The ferry from São Sebastião to Ilhabela is a short crossing of about fifteen minutes across a narrow channel, and it is the only way for vehicles to reach the island. Ilhabela, the largest sea island in Brazil, is a steep, forested mountain rising out of the Atlantic, with beaches, waterfalls and a handful of villages scattered around its shore. The mainland side is São Sebastião, a port town of over seventy-five thousand people with a historic centre of colonial churches and a working harbour.
The Rio-Santos Highway, which runs along this part of the São Paulo coast, is a famous road, with rolling bends, jungle-covered slopes dropping to the sea, and hidden beaches. It runs between the Serra do Mar, the mountain range that rises behind the coast, and the ocean, and the Atlantic Forest, one of the most diverse and threatened ecosystems on the planet, clings to every slope. The road is generally well surfaced, but heavy rain can cause landslides, and in holiday periods traffic can be extremely slow.
For riders, the ferry is a fun and sometimes frustrating part of the journey. Queues can be long on weekends and in summer, with a wait of an hour or more, so arrive early or on a weekday. Motorcycles are generally loaded first or squeezed in, and the crew will guide you. Keep your documents handy and have cash for the fare.
São Sebastião has fuel stations, supermarkets and restaurants, and Caraguatatuba, about twenty kilometres south-west, is larger and has more services. On the island, fuel is available but more expensive. Remember that biting flies, called borrachudos, are active at dusk on the beaches, so bring repellent. The sea is warm, the beaches are lovely and the mountain scenery is dramatic, but be careful in the rain, when the road can be slippery and visibility poor.