MSC Divina - Brazilian Getaway: Buzios & Ilha Grande

Where this cruise calls, day by day

4 ports and 1 sea day over 4 Nights.

1. Day 1

   Santos (Sao Paulo)

   BrazilDepart

   Santos is Brazil's biggest port and the sea gateway to Sao Paulo, about 80 km inland up a steep escarpment. The city has more to it than the container cranes suggest: a preserved coffee exchange from when this was the world's coffee outlet, a seafront garden that runs for kilometres, and Pele's club museum at Santos FC. Whether to spend the day here or fight traffic to Sao Paulo is the standing debate.

   • Museu do Cafe in the old coffee exchange building
   • The beachfront gardens along Ponta da Praia
   • Historic hillside tram through the old centre
   • Sao Paulo day trip — Avenida Paulista, MASP, Mercado Municipal

   Getting ashore

   Ships berth at the Concais cruise terminal inside the working port.

   Best months

   Nov-Mar

2. Day 2

   Buzios

   BrazilPort

   Buzios is a peninsula of small beaches a few hours east of Rio, a fishing village until Brigitte Bardot turned up in the sixties and the town has been trading on it ever since. The main street, Rua das Pedras, is cobbled and lined with bars and boutiques that only really wake up after dark. Days are spent moving between beaches by schooner or buggy — the water on the north side is calm, the ocean side has surf.

   • Rua das Pedras and the Orla Bardot waterfront promenade
   • Praia Joao Fernandes for snorkelling
   • Ferradura and Geriba beaches
   • Schooner trips around the peninsula's dozen-plus beaches

   Getting ashore

   Ships anchor off and tender passengers to the main pier at Armacao.

   Best months

   Nov-Mar

3. Day 3

   Ilha Grande

   BrazilPort

   A mountainous, forested island off the Costa Verde between Rio and Paraiba do Sul, Ilha Grande was a leper colony and then a maximum-security prison until 1994, which is the main reason it never got developed. There are no cars. The single village, Vila do Abraao, is sand streets and pousadas, and everything else is reached by boat or on foot through Atlantic rainforest.

   • Vila do Abraao, the car-free main village
   • Lopes Mendes beach, a two-hour walk or a boat plus short hike
   • Lagoa Azul snorkelling by schooner
   • Ruins of the Candido Mendes prison and the aqueduct trail

   Getting ashore

   Tender only — ships anchor in the bay off Abraao.

   Best months

   Nov-Mar

4. Day 4 · At sea

5. Day 5

   Santos (Sao Paulo)

   BrazilArrive

   Santos is Brazil's biggest port and the sea gateway to Sao Paulo, about 80 km inland up a steep escarpment. The city has more to it than the container cranes suggest: a preserved coffee exchange from when this was the world's coffee outlet, a seafront garden that runs for kilometres, and Pele's club museum at Santos FC. Whether to spend the day here or fight traffic to Sao Paulo is the standing debate.

   • Museu do Cafe in the old coffee exchange building
   • The beachfront gardens along Ponta da Praia
   • Historic hillside tram through the old centre
   • Sao Paulo day trip — Avenida Paulista, MASP, Mercado Municipal

   Getting ashore

   Ships berth at the Concais cruise terminal inside the working port.

   Best months

   Nov-Mar