Parcel do Coronel

A parcel is a reef that never reaches the surface, and this one runs 200 m with its deepest ground at 26 m. That shape sets the dive: you follow the length of it rather than circling a single rock, and the guide picks the direction from the day's conditions. Scubago reports that many divers consider it the best dive site in the sea inside Ilha Grande, and in an area otherwise made of shallow sheltered ground it sits at the deep end of what is on offer.

Volume of life is what it is known for. The reef carries great schools along it and a lot of marine life on the rock itself, so the approach that works is the one the whole bay rewards: slow down, cover one stretch of reef properly and let the schools come back around you rather than swimming the full 200 m to say you did. At 26 m the limit on the dive is bottom time, not distance.

No visibility, current or water-temperature figures are published for this site on its own, and there is no species list beyond the schools, so the bay's own ranges and the day's briefing are what you plan on. The depth is the part worth planning around: 26 m is deeper than most of what this area offers, and it is the reason this is not the site to put a fresh diver on.