Fernando de Noronha as a UNESCO preserved island surrounded by a small archipelago. The are coral reefs and wildlife reserves all around the island which the island is famous for as well as its spectacular beaches including the one voted the best in Brazil. Visiting the island is a special treat but this does come at a price. You pay a local tax/fee at the airport dependant on how many days you are staying which is fair enough as the fees go to the upkeep of the island and employing the locals. However soon after this we found out that most of the island is 'managed' by a private company and you need to buy a pass to visit the 'private' beaches. Without this pass you can only visit 1-2 beaches on the island and most of the sight seeing and activities involve the other beaches.

With the complaining out of the way and our minds set on enjoying the place we encountered some unique activities. On one beach was a nesting reserve for turtles were they could be surveyed and monitored. We were able to watch some of them being brought to shore and measured before being put back in the ocean, while some of the crew did some snorkeling and viewed the diverse sea life..including some 'tame' sharks. We also took a boat cruise around the island to see some of the beaches and natural rock formations, some more snorkeling for some but the most exciting part was the encountering of hundreds of dolphins. They were playfully swimming in the streams below the boat as we cruised around the island and provided a lot of entertainment for all on board. I think I even saw Amity out there Lexi!

I got involved in some more snorkeling as we were allowed to explore a natural rock pool that only forms at low tide and provides a haven for lots of fish and coral. This is another new experience for me that I was beginning to enjoy more and more. In the afternoon we made our way to Praia de Sancho which was voted the best beach in Brazil. It is basically a deserted beach surrounded by high cliffs and palm trees but the setting is almost fictional. You have to climb down a couple of steep ladders in between the rock formations to get to the beach though and you feel almost like Indiana Jones (or maybe that's just me). After a few hours in the blazing sun enjoying the challenging waves we climbed our way up to the lookout to enjoy the sunset.

Our final day was quite chilled as we just spent a 'normal' day on the beach, however I had another new experience. I was getting some final sea action and was diving under some of the waves when I noticed under one of them, a decent sized dark shadow. Was that what I thought it was? Yes, it was a shark only about 3 metres away. I decided I wasn't going to dive under that particular wave and casually made my way back to the beach. Apparently the sharks here don't bother humans but I wasn't going to take a chance as I quite liked having all four limbs.