted in this blog, as it is an island is essential to use the boat to get. Already on the island, there are several attractions as we said in this article “What to do in Ilha Grande”. Among the options for getting around are the many trails around the island. However, if you do not have much time using a boat is essential to know more places. Therefore, it is essential to know which type of boat to get around to enjoy the most.

The boats used in the island tours can be the schooner or the speedboat. In this article we will present the difference between these two types of boat, showing the advantages and disadvantages of each. It is essential to know about this information, so that your time in Ilha Grande is well spent.

Schooner Tour

Schooners are large vessels, usually holding up to 150 people. For such they have a good infrastructure such as: bathroom, kitchen, large covered area, play music and a large crew. The boat has room to lie down and the rides always have fruit along the way.

BENEFITS:
The schooner ride always has a lot of people, so it’s a good opportunity to meet new people. Besides, there is always a lot of music and it is usually lively. There is the possibility to dine on the boat and is always cheaper than the boat rides.

DISADVANTAGES:
The schooner is a big boat and so slow, so it takes longer to make the trips. In addition to not being able to dock on several beaches, passengers must swim to the beaches or pay for an extra boat. The schooner tends to rock a lot, which can be uncomfortable depending on sea conditions. Another thing that may also be not being very pleasant, if the schooner is at full capacity, it will hardly have room for everyone to sit and move around.

Speedboat ride

Speedboats are smaller vessels with an average capacity of 14 people. They have a small shade space, cannot move while on the move and have no toilet.

BENEFITS:
The speedboats are much faster than the schooners and because they are smaller they can dock on the beaches without problems. Although they do not have much space and have no bathroom, as there are only 14 people, the tour gains a much more private character, and can even alternate itineraries, if the group so chooses. As there is no service on board by boat, an ice cooler is always available for passengers so they can bring their own drink. This type of boat does not sway in the sea as it breaks the waves, so the most that happens depending on the speed is bouncing a lot.

DISADVANTAGES:
The boat rides, because they are more comfortable and have fewer people, are more expensive than schooner. In addition to not having toilets and kitchen on board, but which are compensated for the speed in reaching the stopping points.

With all this, you need to analyze all of this information before closing your boat trip around the island, because the type of boat you choose to go for can directly impact your experience.