Lençóis Maranhenses - When to go

Lençóis Maranhenses - When to go

Lençóis Maranhenses - dunes and blue lagoons at the northeast of Brazil

Lençóis Maranhenses - dunes and blue lagoons at the northeast of Brazil

As the Lençóis are very close to the Ecuator line, weather is always hot or warm in this region of Brazil, all year round. It is very windy, so it isn´t an unbearable hot. Sea water is also warm. 

Rains are expected to fall from january to may, so in may the lagoons will reach its maximum water level. Up to the beggining of september, fun is granted, if rains fell substantially during the previous months. 

So, the ends of may untill the beggining of september are the best time to go, since sunny days are expected and the lagoons are suposed to be full. 

Lençóis Maranhenses - dunes and blue lagoons at the northeast of Brazil

Lençóis Maranhenses - dunes and blue lagoons at the northeast of Brazil

November is supposed to be the month when the level of the lagoons is lower, but it depends on rain levels, which can vary. 

However, climate change is obviously modifiyng rainfall in Brazil. Unexpected weather can happen, and nowadays nobody can grant a rainfall period or a dry season in advance. 

Atins - another small city close to Lençóis Maranhenses National Park

Atins - another small city close to Lençóis Maranhenses National Park

If you want to stay even more further away from civilization, once visiting the Lençóis Maranhenses, you can try accomodation in the fishermen´s village of Atins, in the mouth of Preguiças river. You can only get there by speed-boats, which departs from Barreirinhas. 

(above, a surfer-dog enjoying its trip alongside the Preguiças river)

These speed-boats can also ride you to the Praia do Caburé, a beach located at a peninsula formed beetween the mouth of Preguiças river in the sea and the ocean, or to the Farol da Preguiça, a lighthouse belonging to Brazillian navy located in the same area. From its top, it is possible to see the river, the sands, the small village and the dunes. 

Brazillian navy lighthouse at Atins, Maranhão

I did a simple day-trip, but resting there for some days wouldn´t have been a bad idea at all.....

Brazillian navy lighthouse at Atins, Maranhão, view from atop

A curitosity in Maranhão state is the declination of the beaches: the slope is very gentle, so you have to go far from the beach to get deep. But speacially in Caburé, the beach is very long and without life-savers, so it is better not to take any risks. 

Brazillian navy lighthouse at Atins, Maranhão, view from atop

Brazillian navy lighthouse at Atins, Maranhão, view from atop

Brazillian navy lighthouse at Atins, Maranhão, view from atop

Brazillian navy lighthouse at Atins, Maranhão, view from atop

Brazillian navy lighthouse at Atins, Maranhão, view from atop

Brazillian navy lighthouse at Atins, Maranhão, view from atop

Lençóis Maranhenses National Park

The Lençóis Maranhenses National Park

The Lençóis Maranhenses Natioal Park official website is available only in portuguese: 

http://www.icmbio.gov.br/parnalencoismaranhenses/guia-do-visitante.html) 

To enter the national park, it is only possible whith tour guides, who are provided by many tour companies at the small town of Barreirinhas. They take tourists in trucks with high suspension wheels, called "jardineiras", which can pass over the sand tracks that leads to the first point where the dunes and the lagoons can be seen. 

Before that, the jardineiras crosses the Preguiças river over ferry-boats. Tourists aren´t allowed to walk alone within the dunes, because its very easy to loose the sense of direction. 

These tours departing from Barreirinhas can be done in just one day, but for more brave and physically prepared people, it is possible to cross the dunes with a guide, and even sleep inside the dunes, which will take, of course, more than one day.  

(above, the Preguiças River)
(under, the hanging roots of the trees in the mangroves of Preguiças river)

LENÇÓIS MARANHENSES

LENÇÓIS MARANHENSES

Getting there

Lençóis Maranhenses - dunes and blue lagoons at the northeast of Brazil

I decided to split the post and repost our tour at Lençóis Maranhenses National Park. Also, I put the marker Lençóis Maranhenses at the scroolbar to the right.

Lençóis Maranhenses - dunes and blue lagoons at the northeast of Brazil

  The closest city to the national park is Barreirinhas, where there are many hotels. It is just a base-village to get to the dunes, so its advisable to take money and all you need, speacially sunblock and mosquito repellent. 

Lençóis Maranhenses - dunes and blue lagoons at the northeast of Brazil

Barreirinhas is 3 and a half hours from the capital of the state of Maranhão, São Luiz do Maranhão (Saint Louis). The SLZ airport is mainly a domestic airport, so to get to Maranhão you´ll probably need a conection in São Paulo, Rio, Brasília or Manaus. There are tour operators which takes tourists from SLZ airport to Barreirinhas, but renting a car can also be a good idea, with a GPS - and caution in the road to Barreirinhas, since it crosses many small villages with many speed-bumps. 

Another option is to come from the state of Ceará and its capital Fortaleza, although it is farther and you would have to cross a small part of the state of Piauí. In this case, trip would be very beautifull and at least two other stops should be added: Jericoacora, the most famous beach in Ceará state, and the "Delta do Parnaíba", the river Parnaíba mouth, in a delta shape. 

LENÇÓIS MARANHENSES

The Place

In the north of Brazil, beetween the Amazonian states and the northeast states, lays the state of Maranhão. It separates the biggest rainforest in the world, the Amazônia, from the semi-arid areas in the countryside of the northeast states, the caatinga. And, in the shores of Maranhão, there´s a very unique formation of dunes and lagoons, known by the name of Lençóis Maranhenses.

This set of white and smooth dunes, seen from afar, seens sheets ("lençóis", in portuguese) lying over a bed.

In this case, a very big bed, which takes many square kilometers from the ocean to the borders of the Preguiças river, which is inside the Lençóis Marenhenses National Park. 

Photos can´t make justice for the beauty of the place, and by only beeing there one can realize the high the dunes can get. Better prepare your legs, it won´t be an easy ride. 

During and some time after the rainy season, lagoons are formed inside the dunes, producing a very different set of natural swimming pools.