A Tropical Eden on a Budget – Fernando de Noronha, Brazil

I’ve said it before (about a million times now) and I’ll say it again, Fernando de Noronha is the Paradise of Brazil. With beautiful beaches and amazing scenery, who wouldn’t want to visit it? But does that mean that it should also come with a hefty price tag?

My, “middle of the road” itinerary was $2,100 a person (gasp!). Considering that the average American doesn’t spend more than $1,979 on summer vacation, I consider this cost prohibitive. So, I asked myself, how could I have made this trip more affordable? The answer? A trip to Fernando de Noronha can be as cheap as $1,300. Check it out below, to see how!

Accommodations

Aside from your flight, your hotel or pousada is what will likely take the most out of your budget. This is basically true anywhere you travel in the world. The hotels in Fernando de Noronha can range greatly in terms of price and amenities. There is the ultimate luxury, such as Pousada Maria Bonita where prices are about $1,000 a night. These rooms are stylishly decorated, there is a pool and spa on site, and decadent breakfast is served every morning. Then, there are also the hostels such as the Euforonha Hostel, where prices are about $60 a night. Hostels will have limited amenities, no pools or spas here, though a small breakfast and free wifi are still commonplace.

We stayed in the Dolphin Hotel, which was $465 a night for a family suite, but still came with all the amenities that other luxury hotels on the island have. Since we were traveling with our kids, we weren’t willing to give up having a pool (or onsite bar for mom and dad! 🙂 )

Listen to more on Fernando de Noronha on my recent interview on The Amateur Traveler Podcast!

Travel to Fernando de Noronha, Brazil – Episode 733

Food and Drinks

Food is also incredibly expensive in Fernando de Noronha. Since the island is so protected, most products have to be imported from the main land in Brazil, which drives up the cost. But, there are ways to save money on food when staying on the island.

• Take full advantage of the free breakfast at the hotel.
• Share plates
• Drink beer

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Get Your Free Breakfast On

Again, most hotels will have some sort of free breakfast, even if it’s only a few sandwiches and some coffee and juice. Indulge in your free breakfast! It will literally be the only meal you get for “free,” and the more you eat of it the less likely you’ll be to spend money at the oh so convenient snack stands at the beaches. If you could have seen the way we ate breakfast at our hotel every morning… well some things are better left unsaid. Food tastes better when it’s free anyway right?

Share Plates – Family Style

Even though the food on the island is expensive, the portion sizes are often big enough to share. This is especially true if you are traveling with children. We commonly ordered 2 meals and 1 extra side, and that was often enough, even sometimes too much, for the four of us. So, embrace family style dining and share your plates. This is the way Brazilian food was intended to be, a manifestation of love and family connection.

Drink Beer (And Eat Pizza)

Twist your arm right? It may sound silly, but beer is one of the cheapest drinks on Fernando de Noronha, and is definitely the cheapest alcohol. This is because the beer in Brazil is typically served in large 600 ML bottles with several small cups. Full bar drinks, even the caipirinhas made with rum from Brazil, are around R$40 (~ $10). But what about soda and water you say? Due to heavy plastic restrictions on the island, soda typically comes in a can and water mostly comes in only the very large bottles. Therefore, soda and water, are only a little bit cheaper. So, YOLO and go for the beer.

Travel Tip: Pizza is the cheapest meal you can have on the island. There are several specialty pizza places, and a large pizza will run you about R$60 ($15). Eating pizza at least one night will help the budget.

Transportation

Transportation is also really expensive on the island. A buggy will run you R$300 (~$75) a day, and taxi rides of less can a mile can still cost R$30 (~$8). The bus is the cheapest way to travel at R$5 (~$1.25) per ride per person. If you are a family traveling and don’t want to rent the buggy, the bus will be the best bet. The bus will get you to the main beaches, but plan on lots of walking!

We tried the bus route for one day. After waiting for 30 minutes, we finally hopped the bus to Sancho Beach for our second time. We walked all the way down the dirt road, climbed down all the stairs, and hung out at the beach for a couple of hours. Then, we walked all the way back to the bus stop. We waited another 30 minutes, and… no bus in sight. Eventually, we hailed a taxi back to the hotel, where we stayed until it was time to go to dinner, which we walked to. At the end of the day though, we only spent roughly $13 on transportation that day.

Tours and Excursions

The typical tour or excursion on the island is R$100 to R$200 a person (~$25-$50), or more if you do scuba diving. These prices can really add up, especially if you are doing a tour every day. Since we splurged a little bit on our hotel, we didn’t do a single tour. The only thing I think we probably missed out on, was hiking some of the trails, that have to be done with a guide. Otherwise, there were park rangers and informational sheets which told us all about the endemic species on the island. It was very nice to take things at our own pace, going to whichever beach suited our fancy.

Final Count

Travel Category	Actual Cost	Saving Cost	Difference
Plane/Transportation	$958	$880	($78)
Hotel	$930	$240	($690)
Food	$127	$127	($0)
Tours/Excursions	$0	$0	($0)
Misc. Expenses	$100	$100	($0)
Total	$2,115	$1,347	($768)

But wait, we didn’t talk about flights

Unfortunately, it’s very difficult to save money on flights to Brazil, especially on flights to Fernando de Noronha. You have to be willing to fly for really long periods of time and go through different connections to get a good deal on a flight. I personally never think it’s worth losing this time unless you are a college kid with summers off. Instead, make the most of your flight by visiting another location in Brazil.

We spent the second week of our summer vacation visiting family in Belem, Brazil. Since Belem is one of the cheapest cities in all of Brazil, you can really make your dollars stretch. We spent a full day at Caripi Beach, ordering things left and right, for R$150 (~$38), and our 3 bedroom Airbnb was only $50 a night. But if you happen to have another amazing way to save money on flights to Brazil. let me know!

Do you want to know more about what there is to do on this amazing island? Here is my google map!