Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
the boundaries of the
Parque Estadual de Ilhabela
, the dozens of waterfalls, beautiful
beaches and azure seas have contributed to the island's popularity. Old or new, most
of the buildings are in simple Portuguese-colonial styles - as far removed from brash
Guarujá as you can get. The island is a haunt of São Paulo's rich who maintain large
and discreetly located homes on the coast, many of which have mooring facilities for
luxury yachts or helicopter landing-pads.
Vila Ilhabela
Almost all of the island's 30,000 inhabitants live along the sheltered western shore,
with the small village of
VILA ILHABELA
(often referred to as “Centro”) serving as the
main population centre. After about a twenty-minute drive from the ferry landing,
look out on the right-hand side of the road for the grand eighteenth-century main
house of the
Fazenda Engenho d'Agua
, which is located a few kilometres outside the
village. This was one of the largest sugar plantations on the island, famous for its
high-quality
cachaça
. Today there's virtually no agricultural production on Ilhabela,
its economy completely geared to tourism.
Vila Ilhabela, which has a few pretty colonial buildings, is dominated by the
Igreja
Matriz
, a little church completed in 1806. Situated on a hill, the white-and-blue
wedding cake-like building has a Spanish-marble floor and provides both a cool retreat
from the sun and a good view over the area. Additionally, there are banks, restaurants
and stores selling overpriced beach gear. In the evenings, people congregate on the pier,
catching swordfish with remarkable ease, or taking a leisurely drink at one of the town's
few, laidback bars.
8
The beaches
Following the coastal road south from Vila Ilhabela along the mainland-facing
shore, the beaches are small, but pleasant enough, the calm waters are popular with
windsurfers, and bars and restaurants dot the roadside as far as
Perequê
,
the island's
second-biggest town, about halfway south along the island and the location of the
ferry port.
There are more attractive beaches on the further-flung coasts of the island, most
of which can be reached by schooner and/or jeep. Pretty beaches in coves along the
northern coast, such as the
Praia do Jabaquara
, can only be reached by boat or by
clambering down steep trails hidden from view from the road. It's along this stretch
of coast that some of the island's most exclusive villas are located, and their owners
have an interest in making sure the road remains in bad condition and that the
beaches are di
cult to reach. The road is also poor along the southern shore, where
some of the best beaches are located; after the road ends at Porto dos Frades it's a
two-hour walk along an inland trail to the tiny fishing hamlet at
Praia do Bonete
;
on the way there you'll pass an impressive waterfall, the
Cachoeira do Late
, beneath
which a natural pool has formed. Just beyond both of these places lie a couple of
other fine beaches.
Parque Estadual de Ilhabela
Daily 8am-6pm, entry before 2pm • Free •
T
12 3896 2585,
W
ambiente.sp.gov.br/parque-ilhabela
The interior of the island and much of its east coast falls within the
Parque Estadual de
Ilhabela
and is protected from commercial tourist development. The east-coast beaches
of the
Baia de Castelhanos
, 25km across the island via a steep mountain road often
washed out by heavy rain, have the most surf and are considered by many to be the
island's most beautiful. As Castelhanos has no public transport, you'll need a jeep to
visit; the easiest way round this is to book an all-day tour (see p.532), which costs
around R$60 per person (wear trainers or walking shoes, and bring a towel and
swimming costume).
