Praia da Trindade Paraty

About 25km south of Paraty, Trindade occupies a long sweep of stunningly beautiful coastline. Here you can lounge or hike along four of Brazil’s most dazzling beaches (Cepilho, Ranchos, Meio and Cachadaço), with surging breakers, enormous boulders, vast expanses of mountain-fringed white sand, steep trails threading through the dense jungle, and a calm-watered natural swimming pool opposite the furthest beach, Cachadaço. Hourly Colitur buses (R$4.25, 45 minutes) serve Trindade from Paraty’s bus station. The town itself has the somewhat scraggly quality of a frontier outpost that’s grown up too fast (indeed, 25 years ago there was only a small fishing village here), but the sizeable cluster of pousadas, hostels, camping grounds and restaurants permits an overnight stay.