Noronha archipelago consists of 21 pristine islands, ragged tips of the mid-Atlantic ridge 172 miles from the coast. Only the main island is inhabited, every nook a masterpiece of blue sea, pale sand and black rock. It was once a prison, then later a military base during the Second World War, and the crumbled remains of forts are sprinkled on its cliff tops. See location here.
The Two Brothers
The island is popular with honeymooners and its proximity to Natal and Recife.
Visitor numbers are restricted and a daily tax imposed, so that the smitten are not tempted to stay permanently. This is why Noronha’s beaches, some of Brazil’s best, still feel wild and desolate. Time dissipates in the foam as you stroll down long, quiet stretches, past rock pools and magnificent volcanic stacks gleaming with sea spray. Most of the time you’ll see no one else but the odd surfer.
Some 70 per cent of the island is recognised by Unesco as a protected marine park, a rich breeding ground for turtles, tuna, shark and marine mammals. It is also the western Atlantic resting post for an array of tropical seabirds. As well as watching turtles hatch, those who take the short flight here from the mainland may catch a show from the resident spinner dolphin or shark population.
When it rains, the tracks off Noronha’s main road become mud baths, forcing taxi drivers to crawl between fences dripping with pink climbers. Mud is not what you want to trail into the chic white lobby of the island’s most luxurious hotel, the Maravilha – though staff will clean it up in a flash.
Despite the island’s distance from the mainland, Noronha is no backwater. Prices are high because everything has to be imported, but thankfully standards are high also, and there are some handsome restaurants.
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Marine life
Mergulhão, for example, has views over the port, forward-thinking fusion food and delicious cocktails. Zé Maria is more traditional but also a pleasure; it sits underneath the island’s totem-pole landmark, the Morro do Pico, an extinct volcanic cone.
Nightlife is limited to sitting on a cliff with a beer watching the sun slip behind the “Two Brothers” rocks, or on a stool at the ramshackle Dog Bar, where locals link hips to dance forro – a north-eastern floor-filler that is surprisingly easy to pick up.
Most visitors to Noronha stay for between three and five days. Golf buggies can be rented from hotels, but there is a feeling that even this trickle of traffic is too much for the delicate ecological balance of the island.
Tips on where to stay and where to go at Noronha, this coming week!
Brazil to the World 