The Fernando de Noronha archipelago is the perfect vacation spot for everyone with its turquoise seas and golden yellow cliffs. Made up of a main island and twenty satellite islets, it’s located 150 miles from the Brazilian mainland in the southern Atlantic. Although the main island is small (only 6 miles long and no more than 2 miles wide) it is known for its spectacular beaches. The waters have no pollution from the Brazilian mainland and is almost completely clear 100 feet into the water. The most significant landmark is the volcanic plug, Morro do Pico, standing 1,050 feet high. Only about half of the island is covered in forest because most of it was cleared when the island served as a political prison, to keep prisoners from hiding and creating rafts to escape.
Although the island usually has tourists, only 420 people are allowed on the island at a time. It can be expensive because everyone who goes to Fernando de Noronha must pay an environmental tax on entry. Seventy percent of the island is a marine national park so the inhabitants are very serious about the marine life and how to protect it. In their school they even have marine conservation programs for the students. One of these is Baia dos Golfinhos, a sanctuary bay for spinner dolphins, where human access is excluded.
-Emily and Mike
2 Responses to Fernando de Noronha