If you’re staying in Copacabana and wondering whether to book the Ilha Grande day trip from Rio, the short answer is yes.
The longer answer is that this is a long day with 6+ hours of bus transfers, but with the reward of fun boat vibes, lots of ocean swimming time, a short stint on the beach, and the option of lots of caipirinhas. And the best part was that it was only $81?! And came with lunch?! Insane.
I did this trip solo, and still had an amazing time. The best part for me was being able to enjoy beaches, cocktails in the sun, and going into the ocean, without the same worries about safety that I had in Rio.
The even longer answer us below, including what it actually costs, what the boat is like, and why lunch doesn’t happen until half past three.
Quick facts on the Ilha Grande day trip
- Pickup: from Copacabana hotels, between 7-8am
- Total day: roughly 13 hours, pickup to drop-off
- Drive to port: about 2.5-3 hours to Angra dos Reis, not including hotel pickups
- Boat time: around 6 hours, four stops including a beach lunch
- Extras to budget for: island fee (mandatory), snorkel kit, jet ski, in-water photographer, boat drinks
- Book the tour here!
And if you’re spending time in Rio, check out my Rio de Janeiro Ultimate One-Day Itinerary or read more about why a private tour of Rio is absolutely worth it!
What is involved in the Ilha Grande day trip
Pickup and the drive to Angra dos Reis port
My pickup from a central Copacabana hotel was scheduled for 7:40am and the bus was already half full when I got on. The tour company warns pickup can take up to two hours across all the Copacabana hotels. Mine wrapped up in about 30 minutes after I boarded. Since they’d started around 7am, the whole pickup loop probably ran just over an hour, not two.
From there it’s a 2.5-hour drive to the port at Angra dos Reis. Sometimes 3 if traffic is bad. The bus has air conditioning and a toilet on board, but there are no service station stops, so bring your own water. Pack a hoodie too. The AC was freezing. Seats are roomy, I did not feel squashed. Would be easy to nap on this bus.
On the bus, you are joined by a guide who is with you for the whole day. Usually they speak English, Spanish and Portuguese. They will also explain the extras to you, and take payment in cash or card:
- Island entry fee: R$30 (mandatory)
- Snorkel set with float vest and mask: R$70
- Jet ski: R$105
- In-water photographer: R$100 for one person, R$180 for two (which, for the same amount of time and photos, feels like a stretch)
Waiting at the port
We arrived at Angra dos Reis around 10:45am and then waited another 20 to 30 minutes to actually board the boat. This is where every Ilha Grande day trip leaves from and you’ll find other boats going elsewhere here too.
There are clean public toilets here, though you’ll pass some portaloos first. Keep walking and you’ll find the real bathrooms further along.
There are market stalls selling Brazil-branded hats, bikinis, sunglasses, water and snacks. There are also a lot of vendors doing the rounds trying to sell phone cases and towels, and it’s the kind of spot where you want to keep an eye on your bag.
You’ll wait around near a jetty boarding area and your guide from the bus will let you know when to move. The area felt like somewhere you needed to mind your phone, so stay alert.
Getting on the boat
Two full coachloads board the same boat for this Ilha Grande day trip, so don’t assume a quiet trip just because your bus looked small. It isn’t packed onboard though, and there’s plenty of space.
Most people rush for the outdoor seating, forgetting this is a six-hour trip with zero shade up there. I headed straight inside, being pale enough to burn just thinking about the sun. There are bars on both floors, and the downstairs one is bigger and better stocked. Once the boat gets moving, the wind makes it pretty chilly though, so factor that in too.
We finally set off at 11:30am, almost four hours after pickup.
Bar on the boat
The bar on-board opens immediately as you set sail. It’s pretty decent, with a lengthy list of cocktails and some light foods (fries, grilled meats) available. Obviously the most popular option was caipirinhas, and they offered fruit variations. Highly recommend the passionfruit. The boat was running a three-for-two deal on them, and it cost me less than $20! Immediate yes.
There were of course soft drinks, waters, juices etc too.
Prices really were not bad given it’s your only option. You get given a contactless card and they add your orders to that. At the end of the day they come around and check what you ordered and you pay then. They accept card payment, which was great.
