WHAT TO DO IN ILHA GRANDE? THE BEACH PARADISE IN RIO DE JANEIRO

The island is a paradise of natural beauty, located in the south of Rio de Janeiro, which has more than 100 beaches, a great variety of vegetation, fauna and few inhabitants, these are concentrated in the Villa de Abraham, where the largest Part of the hustle and bustle of the island, as it is the place of arrival of visitors.

The question that follows is, what is the best way to know this paradise?

Now let’s list for you the main attractions of the Big Island:

PATHS, HIKING AND CLIMBING

On the island there are several tracks of all levels, which connect all the towns and beaches. This is the best way to connect with the ecosystem, in addition to doing a beautiful exercise outdoors and with that splendid natural beauty around. Among the many routes, the most famous are:

Abraãozinho, 30 minutes easy way,
Lopes Mendes, around 4 hours of moderate track
Two Rivers, with 2 hours of easy way, it is even possible to do in 40 minutes in Bike.
The Pico del Loro (pictured) is the second highest point with 982 meters of height and symbol of the relief of the island,

* The track for the Parrot’s Peak is one of the most famous, but it is recommended to go with a guide.

BOAT TOURS

The most traditional way to get to know the island is the boat tour. There are several types of excursions and different boats, as we explained in the post “Boat Tours on the Big Island” here in this blog. The boat trip is the fastest way to go to more distant places, especially if it is a fast boat. In addition, there are places that can only be reached by boat such as the Grotto of Acaia, which will be necessary to rent a boat for a private ride.

CAMPING

The Big Island is also an incredible place to camp and there are several places scattered throughout the island. It is mandatory to stay in private premises, for environmental reasons camping is not allowed in public places, the private premises are more concentrated in Vila do Abraão, in Las Palmas beach, and in El Aventurero beach, the latter is the more wild, arriving by a path of about 9 o’clock or by boat and does not have electricity or telephone signal.

EXTREME SPORTS

The Big Island is also the ideal place to practice various extreme activities such as surfing in Lopes Mendes or climbing the Pico del Loro. In addition, the practice of diving is intense on the island, mainly on the island of Jorge Griego, where several practitioners perform deep dives. The practice of snorkeling is also quite common, especially in the Blue and Green Lagoons, where you can see a lot of the island’s marine fauna. There are many options such as wakeboard, flyboard, rappel, bicycle, standup, parasail, among others.

VILA DE ABRAÃO

The Town of Abraham is the main nucleus of the Big Island. It is in this town that most of the infrastructure of the island is present, such as excursions by boat, rental of equipment, hotels and restaurants. It is very interesting I like the “caiçara lifestyle” in the village, enjoy the restaurants on the sea sand at night and listen to good music at night on the Big Island. Options to enjoy the night there is the Acuarios nightclub next to the Che Largato hostel and the parties in the main square in front of the church.

Besides the Big Island with the S2RIO you can go to many other tours in Rio de Janeiro