We set sail from Salvador, Bahia for a full-day island-hopping tour and I’m not going to sugar-coat it: the start was absolute chaos. You’re juggling QR codes, swapping them for actual passes, and if you don’t speak Portuguese you’ll be leaning hard on Google Translate because English really isn’t spoken much at the port. We also break down the real costs as we go, including the private-island entry fee (35 R$), and why you need to understand Brazil’s PIX system before you turn up—because on the boat it’s PIX-only, and that catches people out. Once we finally got moving, Ilha dos Frades was the reward: bath-warm water, a proper “float around and chill” kind of beach, and a reminder that Brazil is refreshingly body-confident—people just wear what they want and get on with enjoying themselves. After that we headed to Itaparica for the buffet stop (priced by weight), but the disembark was another scramble with small shuttle boats and a lot of waiting. In hindsight, I’d personally do a half-day trip to Frades instead of the full 8 hours—then hire a car and use the public ferry to explore Itaparica properly (which is exactly what we’re doing next).