Which are the best sailing areas in Brazil?

Brazil has almost 8000 kilometres of coastline. Sailing in Brazil is an exclusive variant to explore this beautiful coast with gorgeous white sand beaches. Among international sailors and power boaters, the islands of the Costa Verde and the estuarine bays near San Salvador are especially well known. In these sailing areas, charter clients can rent powerboats, sailing yachts and catamarans by the day or even by the week. We have marked these two favorite water sports destinations of Brazil on the following overview map.

Overview map of internationally known sailing areas in Brazil

The Costa Verde is a coastal strip about 250 kilometres long between Santos in the southwest and Rio de Janeiro in the northeast. This Atlantic coast owes its name to the "Serra do Mar". This mountain range, up to 1000 meters high, frames the entire coast with an evergreen subtropical rainforest, the "Mata Atlantica".

The Costa Verde sailing area - here: Ilha Grande and Angra dos Reis

The Costa Verde's coastline is richly indented by sandy bays and granite cliffs. Offshore islands provide excellent protection against rising swells of the Atlantic Ocean.

Map of Costa Verde sailing area between Santos and Rio de Janeiro

The largest islands are "Ilhabela" at São Sebastião and "Ilha Grande" at Angra dos Reis. Along the Costa Verde, which is also called "Litoral Norte" by Paulistas, there are hundreds of islands with numerous anchorages and dreamlike sandy beaches in front of green tropical tree scenery. Further below is still a dynamic map, which you can also zoom in to study more details of this outstanding charter destination.

Drinks can not be missing on a boat charter in Brazil

The sailing area near San Salvador in the Brazilian state of Bahia, which we have marked on the overview map, has a somewhat different character. It is a relatively flat coastline, unlike the mountainous Costa Verde. The coastline south of San Salvador is divided by large estuaries, so-called estuaries. These are the Rio Paraguaçu with the Bay of All Saints (Baía de Todos os Santos), the Rio Jaguraripe and the Rio Das Almas, which flows into the Atlantic Ocean at the island of Morro de São Paulo. Especially the estuary at Morro de São Paulo is well known by sailors for its sheltered anchorages and white sandy beaches in the area. We are not able to offer charter opportunities in this Bahian area at this time.

What are the boat rental prices compared to other tropical sailing destinations?

In the low season (April to October) you can hire a modern 3-cabin sailing yacht in Brazil already from 1800 euros per week. In the peak season (November to March), a small sailboat costs about 80% more, or around 2600 euros. To rent a 40 foot sailing catamaran for 8 people on the Costa Verde, you have to calculate around 4500 euros (low season) to 7500 euros per week (high season). A skipper or hostess strikes with in each case about 110 euros per day to account. The final cleaning fee is depending on the size of the yacht between 150 to 300 euros extra.

So idyllic anchoring in the most beautiful sailing area of Brazil

What are the entry requirements for Brazil?

Brazil allows citizens of U.S. countries and Western Europe into the country without the need for a visitor visa. They can stay for 90 days. Passports must be valid for at least 6 months. Sailors of other nationalities may need a tourist visa, which is then valid for 90 days. For current changes in entry requirements, it is best to check the following information page from the Brazilian Foreign Office (unfortunately not very mobile friendly).

What are the wind conditions in Brazil?

The Brazilian coast lies in the area of a rather weak southeast trade wind. Compared to the Caribbean, however, the wind strengths are rather moderate, averaging 2 - 3 Beaufort. Often during the day thermal air currents prevail. At night it is usually rather light windy to calm. A nocturnal, light offshore wind sets in of at sunset. In the summer months, precipitation often falls in the form of tropical thundershowers, but these are usually over after one or two hours. Violent thunderstorm gusts, as known from the northern latitudes, are rather the exception. As a rule, it just rains heavily. The air temperature remains constantly high and the wind falls asleep.

How to travel to Brazil as a charter guest?

To get to the Costa Verde sailing area, the best way is to fly to Rio de Janeiro-Antônio Carlos Jobim airport (IATA code: GIG). From the airport, charter companies offer a pre-bookable shuttle service to the charter bases. The transfer from Rio airport to Angra dos Reis or Paraty takes around 2 and 3 hours respectively. Another airport is São Paulo-Guarulhos International Airport (IATA code: GRU). Often flights from Europe to São Paulo are cheaper than to Rio de Janeiro. However, one must take into account that the transfer from São Paulo with 4 - 5 hours to Paraty or to Angra dos Reis is significantly longer than the transfer from Rio de Janeiro.

The Ilha Cataguases in the sailing area south of Rio de Janeiro
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How many yacht charter companies are there in Brazil?

