Advise from Sao Paolo to Bonito

1. Best bet for flights is to fly to Campo Grande. I'm not entirely sure about flights to Bonito. But CG has regular flights from and to SP.
2. Depends on what you need. Airbnb and booking would be my pick to choose from.
3. Depends on what you go and see. The tours are expensive (100-200 reais). And that does not include transfers. So you need to pay an extra 40-50 reais on top of that. That was a few years ago - not sure what prices are now.
4. Your going on a long weekend. Its probably going to cost you a bit more than you think. And Bonito is nowhere near a 'cheap' destination with its ramped up prices for tours.

1. I just looked at momondo.com and found flights on those dates for USD 220. Fly back a day later and I find a flight for 144 USD (this is SP to CG. Bonito has an airport, but only 2 or so flights a week from SP).
2. Check out Bonito HI Hostel. I stayed there and liked it. Otherwise as Trent advised.
3. Snorkeling tours cost around R$ 200 for a half a day. Entry to the balnearios are around R$ 50. A stroll around the waterfalls is around R$ 150, but some offer extra activities like rapelling down, or ziplines, which cost more. The Abismo de Anhumas is very expensive, but very cool. Contact any of the tour organizations for their folder, which will have the latest prices.
4. As trent said: prices over holiday weekends are higher, especially for transport, and sometimes lodging. Try to plan accordingly.

The flight is expensive because it's a "specialty" airport, like a slightly glorified private charter flight, for convenience to get to a tourist sight. As mentioned, the more standard airport/route is Campo Grande, and then a bus.

Thanks all. Sounds like flying to Campo Grande is almost half the cost of the flight my friend quoted. Any suggestions on how one gets to Bonito from CG? My friend is not too into roughing it out as such - so are there like luxury buses that are not expensive that can get us from CG to Bonito?

Andrew, Bonito HI Hostel looks very nice. Will look into that as well.

A question - do you think flying to CG (or to Bonito if we get cheap fares) onward to Bonito on a normal weekend will be enough time? We would try to fly out on a Friday and get back late on a Sunday. Would this give us enough time there rather than fly over that long weekend where everything becomes expensive? And maybe over that long weekend, we can fly elsewhere though am sure anywhere we fly will be expensive.

Last question - as my friend has a car - anywhere one can go over the long weekend where we can drive? Any suggestions of good places to go to from Sao Paolo where one can drive not long distances but enough to bring us to really nice places?

Many thanks for any and all suggestions!!!!

There's a bus from Campo a Grande.
The exchange rate is currently so good that not much is "expensive" if you're spending US/Eu/CDN/AuS currency.
Most long distance buses in Brazil would qualify as luxury buses.
If you fly to Campo Grande, it will take most of a day to get to Bonito, and a day to get back, so a weekend won't really give enough time to enjoy the waters.

Not far from SP are lots of beaches along the nearby coast. Campos do Jordao in the mountains. All will be full of refugees from SP on a holiday weekend.

Hi Neuzao, I agree the exchange rate is very good specially for me in USD. However to spend $925 for 4 days in Bonito incl breakfast and dinner without any sightseeing is quite expensive for me. And from what you have advised, it does not make sense to do Bonito on a regular weekend by bus. But I am looking into doing Bonito on a regular weekend by flight since I believe its a 2 hour flight but I understand flights direct to Bonito are not very frequent - but am trying to check out when they fly. Thanks

Where in the US (or even say Cancun) can you find a meals included resort hotel for $350 for 4 days? So, comparatively cheap. As stated, the flight direct to Bonito is a type of private charter. What would a 650 mile private charter cost in the US? You can do what you want when you want and pay for it, or go with the majority of travelers for the price that makes it worth the while for the airline/bus company at a time when the hotels don't have peak demand. Brazil has never been an easy shoestring destination, but with a 4:1 exchange rate, certainly more accessible than recently when it was around 2.4 or less to 1.

In addition to the public bus there's the "private" transfer bus straight from the airport to the hotels in Bonito. Whatever lodging you decide on will be able to book that for you. If I recall it's about R$ 100 pp while the public bus is R$ 75 or so.

Found the direct flights to Bonito for you. Azul flies from VCP to BYO twice a week. The week you want to go, the flight back is the kicker at 1700 BRL pp. The flight out is quite acceptable (650 BRL). If you are okay with flying back on June 1, the price drops to 380 pp.

Hi Neuzao - I agree with you but still to me even for Brasil to spend what would work out to be about $1200-$1500 once you include sightseeing is a bit much for just 4 days in one town. So if that is the case, I will have to have a rethink of going to Bonito at all or finding cheaper alternatives with dates etc. Thanks for advise.

Thanks again Andrew, I am looking into those dates with Azul, unfortunately I already bought a one way ticket to Manaus leaving SP on May 31st. So not sure if its worth going through the hassle of changing my Manaus ticket and paying the penalty to do so just to get a cheaper return from Bonito on June 1.