Everyone who thought about visiting this island has asked this question at least once: “How expensive is Fernando de Noronha? Can I afford it?” In this post you will find all you need to know about fees and daily expenses on the island with real examples from a person who spent only a couple of days there

Fernando de Noronha is a luxury travel destination for many. But, what is it that makes it so expensive? Is it the flight tickets? Or the accommodation? Or even the activities that you do? I will explain everything in detail in this blog post, so that you can organise your budget and plan your dream trip.

Noronha is an island, which obviously, leads to more expensive products, as they need to be imported. Most products will cost 4x more than anywhere else in Brazil, and meals will be about 3 to 4x more expensive than a regular meal in Rio de Janeiro.

Due to the prices on the island, accommodation can be very expensive too. Although it varies according to the season, it generally ranges between £55 to £750 a night.

But the true reason why Fernando de Noronha becomes extremely expensive is because of its fees. Yes, you read it well, fees – and you will have to pay them no matter what you eat, or where you sleep.

When trying to understand how expensive Fernando de Noronha is, we have to look at its fees. There are two different ones: one is mandatory for all visitors (TPA), while the other is only applicable if you visit certain areas of the island (PARNAMAR). I will explain both of them properly below.

When you arrive at the airport, just like I explained in my blog post “All you need to know about Fernando de Noronha“, you will have to fill out a migration control form and pay this fee. The fee is independent of what types of activities you do on the island, and the amount to pay depends on the number of days you spend there: the longer you stay, the more you pay. Values might vary over the years, but they currently start at R$92,89 (£15) for one day and can go up to R$6550.33 (£1058.53) for a whole month spent on the island. Yep, that’s right – over 1 thousand pounds just to stay on the island for a month, no accommodation, no activities, no meals, nothing included.

No matter who you are and what brings you to paradise, this fee will be waiting for you even before you get your luggage in the hotel. Exceptions are only for residents, and visitors pay the same fee regardless of their nationality.

To speed things up, you can pay for this fee online. If you don’t, you will have to pay this at the airport instead and there isn’t a way to escape this payment.

To have access to certain beaches and hikes on the island (the ones in the Marine National Park area), you will have to purchase a PARNAMAR card. This includes Dolphin’s Bay, Pig’s Bay, Sancho, Sueste, Leão and Atalaia beaches and Morro São José (swimming), Abreus, Atalaia and Capim-açu hikes. While you can’t book the hikes online, you can certainly purchase the PARNAMAR card in advance. This card will cost R$179 (£28.92) if you’re Brazilian (half price) and R$358 (£57.84) if you’re not, and will be valid for 10 days. Anyone who wishes to visit this area and is between 12 and 60 years old will have to pay for it. Those who do not have to pay for it will still have to register their details and get the access card.

You can pay for the card or collect it if paid online (you will receive a voucher that you must bring with you for collection) at one of the following points:

• ICMBio Visitors Centre (Boldró): 8am-7pm

• PIC do Golfinho Sancho: 9am-5pm

• PIC do Sueste: 9am-4pm

See the payment/collection points on the map below (brown info sign) and all beaches/hikes available on the island.

Please note that, even though this is not a fee you have to pay to enter the island, you will not be able to visit one of the, if not THE best beaches on the whole island, and you won’t be able to do the Ilha Tour without it.

If we don’t consider accommodation, flight tickets and activities (since this will vary a lot according to your budget, interest and the season you visit), we can get an idea of how much you will possibly spend per day on the island. In general, you might spend about R$20 to R$120 a day on transportation (again, it will depend if you take a bus, or taxi for example), and around R$100-140 per meal if you eat at an average restaurant.

Here are my rough calculations for one person per day on the island:

• 1 Day: I wouldn’t recommend visiting the island for only one day, since it’s so expensive to go, and you won’t see much in 24h alone. You should definitely spend more than two days there, but I will start the daily expenses at two days, in case you are short in time like I was when I visited (I only had 2 days and a half as I had to be in another location afterwards).

• 2 Days: R$185.77 (£29.97) TPA + R$358 (£57.84) PARNAMAR + R$600 (£96.80) 🍽️ + R$120 (£19.36) 🚕 = R$1,263.77 (£203.89)

• 3 Days: R$278.66 (£44.96) TPA + R$358 (£57.84) PARNAMAR + R$900 (£145.20) 🍽️ + R$180 (£29.04) 🚕 = R$1,716.66 (£276.96)

• 4 Days: R$371.54 (£59.94) TPA + R$358 (£57.84) PARNAMAR + R$1200 (£193.60) 🍽️ + R$240 (£38.72) 🚕 = R$2,169.54 (£350.02)

• 5 Days: R$457 (£73.73) TPA + R$358 (£57.84) PARNAMAR + R$1500 (£242) 🍽️ + R$300 (£48.40) 🚕 = R$2,615 (£421.89)

• 6 Days: R$523.88 (£84.52) TPA + R$358 (£57.84) PARNAMAR + R$1800 (£290.40) 🍽️ + R$360 (£58.08) 🚕 = R$3,041.88 (£490.76)

• 7 Days: R$590.76 (£95.31) TPA + R$358 (£57.84) PARNAMAR + R$2100 (£338.80) 🍽️ + R$420 (£67.76) 🚕 = R$3,468.76 (£559.63)

But Fernando de Noronha doesn’t have to be that expensive. You can easily decrease the amount of money you spend on food by eating at self-service or low-cost restaurants (such as Restaurante Do Valdenio, Restaurante Da Maezinha, Tapiocaria da Babalu and Restaurante do Jacare), or even cook your meals if you have the chance. Avoid expensive restaurants such as Restaurante Varanda and Xica da Silva if you’re on a budget.

You can also save on commuting by walking more and using the public bus.

What I spent in two and a half days, back in 2019 (definitely cheaper then):

• £267.84 Flight Tickets (£133.85 + £133.99)

• £36 Accommodation (hostel)

• £69 Fees (£28 TPA + £41 PARNAMAR)

• £60.92 Ilha Tour + Boat Tour (discounted package)

• £5.54 Commuting (0.92 bus ticket + £4.62 taxi to airport)

• £35 Food (1 lunch at self-service restaurant + 1 lunch at an average restaurant + snacks at small shop)

• £30 Shopping (rain coat + sunscreen and mosquito repellent + hat)

• TOTAL: £504.3

Fernando de Noronha was, without a doubt, the most expensive trip I have ever done. That being said, I managed to save a lot of money by staying at a hostel, walking a lot, buying snacks and fruit for breakfast, as well as saving leftovers from my lunch for dinner.

And I truly hope this post was helpful! I wrote it with lots of love and tears as I lost all content when I was about to publish it, and had to write it all again! 😭 So… hopefully all of those double hours working on this helped you when traveling to this amazing island.

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