What to do in Fernando de Noronha: 3, 4 and 5-day itineraries

Fernando de Noronha is small, but intense. In a few kilometers the island gathers some of the most beautiful beaches in the world, some of Brazil's best dive sites, trails with breathtaking views and one of the largest marine nurseries in the South Atlantic. The ideal is 3 to 5 days — below, three ready-made itineraries, day by day, that you can adapt to your pace. The earlier you organize, the more you get out of the island.

We adapt the itinerary to your time and your flight schedule — but some patterns work very well, and it's from them that we build almost everything. The Ilha Tour is the most complete way to know the island: a full day covering the main spots, with a certified guide. Precisely because it is so complete, we usually suggest taking a breather the next day — a more relaxed program like the VIP Sunset Boat — and leaving the Hawaiian Canoe for another day, so you can enjoy each tour with calm. When time is short, then yes it makes sense to do the two on back-to-back days. The morning activities to try to see dolphins (natural behavior, no guarantee) are the Hawaiian Canoe, the Traditional Boat or the Water Bike; the VIP Sunset Boat is always in the late afternoon.

With little time, you can still do the essentials — and here there's no problem doing the Canoa right after the Ilha Tour.

With one more day, you can build it at the pace we most recommend: a breather between the Ilha Tour and the Canoa, so you can enjoy each tour with calm.

Everything from the 4-day itinerary, plus a day of scuba diving — discover dive (from age 8) or certified, from the beach or from a boat. The timing is flexible: the boat dive can be morning or afternoon, and the beach dive — like snorkeling — can be at any time, with prior booking. Whenever possible we fit it into high tide, when there's usually more marine life. The only rule is not doing scuba on the return flight day (snorkeling is fine, no problem). You can even combine the dive with a VIP Sunset Boat at the end of the same day. See everything at Diving in Fernando de Noronha.

If there's spare time, fit in a trail (if you booked in advance; otherwise, you can predict the time by the low tide) and — most importantly — save real free time for the beach and the sunset.

If you already know you'll do more than one tour, it's worth looking at the combos with a fixed price. The Terra e Mar Package (Ilha Tour + boat tour), for example, covers the two big first days of the itinerary in a single package — the most practical way to lock in the essentials and pay less than separately.

One of the best things in Noronha is picking a beach hut in the late afternoon and simply watching the sunset. The Mar de Dentro beaches are ideal for this: Cacimba do Padre, Bode, Boldró, Conceição, Praia do Meio, Praia do Cachorro and the Porto. And if you prefer it with a table and a snack, some restaurants have a view of the sunset — Mergulhão, at the Porto; Bar do Cachorro, at Praia do Cachorro; Bar do Meio, between Praia do Meio and Conceição; Bar do Duda Reis, at Conceição; and the Mirante do Boldró, at Boldró, one of the best spots to watch the sun set.