Fernando de Noronha Travel Guide

Introduction

Fernando de Noronha may be the desert island upon which people dream of being marooned. On Noronha, verdant mountains descend to sheer cliffs, which in turn fall onto wide sandy beaches that have known neither condo nor cabana. Beneath the waves live coral and colorful fish, manta rays, and lemon sharks. Sea turtles lay eggs by the thousands on the beaches facing out toward the Atlantic. And then there are the spinner dolphins. Early in the morning, in a bay named, appropriately, Baía dos Golfinhos (Bay of Dolphins), spinner dolphins gather in pods of more than 1,000 to frolic and spin in the morning sunshine. Come afternoon, they set off on a daily circuit around the main island. It's an island ecosystem in all its tropical glory.

Noronha was Brazil's first national marine park. All of the water and 70% of the land on and around Ilha de Fernando de Noronha is national park, administered by the Brazilian environment agency IBAMA. Development is strictly controlled, and visitors...