Ilhabela is more than what its name implies: it is not just a «beautiful island», but again, that most attractive and stimulating. His intimate relationship with the Atlantic Ocean has made this town the capital of Sao Paulo Latin American sports sailing.

Eighteen degrees on average, some of the best bits of preserved Atlantic America, excellent beaches, sea beds of great beauty and the opportunity to practice any type of water sports are some of the elements that make Ilhabela a destination hard to beat.

Ilhabela comprises the islands of Sao Sebastiao, Búzios, Vitória, Cabras, Serraira, Castelhanos, Lagoa, Figueira and the Enchovas, the first of its administrative center. This region was discovered by Europeans in 1502, during the trip that Americo Vespuccio in the service of the Portuguese crown to map their overseas possessions. Sao Sebastiao was formally christened with that name on January 20, proper names of the said blessed.

The main tourist attraction is its beaches Ilhabela, usually accompanied by thick forests of Mata Atlantica, the Jabaquara beach, 500 meters long and only accessible by a rustic dirt road. Slightly larger than Jabaquara Bonete is the longest beach of Ilhabela and authentic paradise for surfers. Also escorted by a thick forest and the mouth of a creek at one end, this is a great place to isolate them from worldly noise.

Ilhabela has a score of long beaches, some of just over 50 meters in length, as Portinho or de Viana, with a cozy Recoleto makes irresistible. Others, like the spectacular Praia de Castelhanos offer more savage side of Ilhabela, without being more suitable for swimming, beach Castelhanos maintains, however, the feel of a real virgin beach, crossed by streams which descend from the jungle, dotted with rocky reefs and overflown by dozens of species of tropical birds.

The wind patterns of Ilhabela and unsurpassed coastline have made this town the capital of sailing in Latin America. The Ilhabela Sailing Week is the largest sailing event in the subcontinent and attracted the influx of hundreds of practitioners of this sport to the latitudes of the state of Sao Paulo. For those who want to start browsing prefecture Ilhabela Sailing School offers a city called «Browse Project» which you can go if we are attracted to the practice of this discipline.

Sport fishing is one of the highlights of Ilhabela, many companies are engaged in carrying fishermen around the world to the open sea in search of swordfish, bonito, sail fish, tuna and sea bass, among other species. This makes fish wealth of the islands that make up Ilhabela a first class culinary destination.

But Ilhabela is not only sea pointed as at the beginning of  our journey, this Brazilian city has one of the best remnants of Atlantic Forest in the Americas. The «Kill» is the genuine type of forest on the Atlantic coast of Brazil, a unique ecosystem in the world that is home to over 20 thousand species of plants and thousands of animal species, including hundreds of mammals, birds and amphibians that are endemic to like half of its plants. Its biodiversity is proportionately higher than the Amazon. Unfortunately, the original area of La Mata is only 7.8%, subjected to enormous pressure from the timber industry and large agricultural estates.

3% of the Mata Atlantica in the state of Sao Paulo is protected by the figure of the «Parque Estadual de Ilhabela, which covers over 27,000 hectares of forest (85% of Ilhabela) where it is possible to see copies of tree up to 30 meters in height, accompanied by a procession of colorful bromeliads, orchids and Caraguatá. The park hosts mountains exceeding 1300 meters in height, 250 waterfalls of all sizes and villages belonging to the culture Caiçara, upon contact between the European conquerors, Brazilian Indians and slaves brought from Africa.