Ilha do Cardoso

The Ilha do Cardoso State Park is an Integral Protection Conservation Unit of the Atlantic Rainforest Southeast Reserves World Heritage Site and part of the Mata Atlântica Biosphere Reserve in the State of São Paulo. It is located 300 km southwest of the capital and can be accessed from historic Cananéia (see map).

The estuary waters surrounding the island mirror the rainforest’s productivity and biodiversity, harboring at least 43 species of whales and dolphins and 7 species of seals. Ilha do Cardoso is also home to perhaps the largest resident population of marine tucuxi dolphins, one of the least-studied cetaceans in the world.