The complete guide to Buraco Azul, the turquoise lagoon of Jericoacoara
Are the turquoise lagoons next to Jericoacoara man-made or a natural phenomenon? Well, a little bit of both.
Get this: a couple of years ago construction trucks were digging up the ground to build a road in the area of Jericoacoara, but then nature intervened, made it rain, and the man-made hole was filled with rainwater.
So, the result of man’s actions and nature’s intervention were 2 beautiful bright turquoise lagoons became an Instagram hotspot.
Buraco Azul – Castelhano vs. Caiçara
While these lagoons are known in Portuguese as Buraco Azul- the blue hole, there are actually 2 holes, or lagoons.
Here’s all the information about these each lagoon.
By now, the lagoons are a well-known spot to tourists, so there is some infrastructure and a small restaurant right next to them with some shade.
Price
Caiçara is free to all while Castelhano has an entrance fee of R$ 5 at the entrance because it’s a bit more “developed.”
Instagram Value- Which lagoons is more photogenic?
Caiçara has 3 hammocks inside the water, but they’re on the side of the lagoon. Castelhano has a strategically placed hammock above the lagoon and an instagrammable “flower decorated swing.
For drone shots, Caiçara might be better since it’s actually smaller and shallower so you can reach the middle relatively easily. I had to use a flotie to swim towards the middle of Castelhano.
The waters
Castelhano is considered to be more dangerous since it’s deeper and the walls surrounding it are taller. There are 3 floaties at the entrance of the lagoon. Caiçara is a bit smaller, and the walls around it are low so you can jump off them.
How to get to the turquoise lagoons?
The lagoons are located in different locations, about 40 minutes from Jericoacoara, in northeast Brazil. You’re welcome to read more about this charming town here.
You can take a buggy for about 100 R$ per buggy (up to 4 people or 5 if you’re really squeezing it) that will take you to either lagoons or visit Caiçara as part of the East Side Tour of Jeri for about R$ 400 per buggy.
If you only visit the lagoon, I would recommend getting there before 9am. If you take the tour option, I would recommend asking to change the rout and start there and even leave an hour early so you can enjoy the lagoons when they’re empty.
Drone shots:
If you want a drone shot of you in the lagoon and you don’t have a drone, consider hiring on of the locals. Beware- Jericoacoara has become very touristic, so they will try to charge you a lot of money.
For one hour of shooting, meeting the drone guy there, they shouldn’t charge over R$ 150.
I had a guy who wanted to charge me 350 but then had an issue with his drone and totally messed up my shot. We managed to get one or two shots with his drone, but then he messed up my drone so not only I couldn’t take videos from that location, but I wanted my 3 batteries there and couldn’t’ film in other locations during the day.
This guy was Gerson and I would recommend not working with him. He ended up making me pay him 150 (instead of 350) for bad footage that I couldn’t even use! In any other place in the world if you didn’t get the product you wouldn’t pay anything. In any case, he sent me some videos on WhatsApp in shitty quality and then said he can’t send me the originals!!! So I paid for nothing basically.
Here’s a guy I recommend:
Entony- +55 88 97544179
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