Seahorse jangada trip at Pontal de Maracaípe

At Pontal de Maracaípe, the southern tip of the beach about 6 km from Porto de Galinhas village, the Maracaípe river meets the sea, and its mangrove estuary is a nursery for many species, seahorses above all. You sit on wooden benches on a jangada while the jangadeiro takes it past the mangrove and across the river arm; on the far bank he gets in the water to look for seahorses to show you. The jangadeiros were trained by Projeto Hippocampus, a seahorse conservation programme, to handle the animals without harming them, and the trip supports around forty local families.

Allow about an hour. It is better at high tide, the opposite of the jangadas to the reef pools off Porto de Galinhas village, which need low water. Late afternoon is a good time, with the sunset over the river on the way back. The mangrove around the viewing area is protected as a municipal nature park.