Great place to visit - The ceviche in the boat was wonderful. The ride on the boat was smooth and the places we stopped were really nice.

Great tour but book option without lunch. - The tour was very good and very fun. The choice of restaurant for the lunch included was not good. The food was not fresh and it was a buffet style. Everything else was fine.

It was nice to get out of... - It was nice to get out of the city for a day....diving in the blue lagoon and watching the fish is definitely worth it

Bring some drinks and food because it takes hours until you get to take the boat - When you buy the excursion, they don't explain to you that you have a 3-hour bus ride there and the same time back. The boat excursion is nice. He stops at 4 places very close to each other, only to say that he is going to 4 islands. You can jump into the water. There are drinks. And on the last island free lunch without drinks or dessert. With 40 minutes left to get to the boat, they make a 1-hour stop to buy souvenirs and eat something. It is not necessary but it is part of the business

Much too far for a day trip - In my opinion, this itinerary is far too long to enjoy as a day trip. You can catch the Costa Verde bus (their ticketing is downstairs in the bus station) at the Rio Novo bus station for about R$50 each way or $13 US dollars. I sure the bus tours work if you get a good one but Costa Verde bus service is always pretty good and will make a brief stop half way there for the restroom (clean) and a snack. Get off in the village of Conceicao de Jacare, then walk to the water and you will find a number of boat options to Ilha Grande. Those range between R$25 or $R50 depending on whether you want a quick ride or a scenic tour. The quick boat trip is maybe 30 minutes. You can use your favorite room booking app to get a hotel room, a portion of a house like upstairs in a two story or more extravagant or much cheaper but I am not a hostel guy. There are some nice well maintained nature walks and a number of beaches like the black sand beach or the one close to the small prison that was used there. You can also explore the village of Abraao. You can swim in clean water at the beaches or catch a boat taxi to the beaches and coves, but you will not be alone, this is a tourist destination for many Brazilaros. There are some restaurants that do OK but this is not a foodie destination, and the restaurants tend to cost a little more since everything comes in boats. Ilha Grande is mostly a large nature preserve and I have not explored it all but it is a beautiful place and has something for just about everyone. Oh yeah, some scuba tours are there but I have yet to try one. I ran out of weight in my bags bringing so many things for my friends, I could not bring my regulator. I prefer to use at least my own gear that is important to keep you alive, bcd, regulator and computer ;-). I would give Ilha Grande 4 stars on my own, fyi the return to Rio could be a traffic nightmare in the late afternoon and early evening.

It was ok. Good if you want to get out of the city, but overpriced for what you get. - We were staying at a hotel in Copacabana, and they had us meet at another hotel (15min walk away). The tour guide Eli just about ignored me when he called out my name and I had to tell him 3 times it was me. There were a good mix of people on the excursion, and Eli would speak in both Portuguese or English. I noticed that the English parts were much shorter than the Portuguese narration. But also, there was very little of this... not like some of the excursions I've taken elsewhere where there is more history and facts shared during the drive. I spent the bulk of the 3 hour drive sleeping since there wasn't anything being shared.The entire boat ride there's no guided tour, either. It was mostly musicians and then eating "appetizers" which were huge portions (they were good though) and drinking. We were there at the end of October, and so it already felt a bit chilly where we were, and if you wanted to get down at either of the two swimming stops, you had to jump into the water because there were no docks for those stops. We weren't able to swim at the first island/beach because the water was really choppy and the boat couldn't get close. So they gave us a full hour at the 2nd stop. It was nicer than Copacabana for the fact that the waters felt a bit more tame (in comparison) and that it felt more private, but honestly nothing super special about it (I lived in Hawaii for a while, so I might have a very particular preference when it comes to beaches). The third stop was where we ate. The food was really good (I love the fish and black beans), and it was cute enough to take pictures until we board back onto the boat.The last stop was this church on an island. It was gorgeous, but really nothing to see, we couldn't really go inside or anything. I don't even really know the story of the church. Would've been nice to get some kind of background/guided information about what I was seeing.The ride back was the same, quiet ride back to town. This tour is probably better if you really intend on swimming—and if so, maybe do so during the warmer Rio months when hopefully the water is more calm as well. It was great to get outside of the city (I did a city tour as well, and you pretty much see it all in a day), so all in all, I'm still happy I went and was able to see the beautiful sights outside of the city, but I think I had high expectations for this and felt like it was a bit of a bust.

