Island hopping

Today we take a day cruise around the bays and islands near Paraty.  We had asked around and prices varied between BRL40 to BRL50 for a trip departing 1100 and returning 1600, having 4 stops.  Boats vary in size from 120 to 160 pax capacity.

We settled for the cheapest and smallest.  We made our way to the jetty after 1000 to allow plenty of time walking on the cobblestones.  We boarded around 1035 to find only two other passengers.  Slowly a few more people joined us.  While other boats seemed to be leaving with a considerable load, we left around 1130 with some stragglers (or walk-up customers) making up a total passenger headcount of only 15.

We had five crew including the musician, barman, photographer, cook, deckhand and the captain.  I think we were very lucky to have such a spacious experience on the Eskuner Fenix II, a boat built for about 90 passengers.

We chugged past a “castle” on Ilha do Mantimento, which was more of a mansion.  A little after, we took our first stop and anchored off a private island which may have been Ilha Comprida for a swim with lots of fish.

It was a very short hop to our second stop, a beautiful beach, Praia da Lula which had a picturesque house set back from the beach.  While we swam and walked on the beach the photographer did glamour and lovey-dovey shots for some of the women and couples respectively.

From there, we parked to our third stop outside a nice modern-ish mansion for lunch.  We ordered a salad to share.  We weren’t that hungry after snacking on some junk earlier.  It’s funny how a couple of tablespoons of nibbles can fill me up so much that I can do without a real meal!  So in a way, I’m reducing calorie intake (of meals) with just a little bit of junk food  🙂   The crew gave us the chance to have a brief swim but no one took up that opportunity.

Lastly, it was a very short hop to Praia Vermelha which was also very nice but not quite as picturesque as Praia da Lula.  I had a good swim and a walk again.  I must say, both beaches were very good … the sand was golden (white sand is just to cliché), the sea/waves ideal and the incline/depth perfect.

I can’t remember the itinerary exactly but I think we may have been short-changed at the third stop.  It was meant to be a picturesque spot like Lagoa Azul but I didn’t really care.

With three 40 minute stops and the cruising, it was soon time to head back to Paraty.  We got back on time just before 1600 even though we had departed late.  It didn’t matter as the “winter” days are short and it felt late already.

The cruise had been exceptionally good value (at BRL40 per person) but they do sting you for the meals, priced at double the land-based price.  Our shared salad, drink and chocolate ball added up to BRL70.  And we paid BRL60 for all the photos (over 40) that were taken; we actually wanted a small number but it was too hard to choose them and the minimum order of 10 photos was already BRL30.

So, the total was BRL105 per person (about NZD40), which was still awesome value for a rather uncrowded daytrip on a big boat with five crew, so we were still happy.  The photos was probably the worst-value component, especially when they were sent via WhatsApp and not in full resolution.   I guess, for people who did the glamourous or lovey-dovey shots, they would have got exceptional value for shots on a good camera by a fair camera-man.

We had an early dinner in old town of pasta and salad.  For me, that was the wrong choice.  I thought the pasta wasn’t fresh pasta but dried pasta.  And the total meal ended up being double what we would have paid in a “per kilo” restaurant.  I don’t like paying premium prices for meals that aren’t better than what I could make for myself.