Things to do
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Parque Estadual
The state park covering most of the island in Atlantic forest, with a network of numbered trails linking the beaches and the summits. The forest survived because the island held a prison and a leper colony and was closed to development.
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Cachoeira da Feiticeira
A fifteen metre fall into a cold pool in the forest above the Saco do Céu shore, reached on foot from Abraão in about ninety minutes or by boat to the beach below it. The trail is muddy for most of the year.
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Dois Rios
A village on the ocean shore reached by a forest track across the island, and the site of the Cândido Mendes penal institute, whose ruins were left standing when it closed. A university research centre now runs the site and a small museum.
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Lagoa Azul
A shallow pool of clear water held between islets off the north coast, where schooners anchor and passengers snorkel over the rock. It is the first stop on almost every boat trip out of Abraão, so it is emptiest early.
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Pico do Papagaio
A granite summit of 990 metres above Abraão, climbed in about four hours through Atlantic forest with a scramble and a fixed rope at the top. Walkers who set out before dawn get the Angra bay coming out of the mist below them.
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Praia de Lopes Mendes
Three kilometres of fine white sand on the ocean side of the island, reached by boat to Pouso and then a walk over the headland. Nothing is built on it, the swell makes it the island's surf beach, and there is no shade to speak of.
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Praia do Aventureiro
A protected beach on the far southwest shore with a leaning palm bent over the sand and a caiçara community of a few dozen people behind it. Visitor numbers are capped, and it is reached by boat or by a long trail from Provetá.