Fernando de Noronha

In America, Diving & Snorkeling, Nordeste 2003, Hiking/Trekking On 05/11/2003 2 comments

This was the second time I visited the island. In order to remember everything, I did a buggy tour with Cinara, Carlos Alberto and José Carlos, who I met in the flight from Recife. Our guide, Bruno, showed us the most important tourist attractions of the island. We started on a tip called AirFrance, which, according to Bruno, was the place where an aircraft from that company landed. Nearby we visited “Buraco da Raquel”and “Enseada da Caieira”. Then we went to Baia do Sueste, where we did snorkeling. The place is known for having sea turtles, besides, of course, many small fishes. We saw three turtles. When we were already swimming back to the shore, the guide pinched me to show a small shark beside us. When I turn to look, he was swimming away from us.

After the snorkeling, we walked on the trails of Baia dos Golfinhos, Baia do Sancho and Baia dos Porcos. From up there we can have a great view from the Dois Irmãos islands, a postcard picture from Fernando de Noronha. Since it was too hot, it was time to go back to the water. We went to Praia de Atalaia. This beach has a controlled number of visitors a day, it is the best place for snorkeling. It looks like a gigantic aquarium of shallow water. Then we stopped a while on Praia do Leão and end up the tour in the Forte do Boldró to see the sunset from there. It is considered to be one of the most beautiful in Brazil.

The following three days I went scuba diving, one of the reasons for me to be in the island. We were diving in Ressurreta, Cagarras, Cordilheiras, Ilha do Meio, Caverna da Sapata and Laje dos Dois Irmãos. The first day of diving was impressive; we saw turtles, shark, rays and a great amount of fishes. The following dives weren’t any less; we saw lobsters, rays, sharks, dolphins, moray, small fishes and we also went into caves. On my second day of dive I had problems with my flash. I believe that the outlet where I recharged the battery wasn’t working. Unfortunately, I just found that when diving, after 5 shots I had no more battery. I missed some good photo opportunities.

The afternoons, I used to walk around the island. I visited Vila dos Remédios, Forte dos Remédios and the port. Late afternoon was the time to “bolinho de Tubalhau” (a sort of croquette made with shark) with a cold beer at the shark museum. On the evenings, the lecture of Ibama (Brazilian National Institute for the Environment) was the meeting point. There, everybody learned about sharks, turtles, dolphins and the national park.

I did a boat tour to see dolphins. It was an exclusive tour, only for a young couple and me. First we sailed for a while with the dolphins following the boat. Since they were so close to us, I laid down on the prow of the boat and put the camera in the water trying to take photos of the animals from underwater.

After that we did “aqua-sub”, a small board pulled by strong cables. It is a great way to do snorkeling. The navigation it is not hard, one can easily immerse, go up and turn. By the end of the afternoon we fished with line and hook (fishing nets are prohibited in the park area) to make sashimi in the boat. I fished the biggest one, called Cabo Velho. Since the guide said it was not delicious for eating, we throw it back into water.

On my last day I did the Atalaia and Caieras trail organized by the local guides. We were only three women from south and the guide, Reinaldo. I liked to go back to Atalaia with nobody around. It was a feeling of being in a private beach. We walked outlining the island, on sand and rocks, stopping for baths in the pools of the sea. It was a great closing for the days in Noronha. This was not my first time in the island and I believe it is not going to be the last one.