Ilha de Santo Aleixo: A Perfect Day Trip

The stunning Ilha de Santo Aleixo, with white sand and surrounding coral reefs, is part of the Sirinhaém municipality — an island you can actually spot from Praia dos Carneiros or Porto de Galinhas.

It’s a volcanic island, formed from a dormant volcano, covered in coastal vegetation.

The name comes from a period of French occupation, when the island was called “Ilê Saint-Alexis” and used for harvesting brazilwood. The French were eventually driven out by the Portuguese, and later, the Dutch invaded too, only to be pushed out by the Portuguese once again.

Divers are drawn to the area for the dozens of shipwrecks scattered around the island, remnants of those historic battles.

Getting to the island

There are several ways to get to Sirinhaém — through a tour agency, a transfer service, or your own car. We drove our rental car and booked with Monteiros Tour — a tip for finding them: search the agency directly on Waze, since it’s correctly pinned there.

From there, the crossing can be made by speedboat or regular boat — we went by speedboat. Departures run between 9 and 10:30 AM, with the last return trip at 3:30 PM.

We picked this company after reading about them on other blogs, though there are others, and you’ll find tour offers right at the town entrance. You can book on-site, online, or by phone.

We genuinely loved the tour — they’re punctual and well organized, the experience was fun, and everyone was friendly. We paid R$80 per person for the round-trip boat ride, with five hours on the island.

There’s also a photography service available, with a photographer charging R$50 for a couple or R$30 individually — we skipped it, though the sample photos looked nice.

What to do at Ilha de Santo Aleixo

Just relax and enjoy the place!!! When you arrive, there’s already an umbrella, chairs, and a table set up for you, plus a bar serving food and drinks, with a full menu from starters to mains.

As soon as you sit down, they’ll ask for your preferred lunch time and dish before you head out to explore the island.

The walking tour around the island was genuinely fun, guided by “Cacau Show” and “Choquito Show,” two guides from Monteiros Tour who steal the show with their own comedy routine along the way.

They share the island’s history along the way, until you reach the natural pools at Praia da Ferradura.

The beach is beautiful, with warm, clear water, and you can spot all kinds of fish — you’ll spend about 45 minutes here before heading back on the trail.

The return trail is short and easy, so if walking is difficult for you, you can take it directly — though you’ll miss the outbound route’s great views of the blue ocean and surrounding scenery.

What to eat at Ilha de Santo Aleixo

There’s a floating restaurant, JP Restaurante e Petiscaria — you place your order with the waiters as mentioned above, and our dish was really tasty.

Right after we arrived, we ordered the fish fillet, served with salad, fries, rice, and beans, for R$89 as a couple, which arrived right on schedule.

In short, we arrived at 10:30 and left at 3:30 to catch the sunset at Porto de Galinhas, at Pontal do Maracaípe. A genuinely wonderful, sunny day.

Download the GPX file for the Ilha de Santo Aleixo trail.