Do you need a car in Itamambuca?
You can get here and stay without a car. What you can do on foot, when to call an Uber, and when it is worth bringing one.
You do not need a car. You can get here without one and spend a few days without missing it. What changes is that longer trips need planning, not a last-minute decision.
The basics
- The nearest airport is São José dos Campos, about an hour and a half by road. From Guarulhos it is two and a half to three hours.
- We do not run our own transfer. Reception will help you arrange one.
- Praia do Alto is about twenty minutes away on foot, by trail. It is calm and has no waves.
- We lend bicycles, free.
- Uber and taxis work here. Reception calls them.
- Praia de Itamambuca, the surf one, is five minutes by car.
On foot
The hotel sits on high ground with a view of the sea. Two trails leave from the door: one drops to Praia do Alto in twenty minutes, the other is the short one at the Itamambuca corner.
There are two places to eat nearby that we genuinely recommend. Quintal do Mar does fresh sushi and poke, gyoza and moqueca, in a rustic beach setting; it is our favourite in Itamambuca. Todas as Luas sits deep in the Atlantic Forest and works differently at night.
The bicycles
We lend them free. For getting around Itamambuca they beat the car: in high season there is nowhere to park and the distances are short.
Going further
Uber and taxis work well here, and reception calls them. It is what most people without a car use: down to Itamambuca beach, dinner in Ubatuba, the Aquario.
What does not work is improvising at eleven at night in high season. If you have a plan, tell reception first.
Without leaving the hotel
A good part of the days here happen indoors.
- The glass sauna looks onto the forest and runs the thermal contrast cycle. It is free and always open.
- The pool is outdoors, among gardens. It is not heated.
- Yoga is included in your stay: Tuesday and Thursday at 17:30, Friday at 19:30, Saturday at 9:00.
- The restaurant serves lunch from 12:30 to 15:30 and dinner from 19:30 to 21:30, every day. It is open to visitors too. Dinner runs around R$120 a head.
- Breakfast is included: buffet from 8:00 to 10:00, with natural light and a view of the forest.
- Massages happen in the spa cabin. Ayurvedic, 60 minutes, R$180. Integrative therapeutic, 75 minutes, R$250.
- Upstairs there is a small gym and a room with a pool table and ping-pong.
If you come to surf
We work with a partner school in Itamambuca. The lesson runs ninety minutes and costs R$180. You rent the board from them and there is no minimum age. Reception books it over WhatsApp.
The best swells run from April to October. In summer the waves are smaller, which is when it is easiest to learn. The water sits between 20C in winter and 27C in summer.
When it rains
It rains. Indoors you have the sauna, the massages, the games room and the restaurant. Outside, the covered options that work are the Ubatuba Aquarium and Projeto Tamar, both good with children. The old town too.
So
Bring a car if you want to work your way along the northern coast, if you are heading towards Paraty, or if you are travelling with small children and a lot of luggage.
If you are coming to stop, you do not need one.