Things to do
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Baía dos Porcos
A short scramble over volcanic rock from Cacimba do Padre, only passable at low tide, opening onto pools that fill between the boulders. The twin stacks of Dois Irmãos stand directly offshore, which is the reason most people make the crossing.
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Forte de Nossa Senhora dos Remédios
A Portuguese fort begun in 1737 on the headland above Vila dos Remédios, the largest of the ring of works built to hold the archipelago after the French were pushed off it. Walls and cannon survive, and the terrace takes the sunset over the harbour.
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Morro do Pico
The volcanic plug at the centre of the island, a little over three hundred metres of near vertical rock left standing after softer ground eroded around it. Climbing is not permitted, so it works as the island's compass rather than as a walk.
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Praia da Conceição
The long town beach under Morro do Pico, the easiest sand to walk to from the pousadas and the one with kiosks and surf schools along it. Swell reaches this shore between December and March, which is when the island's surfing season runs.
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Baía do Sancho
Sand held between two cliffs on the sheltered north shore, reached by ladders bolted into a cleft in the rock and a stair down through it. The water is calm enough to snorkel for most of the year, and the descent runs one way when the queue builds.
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Baía dos Golfinhos
A narrow inlet on the western shore where spinner dolphins rest through the morning, closed to boats and to swimmers. Watching is done from a clifftop deck reached on foot from the Sancho trail, and the count is highest soon after first light.
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Morro Dois Irmãos
Two basalt stacks rising straight from the sea off the western tip of the island, the silhouette that stands in for Noronha on every poster. They read best from Baía dos Porcos at low tide, or from a boat rounding the point in the afternoon.
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Parque Nacional Marinho
The federal marine park created in 1988, covering most of the archipelago's land and the water around it, and the reason visitor numbers, trails and beaches are all rationed. Entry is a separate ticket from the environmental fee everyone pays on arrival.
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Pousada Maravilha
Eight bungalows on a slope above Baía do Sueste, arranged so each one looks down the length of the bay, with a pool set on the edge of the drop. It is the island's best known address and books out months ahead in the dry season.
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Pousada Zé Maria
A long established pousada below Morro do Pico, built up the hillside in gardens with the peak filling the view from the pool. Its Wednesday and Saturday buffet is an island institution and is open to guests of other pousadas.
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Praia do Leão
The longest beach on the exposed southern shore, named for a rock offshore that carries the shape of a resting sea lion. Green turtles nest along it in the first half of the year, when stretches of sand are roped off and the shore break makes swimming hard work.
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Praia do Sueste
A mangrove backed bay inside the marine park where green turtles feed in the shallows over seagrass. Snorkellers go in wearing a life jacket and no fins, in numbers capped by the park guards, and reef sharks work the edge of the sandbar.