An amazing cruise near spectacular Salvador! - Wow! I rarely write reviews, but must rave about this incredible cruise to two amazing islands near Salvador Brazil: Islã dos frades and Itaparica. The boat is lovely, staffed by a smiling, courteous team who make amazing drinks with fresh fruit while playing Brazilian music on drums and tamborine. Islã dos frades has crystalline water and Itaparica is a lovely place to stop for lunch and enjoy local history. The tour agency was great, and have us all the information we needed, along with a reminder about check-in the night before. Our kids loved the entire day as much as we did. We would highly highly recommend this cruise to anyone looking for an amazing day in Brazil.

Good boat trip with a great team - Great trip we loved it !!! Natural island with not many tourists ! Lots of beautiful spots and beaches

Could have been done alone, overpriced - I honestly don’t understand what we paid for with this booking. on top of the booking fee, we paid for the return boat fare, fee to enter the island, a tax, a very expensive lunch, all drinks on the boat and tip for the music. It could have been done alone. The boat was so slow too, the three hour journey back was unbearable.

Poor Communication Steals the Day - Unfortunately choosing this tour was a disaster, even if Ilha dos Frades is a beautiful place. I tried repeatedly to book several days in advance via TripAdvisor, but I was rejected for lack of a Brazilian CPF. I ultimately was able to book directly on De Boa’s website the night before, but I missed the fine print that reservations must be made 12 hours in advance (I was 10.5 hours in advance). I don’t understand why the website let the booking (and my payment) go through if this is the policy. I tried to confirm directly with the tour company in the morning, but I didn’t receive a response for over two hours, by which time the boat was already boarding. The guide then told us, as we were getting on the boat, that our trip was cancelled due to “bad weather,” and that we were taking a different route instead. Rather than five hours at Ilha dos Frades, we would have only two. We were not offered a refund as is claimed in the description. At midday we were able to negotiate with the guide (who had disappeared as soon as we arrived at the island), who said we could stay later and take another boat back. Unfortunately, returning to the boat terminal, waiting in line, and negotiating with him ate up an hour of our day, and ultimately the boat we took to return was smaller and not so seaworthy. Many people were having panic attacks and all the passengers were soaked as we ran into the “bad weather” for which our tour had supposedly been canceled in the first place and for which we were not offered reimbursement. When I contacted De Boa again that night, the owner told me “thankfully everything worked out.” I disagree. All of this could have been avoided with better communication—I would have happily accepted a refund if he had answered my communication in the morning and told me that he could not honor the reservation because I had made it too late and because the travel would be unsafe. Rather than book with De Boa or a similar company, we recommend taking the brief ferry from Madre de Deus to the other side of Ilha dos Frades. Business owners on the island informed us that De Boa and other tour companies do what I described all the time.

Go to frades just not with this company - I don’t recommend this trip. We booked it because it said frades island only but you are only there 2 hours. They also said that there would be English guide but no one spoke English. We had to find someone who could translate to even tell us what time to go back to the boat. I went up to the “guide” with google translate to try and get him to type and communicate and he brushed me away. They said “music included “ but actually they ask for money for the music . I recommend to go to frades, just not with them

Don’t use this company - Everything promised in this tour is a lie Not only did we not get an english speaking tour guide as promised (no one spoke english and wouldn’t even use google translate to tell us anything ), we went to two islands not the one as said on the tour. We wanted to spend several hours on one island which is why we booked this specific tour . It says music is included but they ask for money for the band so it isn’t included. Very disorganized. They said 3 hours on each island but it was 2. I would not recommend. Save yourself the money and go on your own. Also I wouldn’t Call the boat a schooner. I asked for a refund and they are saying we got on the wrong boat at the wrong time. This is a lie . We showed up to the dock at the time asked for us to come and were pointed to a boat.