parrachos de maracajau

Stunning natural pools, warm clear water, definitely an inspiring place to rest! Worth visiting. Typical restaurants.

To get there from Ponta Negra you spend ~1 hour + 30 min on a boat. It is packed with tourists (~40 per boat). Once you get to the reefs you get pbbly 90 min to snorkel. You can contract the diving at will, which is a great experience if this is your first time. Water is clear and shallow (10 ft) with lots of different fish. However, the diving doesnt last that long (30 min). Since there is a lot of people (several boats!) you cant get much out of the snorkeling once the diving is over.I'd recommend packing some sandwiches for lunch on your return from the reefs because the food is quite expensive. After lunch, you are taken to a ranch with a little river (nice for kids to play in) and a beach. It's a god place to chill and let the day go by. Other than that, if it wasnt for the diving, this wouldnt be worth the money or the trip.

Good price, beautiful way about 15 min on a motorboat to the place of diving. Good explanation and equipment, diving about 2 meters, there are fishes, octopus, fishes are fed there so they look like want to meet you, underwater photo service is good option, extremely clean waters.

You will find there a nice place to dive and play with the tropical fishes loking for you. Be prepared to heavy sun and wind all time long.

This is the type of attraction that can be ruined if you go in the wrong time... To have a nice scuba/ snorkeling, take care to go when the tide is really low (0.3 m or less). If it rained the day/night before or the tide is higher than 0.3m - 0.4 m, just forget it, as you won't see anything... Locals also say something about the moon phase (now I don't remember if the best one is New Moon or Full Moon).Price is too high (around R$ 80,00 per person), but definitely worth it if there is a very low tide (it's when all the pictures for advertisement are taken!).You can check the Tide Tables at Brazil's Navy website (http://www.mar.mil.br/dhn/chm/tabuas/index.htm ) and plan your trip.And bring your own snorkel mask, otherwise you will have to use the ones which are shared with other tourists.

This is a very beautiful place and an almost wild beach, with some great reefs at about 30´ shipping from the coast; an excellent spot for both scuba and (just) snorkeling.But something that really disappointed us and probably damaged a bit our experience was the number of tourists and the lack of reasonable services that it should have for such demand.Eventhough, we do recommend the day trip to Maracajaú and the delicious fish dishes available for lunch (not that cheap as we expected too).

Great fun and among fish and reef with great BBQ with tasty lobster kebabs? The kids loved it and managed to swim too.

Too much exploration - they want your money by all means - everything is overpriced

me and my husband make a dive to see colorful fishes and a morea, there was a bar in the middle of the see, you can see the corals and you go by a boat that you have to pay before you go.Tou can include a lunch.

I went to Maracajau desperate to dive after three months on dry land, but now in March it was impossible. They only took me snorkeling close to the shore, where the water was about two meters deep. I´m not sure if they just didn´t want to take only one person out to the proper reef, or if it really wasn´t worth a visit, as they told me.The snorkeling was 70 reals, but really not worth the money for me. It was geared for people who have never looked at fishes before, I recon. They fed the fish to get a few sergant majors to gather around, and had the tourists jump in with their live jackets... I still managed to have a good time by swimming a little farther from the floating dock, but they kept asking me to stay closer so that the boat traffic wouldn´t hit me, and I could only snorkel for two hours.The town itself was dead at night. I got a super sweet room at the ocean for 50 reals / night, but only stayed for the one day, because there was absolutely nothing to do alone. Even the restaurants were closed at night. Could be a fine place for a couple of people who want to relax, but I´ve seen nicer places in Pipa for that.I came in to the town by bus. I think it was uncomfortable 2,5-3 hours. Because the bus out goes only ones a day at 6am, I asked around and managed to get a ride out to Natal on one of the minivans doing beach rounds with tourists. That was pretty cool, because I got to see Punau too, which is a middle class resort on a pretty river.

We drove north on BR101 from Natal until we saw the sign indicating Maracajaú to the right of the road. A precarious but drivable secondary road, going through filds and dunes, took as to the village of Maracajaú with its small little houses and young guides who stop you all the way trying to sell their services or rides on motor buggies. Avoid them if you can, turn back from the village and return, via the dirty sandy road, to a place called Portal de Maracajaú. This is a mux of restaurant, club and beach resort where you can park your car under the shadow of a palm tree, swim in the nice and clean swimming pool that is built on a deck above the sea, have a spetacular view to the beach, hire an aqualung and check the fish and other sea animals. The resraurant is reasonable and the toiletes are very clean. Try a walk on the beach north from Portal, but mind the jeeps and motor buggies running fast on the sand with drunk tourists.

If you go to Natal don´t forget to go to Maracajaú, where you get the boat and go few km inside the ocean to dive, it´s just wonderfull!!! You can also buy few pictures inside the water....plenty of colorfull fishes come around the boat and the corals and umbelievable beautiful... before you get the boat they stop in a aqua park, wich is nice but you don´t have to stay, cross it and wait for the boat in the beach wich is one of the most beautiful i´ve ever seen, and there you can hire a fun bike with 4 weels and enjoy the beautiful coast...!!!!!!!!

A great spot for beginner or children, but if you are a professional diver this place will not meet your expectations. Snorkelling is totally recommended.But the beache of Maracajau is just gorgeous and I could see some serious development along the cost, yet the village is still very remote which makes it very charming and tranquil.I would like to return to Maracajau but not to dive, I just want to enjoy the beauty of this place, which is tryly magical.

Situated one hour driving north from Natal, the parrachos of Maracajau is a diving area some seven kilometers away from the coast. There are some restaurants on the coast from where you can take a motorboat or a ferry-like to the reefs. Better book in advance from your hotel for transportation and water-transfer since it is full all over the summer season. Expect to pay US$ 70 for a cab from Natal up to four passengers, and US$ 25 each for the water transfer(a little more if you opt for the fastest motor-boats). Take your snorkell with you, it is not worth the scuba diving. Be sure to check the tide since you can not enjoy if it is higher than 3 ft. due to the oceanflow. Avoid weekends, it is too crowd to go for a enjoyable diving. Also do not expect a fantastic diving experience. If the tide is low and the weather is clear, it is OK. Been there some 5 years ago and returned just a few days from now, it degraded a lot from then.

Praia linda, limpa, areia branquinha, vale a pena pegar a embarcação e realizar o mergulho com cilindro ou apenas com snorkel, o que realizei, porém para chegar até a embarcação fomos andando pelo mar, não tem a opção de um barquinho levar até o barco, a água bate na cintura, o problema maior são as queimaduras por água viva nesse percurso.