Paraty Bay Islands and Beaches Boat Tour with Snorkeling

Paraty and the historic pier

Paraty is a small colonial port on the Costa Verde, the green coast of Rio de Janeiro state, founded in the seventeenth century and made rich in the eighteenth as the harbour where gold from Minas Gerais was loaded for Portugal. Its historic centre is a grid of whitewashed houses with coloured doors and windows, cobbled lanes that flood at the highest tides and baroque churches, all closed to cars. The boat tour departs from the pier at Cais de Paraty, right on the edge of this old town.

Arrive thirty minutes before departure to collect your boarding ticket and find a place on the deck. The pier is a few minutes on foot from any hotel or guesthouse in the centre, so no transport is needed. A Paraty boat trip is the most popular activity in town, and this departure in the late morning gives you a relaxed start and the warmest hours of the day on the water.

Out on the waters of Paraty

Once the boat leaves the pier, the whole landscape of Paraty opens up: the town shrinking behind, the peaks of the Serra do Mar and the Bocaina range covered in Atlantic rainforest, and in front a scatter of islands with rocky shores and small sandy coves. The water is sheltered by the islands and the shape of the coast, so the sea is usually flat and the colour shifts between emerald and turquoise over the sandy bottom.

The crew chooses the day's exact stops according to the sea and the wind, which is why the islands and beaches are not fixed in advance. Between stops you cruise for fifteen to twenty minutes at a time with music on deck, enough to dry off and photograph the coast. Sunscreen and a hat are essential; the deck is partly shaded but the reflection off the water is strong.

The island stops and snorkelling

Two of the four stops are at islands, where the boat anchors in a sheltered spot a short swim from the rocks. This is where the snorkel mask included in the default option comes into its own: the water around the islands is clear, and over the boulders and patches of seagrass you see small striped and silver reef fish, sea urchins and sometimes starfish. Ask for your mask at boarding so it is ready for the first stop.

Each stop lasts about thirty to forty minutes. Floating noodles and rings are handed out for anyone who prefers to drift rather than swim, and the back-up motorboat stays close to the swimmers the whole time. Snorkelling in Paraty is easy and shallow, suitable for beginners and for children who can swim, and there is no current to worry about inside the sheltered water.

The beach stops

The other two stops are at beaches: narrow strips of pale sand backed by forest, reached from the anchored boat either by a short swim or by the small motorboat for those who prefer to stay dry. The beaches are usually empty apart from the passengers of a few other boats, and the water at the shore is warm and shallow, ideal for simply standing in the sea and looking back at the mountains.

Bring a towel and water shoes if you have them, as some beaches have pebbles at the waterline. There are no facilities on the beaches themselves, so use the restrooms on the boat beforehand. This mix of island and beach stops is what makes the Paraty islands and beaches tour a full picture of the coast rather than a single destination.

Life on board

The boat is a traditional wooden vessel with a shaded upper deck, open seating at the bow, restrooms and a small galley. During the trip the crew serves slices of tropical fruit, and a complimentary coffee is poured at the end of the day on the way back to the pier. Lunch and cold drinks are available to order and pay for on board, so you can eat with your feet up while the boat moves to the next stop.

The host on board speaks Portuguese; there is no guided commentary in English, but the stops are self-explanatory and the crew helps everyone with masks, floats and boarding. The boat returns to the pier at Cais de Paraty in the late afternoon, leaving time for a walk through the historic centre as the lights come on.