As we always hear, the beauty of the island and its many beaches (of which we visited just a part) is magnificent. We stayed in Açaratiba which I highly recommend. The other side of the island (Abraão) is much more "developed" to the point of becoming a tourist trap. We stayed at Recanto Do Sol, a bed and breakfast simple but in which you can feel Samara's (owner) finger in every little bit of it. Everything is comfortable, of good quality and taste. The breakfast is home made and varies everyday, From this B&B a nice less than 15 min walk takes you to Araçatibinha, one of the most beautiful and cozy beaches I have ever been. One can hire boats or join others for fixed tours to nearby lakes and beaches -- every one more espectacular than the last. Make sure you visit the Praia do Dentista, another jewel. Because of the island difficult logistic, everything is quite more expensive than in mainland. It is not a cheap trip, but it is worth every penny of it.

I never have been in a peace so wonderful and calm like in Ilha Grande, and everyone I take falls in love as well. You can go to the beach, waterfalls by quiet trails or by boat. Ilha grande has a lot of camps (the campings in Brazil have shared kitchen), hostel and hostel most is very simple so do not worry too much, I have already paid more expensive and cheaper for practically the same service. There are markets, restaurants and bars with various price options. Ilha grande has amazing boat tours, you can buy on time and take your drink and your snack (but the boat stops at a restaurant too) and many mapped trails, some trail need like to 2 days, but close too vila do abraão there are many short trails too. At night you will see small parties with guitar playing in the streets, if you want to know about the events of the day because there is always a forró (Brazilian festivities) around the beaches (usually there is no ticket, just enjoy) I have been many times and I have never seen violence or robbery on the Ilha, but if you are drinking do not take too much and do not go away from the busy parts because it’s an island so there are many empty parts mainly at night. I've seen lost tourists look like drunk, this is not a good idea if you need to walk or get a boat to go back to where you are staying. Another important tip for foreign tourists is to look for the written price of the attractions like restaurants, bars or boat tour (so they cannot change the amount and you will pay as a local) if they do not have the price visible, if possible ask in more than one place. Arriving on the Ilha Grande from Rio de Janeiro is easy, go to Rodoviária Novo Rio in Rio Center (by Taxi, Uber or subway + VLT) buy a ticket to Conceição de Jacareí or Angra dos Reis (You can buy it online) on the bus say to the drive you are going to Ilha Grande that the driver is going stop in front of the place to buy the ticket for the fast boat (Boat every 30 minutes more or less and probably almost all of the bus is going down as well) and the boats leave across the street to Vila do Abraão. You can also take the bus to Mangaratiba and get the boat but they have only 1 per day, leaving at 08:00 h, the journey is also longer because the big boat is slower than the fast boat, but also cheaper.