Pousada do Toque

Nilo Burgarelli opened the lodge in 2000. The 16-cabana garden retreat is set in a lush jungle garden (the sunrise bird chorus is impressive), guest rooms have marble and tile-mosaic bathrooms, ofuru tubs, and rough-hewn local woodwork. Families tend to book one of three poolside private cabanas but the real attraction is the restaurant, with dishes like peixe ao molho de camarão - grilled fish topped with a chunky shrimp-and-tomato sauce. The hotel will also arrange for a fisherman to take you out to the reef half-mile off the shore, where foot-deep tide pools are filled with bath-warm water and tiny scuttling crabs, and ringed by coral lined with scores of purple-back sea urchins.