Martha and her friends get captured by mysterious people and gets taken to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. But the helicopter breaks down with them in the cage and now the gang has to find a way back to Wagstaff City. Along the way, they meet a macaw named Blu (Jesse Eisenberg) who never learned to fly and lives a happily domesticated life in Minnesota with his human friend, Linda. Blu is thought to be the last of his kind, but when word comes that Jewel (Anne Hathaway), a lone female, lives in Rio de Janeiro, Blu, the gang and Linda go to meet her. Animal smugglers kidnap Blu, the gang and Jewel, but the gang soon escape and begin a perilous adventure back to freedom, their owners -- and Linda.
Madeleine Hawkins is a sweet, young girl with an unfortunate disease known as Aquagenic Urticaria, or more commonly known as being allergic to water. All water, no matter the temperature or amount, has to do is touch her skin and she breaks out in hives, even her own sweat and tears cause a reaction.
One day, despite her condition, Madeleine sees two guys in the year above her trick a girl into getting into a broken boat before shoving it out to sea. Madeleine knows she has to do something and dives into the water and climbs into the boat. However she is unable to do much as she begins to break out in hives and pain erupts all over her body. She introduces herself to the girl, Cleo Satori.
One of her close acquaintances, Rikki Chadwick, manages to come in and save the day while also relieving some of Madeleine's pain. They pick up Emma Gilbert before deciding to take an amazing boat ride.
However they run out of fuel and get stranded on Mako Island, none of them realize that after that day their lives would be forever changed.