They canceled my Tour - Not very serious agency, they did not come to pick us up at the meeting point which was at 7 am, they canceled the excursion due to an error on their part regarding data registration, so they informed us A lack of respect for more than an hour waiting with a little girl. I wouldn't recommend it.

Not worth it for English speaking tourists AVOID - The only positive was, we were picked up on time. The tour guide used google translate to communicate with us, when specifically stating this is an English spoken tour, when getting onto the boat, the essential safety instructions where not in English which is vital and dangerous and the spokes person did not speak in English, therefore had no idea what we were seeing on the islands and also which island was which. We were unclear on the meeting points and return times. When it came to lunch, this was suppose to be part of the package tour booked, however they did not cater for vegetarians when asked! Which was very fustrating, we ended up ordering separate food not part of the buffet and had to pay for this separately. I voiced this concern with your guide via google translate and was told a partial refund can be issued as we did not have the buffet meal, when applying for the partial refund, this was refused! Therefore we feel we have been robbed and it was not worth the money as we learnt nothing from this tour.

Tour to the same spot just 30 feet away from the previous - Other customers were actively coughing and sniffling on the tour bus. I was first on and asleep until there was an unscheduled stop for a couple to get off. I realized 30 minutes later why and the guild didn't seem to care that he let sick people on the bus. This tour took 2 hours to get to the location, late boat, 30 min ride to a cove where you could see a break in the land and ocean on the other side. Decently cool, they had an option to buy some underwater pictures. tons of fish. Then the boat started again and instead of going anywhere really new, went around the peninsula to a beach next to the spot we were just at...30 minutes, then moved to literally the other side of the cove...at this point 5 out of 75 people jumped in as everyone was displeased that it was the same spot.

Very long and stressful journey - While in Rio, we booked several tours and activities in and out of city. We were having a great time all along until we took this tour. Pickup was arranged for 7:30 am and our guide arrived at 8:20 am. They came with a minibus and they told us we will be all transferred to a big bus waiting for us just across the street. As we got onto the bus the guide explained that we were on the was to Angra and that we might find some traffic along the way as it was weekend. However, she said there was nothing to worry our boat we will be waiting for us and we will have all services available. She did not mention that we had to make another 10 stops around the city to pick up more passengers, which took almost an additional 2 hours! At noon we made a 45 minute stop at a service area that was packed with tour buses and people rushing around to use washrooms and to buy snacks and drinks. The line ups were huge and we only managed to go to the washroom. We arrived in Angra at 2:20 pm after a long stretch of bumpy and curvy road. Many passengers were feeling sick and exhausted. We were rushed to our boat along with another large group. We were packed like sardines and some people ended up standing. A lady came around to get our drink orders and we both asked for Coca Cola, while many other people got beers or cocktails. They got served, but we never got our drinks. When my husband went over to the bar to ask about our Coca Colas they try to add them as 2nd order to the tab. It is not about having to pay few extra reals, but it was upsetting as they cared more for people that were ordering alcohol and who later would order more alcohol and most likely snacks. I get sea sick and I never eat or drink on a boat. We made first couple of swim stops in very crowded areas. We were forced do swim around our boat only as it was too dangerous to swim any further due to other boats passing by. The Blue Lagoon was disappointing. W could not see anything. We were again squeezed between many larger and smaller boats. Our lunch was really a dinner as it was served at 5 pm. We were told it was a buffet lunch. The restaurant was right at the beach also packed with people from different boats. The food choice consisted of lettuce, tomatoes, cooked fish, fried chicken, rice and beans. Nothing to do with the buffet as they were constantly running out of food and people kept queuing. They gave us 45 minutes for lunch, but some people did not even manage to get any food at all. We were at the pier promptly at 5:45 as asked and we had to wait for 3 other boats to load their passengers, with many passengers still missing (eating at the restaurant) and guides getting frustrated and yelling at people. It was just a complete disaster. Then we made our last stop. That beach was small and stil very crowded. At that point we really lost interest in swimming as there was only one tiny part of the beach that you could swim at. On the way back they told us we had to pay for our tabs or we would not be allowed out of the boat. Most of the guests paid, but there were some that were trying to avoid. At that point the guide told us that no one will be allowed to leave the boat until all bills were settled. This was beyond ridiculous! Instead of giving each person/couple who paid a receipt and have them show it before exiting the boat, they were holding us all hostages! We were constantly rushed throughout the tour, provided misleading information and at the end even threatened! We returned at the port after 8 pm and at the hotel at midnight. It was such a waste of time and I would not recommend this tour to anyone.