Fernando de Noronha, Brazil

Volcanic archipelago with visitor caps, spinner dolphins every morning, and the best beach in the world (Baía do Sancho).

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Best time to visit

Month	High	Low	Rain	Season
Jan	27°	25°	78 mm	prime
Feb	27°	25°	126 mm	prime
Mar	27°	26°	227 mm
Apr	27°	26°	285 mm
May	27°	26°	180 mm
Jun	27°	25°	128 mm
Jul	26°	25°	95 mm
Aug	26°	25°	39 mm	prime
Sep	26°	25°	20 mm	prime
Oct	26°	25°	15 mm	prime
Nov	26°	25°	13 mm	prime
Dec	27°	26°	27 mm	prime

30-year averages (1995–2024) from ERA5 reanalysis via Open-Meteo. Rain is the monthly total.

Serves travellers at Mid-range→Ultra-luxury level. Typically around $300 a day on the ground.

Ranges are typical costs, not quotes. Check the real price before you book.

One road runs the length of the island. Buggies are the local habit, there is a single bus line along that road, and the best beaches are reached on foot down steps and trails. Distances are small; the hills are not.
getting around · editorial
Flights only, from Recife or Natal, about an hour over open ocean. There is no ferry. The runway is short and the aircraft are small, which is also why luggage limits are taken seriously.
getting there · editorial
Visitor numbers are capped. Everyone pays a daily environmental tax for the length of their stay, and the national marine park charges separately for access to the best beaches; both are arranged before or on arrival. Because of the cap, flights and beds go long before you have decided.
know before · editorial
Cash machines on the island are few and run dry. Bring reais with you from the mainland. Cards are taken in pousadas and most restaurants but not by everyone renting you a mask.
money · editorial
The rains fall roughly February to July. Trails turn to mud, visibility for diving drops, and some beaches lose their sand to the swell and only get it back months later.
when not to go · editorial
Vila dos Remedios is the main village, walkable, with the bars and the sunset. Floresta Nova and Floresta Velha are quieter and central enough to walk out of. Everything is a pousada in one of a handful of settlements; there is no resort strip and no beachfront development, by law.
where to stay · editorial

Baía do Sancho
The way down is through a cleft in the rock, on an iron ladder. Worth every rung.
Baía dos Porcos
From the viewpoint, with the Dois Irmãos behind. The photograph you have seen a thousand times.
Praia da Conceição
The island's everyday beach. Stay until dark.
Mirante dos Dois Irmãos
Five minutes of walking and the whole postcard at once.
Forte dos Remédios
A Portuguese ruin from 1737 looking out to sea. Best in late afternoon.
Praia do Leão
Rough sea, nobody around, turtles nesting in the right season.

Eat fresh fish at lunch — it all comes in by boat, accept the price
The fresh catch of the day
The menu is short because it depends on what came in on the boat. That is the point.

Wait for sunset at Forte do Boldró with the rest of the island
Sunrise at Mirante do Boldró
The sun comes up on the wrong side of the island. That is why it is worth waking for.

Snorkel in Dolphin Bay
You do not choose whether they turn up. You only choose to be there early.
Scuba diving in Noronha
Thirty metres of visibility and no excuse.