There are dozens of companies along the Brazilian coast that offer boat rentals. However, these are mostly day boat excursions that tourists can find by going to the excursion pier in the morning at local ports and selecting a tour. Here there are schooners, "called escunas" that offer boat excursions in full charter or join-in charter mode. These offer tourists a cruising program known in the Mediterranean as "Blue Voyage" . Furthermore, there are a variety of smaller taxi boats with skipper, who chauffeurs his guests to the top beaches and highlights of the area. Also numerous local travel agencies in Angra dos Reis or Paraty arrange such day charter tours to tourists.

Providers of charter yachts, which offer modern boats with overnight accommodations for several days to weeks, are few in Brazil. YachtBooker has been working with Brasil Yacht Charter (BYC) for over 15 years. The sailing yachts of BYC are bookable via YachtBooker with or without skipper. The monohull sailing yachts and catamarans of BYC can be reserved from the charter bases Paraty, Angra dos Reis and from Rio de Janeiro. Yachts for charter from San Salvador in Bahia are not offered at the moment.

How to charter a yacht in Brazil?

If you want to rent a sailing yacht or a motorboat as a bareboat in Brazil, you need an appropriate skipper's license of your country of origin.If you don't have a skipper's license or prefer to entrust navigating to a skipper who knows the place, you can also charter a crewed yacht. You can view charter prices for sailboat rentals from Paraty, Angra dos Reis or Rio de Janeiro. To do so, simply search for the desired date using the search form located at the top of this page and create a quote online.

In Brazil, modern and beautifully landscaped marinas have sprung up

What distinguishes Brazil as a tourist destination?

Brazil is by far the largest country in South America and is arguably one of the most beautiful on the continent. Its unique nature, the immense rainforests of the Amazon and the Mata Atlantica, the beautiful sand beaches and a varied cuisine are just some of the reasons why tourists visit Brazil. What makes Brazil incomparable, however, is the joy of life of the Brazilians, who do not miss any opportunity to devote themselves extensively to the pleasant sides of life. The famous Carnival is just one of these expressions. In fact, Brazilian society is one of the world's best examples of how different races, peoples and creeds live together peacefully and without prejudice. Even extreme differences in living standards could not shake this pervasive harmony. Racism, arrogance or disrespect are human misbehaviours that one encounters extraordinarily rarely in daily life in Brazil. This may also be one of the reasons why Brazilians of all walks of life love their own country unconditionally without cultivating a strong sense of national pride. A Brazilian is aware that in his veins flows the blood of dozens of European, African and Asian peoples.

Who are the typical charter clients traveling to Brazil?

Brazil is a 210 million people country. One out of every two Brazilians is now counted among the middle class. This large population is able to travel and is now interested in nautical leisure activities. For this reason, the predominant clients of Brazilian charter companies are mostly wealthy Brazilians. International charter clients come mainly from North America and Europe. Charter clients traveling from far away mostly favour weekly charters, while Brazilians book boats mostly by the day or over the weekend.

Which yachts can be chartered in Brazil?

For international customers from Europe and America, the models of the world's leading sailboat manufacturers are particularly attractive. These are current yacht models from the shipyards Beneteau and Lagoon as the world's leading catamaran producer.

What delicacies does Brazilian cuisine have to offer?

The dishes of Brazil, such as Feijoada, Muqueca, Churrasco or Farofa are certainly among the most versatile and tasty in the world.

This is a Moqueca de Camarão - one of the most delicious dishes in Brazil

The reason is, firstly, the influence of the many peoples and nationalities, each of which has brought their best culinary creations for Brazilian cuisine. Well-known specialties are especially seafood, healthy vegetables or juicy, animal-produced beef.

Who's mouth doesn't water at the sight of this churrasco?

As a resident of the northern hemisphere, you can only experience how wonderfully ripe and aromatic fruits, such as Mango, Maracuja, Pineapple, Papaya or the most diverse varieties of bananas can be in a tropical country like Brazil.

Although Brazilians are big fans of their local beers, cocktail lovers will get their money's worth during your Brazil trip. Drinks like Caipirinhas or Batidas de Cocco or Maracuja were invented in Brazil.

Delicious Caipririnha variants with lime, strawberry, mango and passion fruit

The sweet and aromatic fruits serve as the basis for an incredibly wide range of exotic drinks. The alcoholic component is the country's typical cachaca, pinga or vodka. Thanks to the abundant supply of ingredients available everywhere, cocktails in Brazil are enormously inexpensive. Artificial colours or flavours do not exist here and would be sacrilege. Brazilians are true masters at the bar and give their best and a lot of fun and humour to it, when they see how enthusiastic the foreign guest is. Especially at street stalls, a gringo ends up with a second full glass in the other hand after ordering the drink, because the bartender has deliberately filled the shaker to the brim and thus immediately filled an additional glass.

Below you will find a dynamic map of the most popular sailing destination in Brazil. If you click inside you will be redirected to the district Costa Verde.