Boat to Ilha do Campeche

Ilha do Campeche lies 1.6 km off Campeche beach on the island's east coast, a hilly 1.6 km strip of forest with a single beach on its sheltered west side. Boats cross from Armação, Campeche and Barra da Lagoa; the classic trip goes from the boatmen's association at Armação, takes around 40 minutes with about 20 people on board, and leaves you roughly four hours on the island before the agreed pickup.

Most people spend that time swimming in the calm water off the beach. The bigger reason to go is on the trails: the interior holds rock carvings and stone tool-grinding workshops dated to 5000 to 3500 BC, and the paths to them are open only with a guide and for a fee. The island is a protected natural monument, and the federal heritage institute caps daily landings (around 800 a day in December to February), so in peak season the boats can sell out early. Weekdays are quieter. There is a snack bar and a restaurant, and chairs and umbrellas to rent. Camping, barbecues, fires and fireworks are banned, and all rubbish goes back to the mainland with you.