How do you get to Lencois Maranhenses in Brazil? This guide shows the options by land and by plane. The journey involves a few steps as the national park is located in a remote area in the state of Maranhao.
You must drive 4hrs from Sao Luis or 3hrs from Parnaiba to get there. If you want to drive less, another option is to fly to Barreirinhas, and from there, the adventure starts with a boat ride to Atins.
After reading this guide, it will be easier to decide how to get there based on your needs. Fast your seatbelts, and let’s go!!!
Table of Contents
First steps
First of all, it’s necessary to know the access to the park starts from Santo Amaro (left side of the park) or Atins (right side of the park), so your journey will end in one of these towns. Most people enter the park from Barreirinhas; I did that since I planned to go to Sao Luis after Lencois.
After deciding which side of the park you will enter, you must choose where to sleep the night before. There are three options: Atins, Santo Amaro, or Barreirinhas. Atins and Santo Amaro are small towns where only a little is happening besides people getting there to visit the park the next day. The same applies to Barreirinhas, except that some people visit the small local villages by boat.
Great! Now that you know which side of the park you will enter and where to sleep the night before entering the park, it’s time to explore the options to get there.
Getting there by plane
You can arrive at or leave the Lençóis Maranhenses through four airports:
- São Luís, with the highest number of flights and more affordable transfers.
- Parnaíba, fewer available flights, but it is easy to combine Lençóis Maranhenses with the Delta do Parnaíba.
- Jericoacoara.
- Barreirinhas, if you’re up to pay a higher ticket price for the convenience.
Depending on your itinerary, it might be worth arriving at Lençóis Maranhenses through one airport and leaving through another. It’s also possible to rent a car from all these airports except Barreirinhas.
You can easily find private transportation from any of these cities with an agency or a bus to Barreirinhas or Santo Amaro. If you want to go by bus, use this website to check the timetables and book a ride.
Thinking about flying to Lencois Maranhenses? Check flight options on Kiwi, it's my favorite way to book plane tickets:
Getting there by land
Renting a car or hopping on a bus are the best options when traveling to Lencois by land. Daily buses are operating on the routes from Sao Luis, Jericoacara, and Parnaiba. In Brazil, the best website to check bus tickets is ClickBus.
The road conditions in the area have improved a lot in the last 15 years. If you rent a car, you won’t be able to drive to Atins. It’s necessary to leave your vehicle in Barreirinhas and get private transportation to Atins.
Getting to Santo Amaro
The best option is to fly to Sao Luis and get private transportation or a bus to drive the remaining kilometers to the destination. Getting to Santo Amaro by land is more straightforward based on your decision to rent a car or take a bus. These are the distances from Santo Amaro to the cities where the main airports are located:
- Sao Luis: 237 km
- Barreirinhas: 96 km
- Parnaiba: 273 km
- Jericoacara: 478 km
Getting to Barreirinhas
The best option is the most expensive, which is flying straight to Barreirinhas. Since the airport is small, there are few direct flights from other cities. Most flights will have a layover in Sao Luis before flying to Barreirinhas. From Barreirinhas, you must get private transportation to Atins. These are the distances from Barreirinhas to the cities where the main airports are located:
- Sao Luis: 257 km
- Parnaiba: 183 km
- Jericoacara: 388 km
Getting to Atins
To get to Atins, it is necessary to arrive in Barreirinhas first. From there you can arrange a boat to get to Atins. If you are not keen to get on a boat, arranging private transportation by land is possible. From Barreirinhas, it is a 32km drive to Atins.
Recommendations
While exploring Lencois Maranhenses, I chose the PaoTur to prepare a package for me. It was a great choice; they were very caring, and even though we had an issue with one of the vehicles, they quickly found a way to solve the problem. It is possible to do the trek by yourself. However, I recommend you go with an agency if it is your first time hiking on this type of landscape.
Hiking through the Lencois Maranhenses National Park was an incredible experience, and I learned a lot about this type of hike. I will write an article with complete details about my experience here soon.
Looking for activities in Barreirinhas? Check these options on GetYourGuide, it's my favorite way to book activities while traveling:
Conclusion
This article explained how to get to Lencois Maranhenses by plane or land. I hope you have a better picture of the logistics and that this article helped you make the best decision.
Remember to leave a comment about your experience in getting to Lencois Maranhenses. If you plan to visit Brazil soon, I have a list of things you should know about the country.
See you all in the next article!! Bye!!!
