Brazil Ferries: Routes, Ports & Operators

Rio’s classic commuter ferry across Guanabara Bay: Barcas Rio boats link Praça XV in downtown Rio with Praça Arariboia in central Niterói in up to 22 minutes.

Barcas Rio’s weekday catamaran to Charitas serves Niterói’s southern bay-front neighbourhoods, taking up to 28 minutes from Praça XV.

The ferry to car-free Paquetá, a leafy island neighbourhood of Rio in the north of Guanabara Bay, sails from Praça XV around a dozen times a day and takes up to 81 minutes.

The public ferry from Angra dos Reis to Vila do Abraão, the car-free village that is the gateway to Ilha Grande.

The closer-to-Rio route to Ilha Grande: Barcas Rio’s daily boat leaves Mangaratiba in the morning for Vila do Abraão and returns in the late afternoon.

Salvador’s ferry-boat system carries cars and foot passengers across the Bay of All Saints from São Joaquim to Bom Despacho on Itaparica Island, the shortcut to the Recôncavo and the south Bahia coast.

The open-sea catamaran from Salvador’s waterfront to car-free Morro de São Paulo on Tinharé Island, the Bahia coast’s best-known beach village.

The ferry-boat across São Marcos Bay links São Luís island with Cujupe on the mainland near historic Alcântara, cutting a roughly 350 km drive into a crossing of about an hour for traffic to the Baixada Maranhense and northern Brazil.

The passenger-launch crossing of the Bay of All Saints from Salvador’s Comércio waterfront to Mar Grande in Vera Cruz, on Itaparica island — the foot-passenger alternative to the São Joaquim car ferry.

Henvil’s car ferry across Marajó Bay from Icoaraci, on Belém’s northern edge, to the port of Camará in Salvaterra — the vehicle route onto Marajó island for Salvaterra and Soure.