Fernando de Noronha

Declared a marine national park in 1988, this volcanic archipelago off the coast of Pernambuco strictly limits the number of visitors each day through an environmental preservation levy charged for every day of a stay, a restricted-tourism model unusual in Brazil. Its waters hold the greatest known concentration of spinner dolphins in the world, with over 1,000 animals using the Baía dos Golfinhos as a daytime resting place after hunting through the night in open water. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2001, and served historically as a Brazilian penal colony until the middle of the 20th century before being turned into a high-end ecotourism destination.