The four stops of the Ilha Grande day trip
Stop 1: Ilha Cataguás
A 15-minute sail from the port. This isn’t a proper island visit, you swim just off the boat. There’s a small beach visible, on a tiny island, which suggests other tours do land there, but not this one. You get around 20 minutes here, or you can skip swimming and go for a caipirinha instead. Which may or may not be what I did.
Stop 2: Lagoa Azul (Blue Lagoon)
A 40-minute sail from Cataguás. You get about 30 minutes here, plus access to a water slide from the top deck. If you’ve booked the in-water photographer, this is where the photos happen, with plenty of fish around you. This spot is actually nice if you like snorkelling, there was a fair bit to see, and loads of fish near the surface.
The water is… refreshing. Read: a cold shock to the system that takes your breath away for a second. But with the blazing sun it’s actually really nice. If you’re going to swim at any of the four spots, make it this one. You get plenty of space even with other boats around, and you can float for a bit and enjoy the water.
I obviously had to go down the slide for a laugh. Which then turned out to be a woeful error. There’s a 2 metre drop at the end I wasn’t expecting, and I didn’t hold my nose in time. I flooded my ear canal with seawater. Which hurt. A lot. I stayed half-deaf for about an hour and had to flush it with drinking water. I was more worried about losing my sunglasses over the side than my eardrums, to be honest. Whoops. The whole thing did sober me up nicely before my third free caipirinha though.
Stop 3: Praia de Grumixama – main Ilha Grande beach stop
Another 15 to 20 minutes’ sailing gets you to the main event. A pristine beach of Ilha Grande. The island is pretty remote and the beach we landed on did not look accessible from within the island itself (lots of trees and foliage blocking the way) so it was pretty untouched. Very clean, and no plants or seaweed washing up on the shore either. There were two other boats getting off here, and even with that it wasn’t crowded.
You get around 30-40 minutes on the island itself. Fair warning though, to get to it, you have to get into the water (which is about 1.5m where to boat stops) and then swim and walk to get to the shore. There’s no way to bring your phone unless you’re willing to water damage it, or – more sensibly – you buy a waterproof bag for it. They sell them back at the port. Worth buying one if you want to maintain your connection to reality. I left mine in the boat and pretended I was marooned. Which was honestly pretty nice.
Worth knowing: the boat pulls back out to sea while you’re there. If you go ashore, you’re stuck on the island for 30 minutes until it returns.
You can spend the time laying on the sand, or paddling in the sea. For those that rented jet skis, this was another spot where you could action that.
Stop 4: Praia de Japariz (lunch stop)
A 20-minute sail from the Ilha Grande beach stop. This stop is also on Ilha Grande, but elsewhere on the coast.
You pull up to an actual jetty here, so no swimming to get to the beach this time. Then you’re funnelled straight to the lunch restaurant.
Lunch: manage your expectations
You get to this lunch stop at 3:30pm. That’s a brutal wait if your pickup was at 7:40am. My hotel breakfast was genuinely bad. By lunchtime I was running on three caipirinhas’ worth of sugar and not much else. As above, there’s food available to order on the boat, meat skewers and fries, so you’re not going to starve. But pack snacks if you think you’ll struggle.
The lunch itself is an all-you-can-eat buffet: a big salad bar, chicken and fish in a coconut broth, pasta with plain tomato sauce, rice and black beans, and some fairly shady-looking fried chicken. If you’re starving, it won’t fully hit the spot. The variety is limited and the flavours aren’t amazing. But it fills a hole. The salad was genuinely refreshing, and although there were no dressings, the coconut broth sort-of did the job.
Dessert and drinks aren’t part of the buffet. Vendors wander around selling dulce de leche-style desserts and açaí, some cash-only, some card.
There are a couple of à la carte restaurants right next door doing sandwiches, fish dishes and cheesy pasta, and they looked much better. That’s not included in the tour, though, and you’ll need to weigh up the wait time vs time you’ve got on the island.
We had about an hour at Praia de Japariz before the boat, which had drifted back out to sea, returned to collect everyone. During this time you can hang out on the beach, enjoy to golden light, wander up and down the shore, and just chill.
Getting back
From Praia de Japariz, it’s around an hour to sail back to the port.
