The Lençóis Maranhenses National Park is approximately 1,550 square kilometers in total, slightly larger than the city of São Paulo. To get to Atins you need to organize a very specific itinerary, so your trip will be unforgettable!
The gateway to this adventure is the city of São Luís, capital of Maranhão. Depending on the arrival time of your flight, we sometimes recommend an overnight stay in São Luís to hit the road early the next day. The main entrances to the National Park are Santo Amaro, Barreirinhas and Atins (the best route to reach Atins is via Barreirinhas).
From São Luís to Barreirinhas it takes around 4 hours by land with a strategic 15-minute stop in the municipality of Morros, depending on the type of transport chosen. There are daily transfers leaving from São Luís, which can be: executive buses, vans, taxis and shared or private cars.
Arriving in Barreirinhas, you have two options: go by land or water.
If you choose to go through the river, you can take shared boats that depart daily at 12:30 p.m. from Avenida Beira Rio, and during high season, shared boats' departures are possible at 4:00 p.m. Shared boat transportation is safe, efficient and great value for money. The transfer duration is around one hour.
It is also possible to do this journey on private boats, which gives you greater freedom and flexibility in schedules, although it is a slightly less affordable solution. A widely used option is to take the Barreirinhas-Atins route with a speedboat ride along the Preguiças River, with strategic stops in the main villages of Pequenos Lençóis, this way the ride already serves as a transfer.
Atins is an old fishing village located at the mouth of the Preguiças River, a bucolic place full of magic and simplicity. It is also the only village in Lençóis Maranhenses that has its own beach. There are no paving and our streets are made of sand.
Otherwise, if you have an adventurous spirit and like adrenaline, you can also get there by 4-wheel cars (4x4), which can also be shared or private. The duration of the trip for both modes is more or less the same, around 1 hour and 15 minutes. Depending on the trail conditions and the season (whether rainy or not), the trip can last 2 hours or more.
All of these services require prior reservation at the agencies, and sometimes can be charged in advance payment to guarantee the reservation.
For those indecisive on duty who decide at the last minute, here's a tip: sometimes you can get last-minute transfers (boat or car) if you arrive at the port of Barreirinhas on Beira Rio Avenue and ask, but it's not a certainty and sometimes you can get it, but, as a much more expensive option.
The internet signal already exists but fluctuates a bit during the day, especially in high season when the town is full of tourists. On the way to Atins, you will pass through villages such as Vassouras, Mandacaru and Caburé and see many beautiful landscapes.
The most common disembarkation points in Atins are Porto de Fora and Porto da Brisa, also known as Porto do Campo. There are other stopping points, such as on the beach in front of the beach bar, the port of Igarapé or Santa Maria, but in reality what will define which port the boat will disembark you at is the tide.
Everything will depend on what the tide is like at the time of disembarkation, and you can get this information from your boat's pilot.
Once at one of the disembarkation points in Atins, Lanea will pick you up by car or quad bike. Don't forget to provide us with the name of the vessel, arrival time and expected disembarkation port. This is very important so that there are no mismatches!
Another important point: here in the village of Atins the only existing cell tower is from the operator Vivo, so be careful not to lose communication during the journey. Although several establishments and inns have Wi-Fi, it’s a good idea to keep an eye on it!