Private Day Trips from Rio
Ilha Grande: A Private Day by Speedboat
Leave Rio for a full private day on the Costa Verde, combining door-to-door road transportation with around five hours aboard a speedboat reserved exclusively for your group. Choose between two curated routes and let the day unfold around beaches, swimming, snorkeling and time on the water.
Private from Rio to the island — and back
The private setup begins before you reach the water.
A professional driver takes your group from Rio to the coast in a vehicle reserved for you. Your licensed guide accompanies the experience, while a separate sailor is responsible for the speedboat and navigation once you are on the water.
The boat is also reserved exclusively for your group.
That means this is not a shared boat excursion added to private transportation, nor a private boat attached to a shared transfer.
From your pick-up in Rio through the day on the water and the journey back, the experience is organized around your group.
Two ways to experience Ilha Grande
Ilha Grande offers very different kinds of days depending on where you choose to focus your time.
We begin with one of two curated routes.
The Classic Ilha Grande Route is designed around more time exploring by boat, swimming, snorkeling and moving between islands, lagoons and sheltered beaches.
The Lopes Mendes Route makes one of Ilha Grande’s best-known ocean-facing beaches a central part of the day, combining boat travel with time ashore and a forest trail.
Neither is a better version of the other.
They are simply two different ways to use your hours on the island.
Classic Ilha Grande Route
If being on the water is a large part of what brought you to Ilha Grande, this is the natural starting point.
The planned route normally brings together:
- Cataguases Island
- Blue Lagoon
- Grumixama Beach
- Freguesia de Santana Beach
- Saco do Céu
The emphasis is on moving through different parts of the island environment, with opportunities for swimming and snorkeling along the way.
Rather than building the day around one major beach, the Classic route lets the boat journey itself become a large part of the experience.
The order of the stops can change, and an individual stop may need to be adjusted when sea, weather or operational conditions make another plan more appropriate.
Lopes Mendes Route
Choose this route when reaching Lopes Mendes Beach is one of the priorities of your day.
The planned route normally includes:
- Pouso Beach
- Lopes Mendes Beach
- Iguaçu Beach
- Saco do Céu
The boat reaches Pouso Beach, from where Lopes Mendes is accessed by a forest trail.
Lopes Mendes faces the open-ocean side of Ilha Grande, which also means sea and trail conditions matter more to the way this version of the day operates.
This is not the Classic route with an extra beach added.
Making Lopes Mendes a priority changes how the available boat time is used and therefore changes the rest of the day.
What the day looks like
Your guide and driver pick you up at the agreed location in Rio and travel with you toward the coast.
Ilha Grande is part of the municipality of Angra dos Reis, on Rio de Janeiro state’s Costa Verde. The names Ilha Grande and Angra dos Reis are often used together when travelers look for boat trips in the region, but this experience is specifically built around Ilha Grande and its surrounding waters. For this day, the road journey from Rio takes you to Mangaratiba for boarding.
Once there, the road journey gives way to the second part of the experience: approximately five hours aboard your private speedboat.
Your sailor takes responsibility for navigation while your guide remains with the group throughout the day.
After completing the planned boat experience, you return to the coast, meet your road transportation again and continue privately back to Rio.
The complete experience usually takes around 10 to 12 hours, with road conditions, boarding, navigation and the rhythm of the day all contributing to the final duration.
The sea shapes the final route
A private boat gives us flexibility.
It does not override the sea.
The routes on this page are genuine planned routes, but the exact order — and occasionally the viability of an individual stop — can change because of sea conditions, weather, safety, local operating conditions or the sailor’s assessment.
That is not a failure of the itinerary. It is part of operating responsibly on the water.
The sailor’s judgment and safe navigation always take priority over following a list of stops exactly as written.
Make the day yours
Choosing between the Classic and Lopes Mendes routes gives the day its basic structure.
From there, tell us what matters most.
Perhaps you want more time swimming. Maybe snorkeling is a priority. Perhaps you would rather spend longer on a particular beach than move quickly between several stops.
Where conditions and logistics allow, we can shape the pace and adjust parts of the experience around those priorities.
What we do not promise is an arbitrary route regardless of conditions.
Ilha Grande is a maritime experience, and good personalization means working intelligently with the island and the sea rather than pretending they follow a fixed script.
Is this day right for you?
Ilha Grande may suit you especially well if you:
- want to spend a substantial part of the day on the water;
- prefer a private speedboat to a shared excursion;
- enjoy beaches, swimming or snorkeling;
- want to leave Rio for the Costa Verde while keeping the entire experience private;
- are comfortable with a long day that combines road travel and boat time;
- understand that conditions on the water can influence the final route.
If your interests are more strongly focused on Brazilian history, architecture and museums, Petrópolis offers a very different kind of day.
What’s usually included
The standard private setup normally includes:
- private road transportation from and back to Rio de Janeiro;
- a professional driver dedicated to the road journey;
- a licensed tour guide in the language arranged for your group;
- a private speedboat for approximately five hours;
- a sailor responsible for navigation and safety;
- snorkeling equipment;
- complimentary bottled water.
The exact route and any additional arrangements are confirmed in your proposal before you decide.
Lunch
Both routes can be planned with time for lunch, often around Saco do Céu.
The meal and drinks are not included and are paid directly at the restaurant.
A possible stop is Restaurante Gruta das Estrelas, subject to its availability and to how the route is operating that day.
Lunch is part of the planning rather than a fixed promise that overrides sea conditions or the rhythm of the experience.
Onboard barbecue
If you would like to include a barbecue aboard the boat, ask us while we are arranging your day.
It needs to be requested in advance and is subject to availability and confirmation.
It is not part of the standard setup. If selected, the arrangement and its cost are included clearly in your proposal.
A barbecue does not automatically replace a possible lunch stop unless that is how we agree to organize your day.
Planning a day on the water
Ilha Grande is one of our longest day trips from Rio.
The complete experience usually takes 10 to 12 hours, including the road journey, boarding, approximately five hours on the water and the return to Rio.
A light change in weather does not necessarily mean the day cannot operate, but maritime conditions always need to be suitable for safe navigation.
Conditions can also affect the sequence of the route or whether a particular stop makes sense on that day.
We plan around the experience you want while leaving the final operational decisions where they belong: with current conditions and the professionals responsible for your safety.
How pricing works
Ilha Grande is quote-first because the final setup depends on your group and how you want to experience the day.
The Classic and Lopes Mendes routes use the available hours differently. Group size, boat requirements, optional arrangements such as the onboard barbecue and other agreed details can also affect the proposal.
Tell us your date, group size and which kind of Ilha Grande day appeals to you.
We will confirm the appropriate setup and send a clear proposal showing the planned route and exactly what is included.
Ready to spend the day on Ilha Grande?
Choose the Classic route, make Lopes Mendes the focus, or tell us what matters most to you on the water. We’ll shape the day around your group while keeping the route grounded in the conditions that make a safe and enjoyable day at sea possible.