From there, you’ll go straight to the bus to start the 3 hour drive back to Copacabana. It took longer on the way back, due to traffic. Also – be mindful of your bus seat. The guide had asked everyone to take the same seat as they’d came in. Given the pickup order, people had gotten separated from friends/family on the way there, so absolutely did not follow that advice and moved. Chaos ensued. People were yelling. The guide was peeved. Maybe leave a jacket on your seat to try and save it for the way back.
Staying connected on the Ilha Grande day trip
I travel with a Holafly eSIM on the unlimited monthly plan, and it held up the entire day, including the full six hours on the water. I stayed connected the whole way to and from the port, and while sailing between islands too. That meant I could stream Spotify, keep up appearances on Instagram, and message friends throughout. I usually lose signal on boat trips and long-distance coaches, so this was a genuine surprise.
Get a Holafly eSIM here. Use code LOTM for 5% off any Holafly travel eSIM, or 10% off Holafly plans for the first 12 months.
Where to stay for the Ilha Grande day trip
Pickup for this tour is in Copacabana, so it’s worth basing yourself there. I mean, irrespective of the tour you should base yourself there because it is cool. But anyway.
Hotel prices in the area can be steep, and a lot of the listings are near-identical short-term apartments. If you want to be right on the beachfront without breaking the bank, the best options for around the $150-a-night mark are:
Hotel Astoria Palace – Where I stayed. Right on the seafront, with a rooftop bar, a small pool, and a very hot sauna in the tiny gym. Rooms are dated but clean, the shower runs properly hot, and the beds are huge. I got a good rate here at around $100 a night, though prices vary and it is usually more like $150. There’s tour options on-site with fair prices too, useful if you haven’t pre-booked everything. Not exceptional, but genuinely good value for the location. No English, but many staff do speak fluent spanish.
Windsor California = More modern rooms and a striking rooftop, though the pool up there is on the small side. Right on the beach, with excellent views. Pricier on my dates, but can be much cheaper depending on when you go. Good pick if you want a step up in quality for a mid-range budget.
Windsor Excelsior Copacabana – Standard rooms have a similar feel to the Astoria Palace. Slightly dated but comfortable. The suites are brighter with ocean views, and the rooftop pool is bigger and actually swimmable. Beachfront, with excellent views from the higher floors.
Is the Ilha Grande day trip worth it?
Yes. Even doing it solo, this was one of my favourite days out in Brazil. Sun, music, caipirinhas, and enough stops to keep it interesting without feeling rushed. The swimming stops were refreshing, the main beach stop was really nice and tranquil, and even the lunch stop was decent because of the extra time we got to hang out on the beach.
I was the only solo traveller on my particular trip, which didn’t bother me at all, but I do this a lot. AirPods and chilling in the sun was a great vibe.
The three hour drive each way was not bad. The seats had plenty space, and if you’ve got a book or a netflix show downloaded, it flies by.
Considering this Ilha Grande day trip was only $81 all-in, and I paid less than $20 for a full day of caipirinha drinking, I honestly think this is one of the best value day trips I’ve ever done.
Would book again without hesitation. You can book this trip here!
FAQ on the Ilha Grande Day Trip
How long is the Ilha Grande day trip from Rio?
Around 13 hours door to door, from a 7-8am pickup to an 8:30pm hotel drop-off.
What’s included in the price of the Ilha Grande day trip?
Hotel pickup and drop-off, the coach to Angra dos Reis port, the boat tour with four stops (and good vibes on-board), and the buffet lunch at Praia de Japariz.
What costs extra in the Ilha Grande day trip?
The R$30 island fee is compulsory. Snorkel kit, jet ski hire and the in-water photographer are optional add-ons you can pay for on the bus.
Do I need to bring my own water?
Yes. There are no service station stops on the drive to the port, and drinks on the boat and at lunch aren’t included.
Is the Ilha Grande day trip suitable for solo travellers?
Yes. I did this solo and had a great time. The boat has plenty of space and a relaxed atmosphere rather than feeling like a packed party cruise. There is music and dancing, but even if partaking in that isn’t your thing, you can have a great time with headphones and a cold caipirinha.
Also worth reading
Rio de Janeiro Full Day Itinerary – a complete guide to see the best of Rio, for before or after your trip to Ilha Grande
Rio Private Tour – Worth it for solo female travellers? Why I thought so, and what to expect
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