We’d earmarked Ilha do Mel as our first stop post-world cup (well, post Australia’s world cup anyway), for a spot of tropical island beach time and a small respite from the football (for me at least). Everything we’d read raved about Ilha do Mel (island of honey) and how lovely it is. We couldn’t have been more disappointed.
Catching the boat from a small harbour at Pontal do Sul outside Paranagua, we arrived at Encantadas (“Charming”) beach only to discover that there really was no beach to speak of; at high tide the water came right up to foundations of the restaurants lining the bay; meaning we had to walk from one patio to the next, and were we weren’t able to, step down and wade in the surf, to get from the jetty to our posada, which was located at the very far end of the beach and then a good 5 minute walk inland. The posada itself (Posada Vagalume) was quite sweet, newly built and with lots of homely touches like hand-knitted rugs and cushions, and the setting amongst stunning rainforest went a long way to making up to lack of proximity to the beach. We spent a pleasant enough evening in Encantadas chatting and drinking beers with a nice British couple we’d met of the boat over but decided to get up early the next morning and head over to check out the other beach, Nova Brasília.
Brasília was described as being the “honeymooners’ beach” to Encantadas’ “backpacker beach” but to be honest, it still felt plenty backpackery to us, full of cheap little guesthouses and open-air restaurants (95% of which were all closed up for the winter unfortunately). We checked into Posada Girasol, another cute but basic place (but at 2/3s of what we’d paid in Encantadas, probably due to not booking ahead online) then set out to explore area. Brasília definitely did have a much better beach; not the best quality sand but it must be about 10km long and we had at least a kilometre of it entirely to ourselves. After splashing around for a while then climbing up to the lighthouse and taking in the view of the island, we grabbed some lunch at what appeared to be the only restaurant open in the village, then set out to walk to the other end of the island to the ruins of a Portuguese fort. After walking a good hour and a half along the beach, we reached the fort but couldn’t quite figure out how to get inside and as it getting late in the day, decided we’d best turn around and head back. Luckily the walk along the beach was so pleasant, especially as the sun began to set, that we really didn’t mind not climbing the fort too much at all.
Back in town, it was back to the only restaurant again for dinner, a couple of beers and the USA v Germany football match (silly me, of course I wasn’t getting away from football that easily!). Next morning, we decided to call time on Ilha do Mel and head back to continue our adventures on the mainland.
I think, had we not been there off-off season and had there were a few more people about and places open for business, Ilha do Mel could have been a fun little place to chill out for a few days, unfortunately it was just too dead when we were there and the beaches just weren’t special enough to make it the “get away from it all” island paradise we’d been hoping for.
Eat The World 