Travel Log: Fernando de Noronha, Brazil

I recently returned from a trip to Brazil, it’s been a long time since I did a travel-related post (I’ve still been traveling, just not blogging about it). This was a trip-of-a-lifetime (one of several I’ve had!) stuff. I was in Brasilia, Olinda, Recifi and Fernando de Noronha. This post is specifically about the 7 days I got to spend at Fernando de Noronha, on a dive trip.

It’s an island about 300km off the coast of north-eastern Brazil. It’s a marine and wildlife sanctuary. There are two flights a day, and they limit the amount of visitors. You pay an environmental impact tax just to be there, and if you dive, you pay an addition environmental impact tax for each dive. This is one of the few times in my life I was OK with paying taxes!

Here’s what it looked like on the approach:

Some highpoints of the trip:

• Although there was no cellular data service available, there were some WiFi hotspots, and I had a couple of translator applications on my Windows Phone 7. Almost all the tourists, I’d say 99.8% were Brazilians, and there was VERY little English. The translator apps came in very handy. Plus, it was GREAT watching people’s faces after I typed something in and then my phone spoke to them in Portuguese (“any sufficiently advanced technology seems like magic”).
• One day we had four advanced divers on a boat to ourselves (plus divemasters and crew). We did an underwater mountain dive. Basically you did a giant stride into the water and then IMMEDIATELY dropped to about 40 meters, else you would get swept out to sea. Fun dive, and absolutely advanced, the current was very strong.
• The night dive. I always like night dives, and this was no different. We met up with the resident giant grouper (and I do mean GIANT) and he hung out with us for quite a while. I know it may sound cruel, but… we shone our lights on the fish in front of him, we wanted to see him feed. He did not disappoint. Someone’s light hit a decent size blue fish, there was a quick puff of sand, and the blue fish was just gone/poof/erased. Just like something on the Discovery channel, but right there a few feet in front of us.
• The team at Atlantis Divers. They were just top-notch. Took great care of us, all logistics were handled efficiently and professional, and their equipment and boats were good. If there were English-speaking divers they made sure there were English-speaking dive masters. They take pride in their operation, and were just a joy to dive with. Highly recommended.

They sent photographers, and once, a videographer, down with us.

The video is available here. If you’re a diver, you should check it out, amazing place to go diving. I’ve done lots of dives, probably over 300 in many of the world’s top dive spots, and this was some of the best I’ve ever done.

Dive photos:

Again, if you like the pictures, check out the video, you’ll love it.

Dolphins. There were LOTS of them, more than I’ve ever seen in one place.

Nice to see a hyperbaric chamber on the island, hopefully not used often!

These three photos go together. First, to get to the beach, you had to go down a 30ft or so worn metal ladder (photo is looking straight down). It was wet and slippery, and some rungs looked past their prime. Not for the squeamish, or the claustrophobic, as it got quite narrow in parts. The beach is what you see below, notice the crowds. And, the little crab was guarding the beach.

Then there was the après-dive time:

Samba party:

Lots of good meals!

These buggies are the primary mode of transport. Seat belts required, although not if you’re cramming people into places where there are no seats, and there are apparently no rules about how many people you can cram on/in. We had a fun race back across the island.

Prices were inflated, as you would expect, and the US exchange rate hurt, but it was well worth it. I intend to go back, but next time with a Brazilian, or with better Portuguese skills.