Brazil’s Lagoon Desert, and the Visa You Need

The image travels faster than the facts: rolling white dunes cupping thousands of turquoise pools, with nobody in sight. That is Lençóis Maranhenses National Park in Brazil’s northeastern state of Maranhão, and it is one of the country’s most-shared landscapes. Two things decide whether a trip there matches the picture: when you go, and whether you have remembered the visa that North Americans now need.

The visa first

Since 10 April 2025, citizens of Canada, the United States and Australia need an e-visa to enter Brazil, ending a waiver in place since 2019. Air Canada’s notice puts the fee at US$80.90. The visa is multiple-entry and valid for five years for Canadians and Australians and ten years for Americans, with stays of up to 90 days per visit. Processing normally takes a few business days, so apply at least two to three weeks ahead through the official VFS Global e-visa portal, not a third-party site. UK passport holders remain visa-free for short tourist visits.

What it is

The park covers 156,562 hectares and was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2024. UNESCO describes a desert-like expanse of large dunes in a semi-humid climate, where rainy-season rain collects between the dunes to form temporary lagoons. It also sits where three of Brazil’s great biomes meet: the Cerrado savanna, the dry Caatinga and the Amazon. Visit Brasil, the national tourism board run by Embratur, says the name comes from the dunes’ resemblance to a rumpled bedsheet (lençol).

When to go

The lagoons are the point, and they are seasonal. The rains run from roughly January to June and fill the hollows between the dunes. Visit Brasil puts the rainy, lagoon-forming season at February to May and says most lagoons disappear in the dry months from June to January, with only two, Esperança and Peixe, lasting through. Local operators generally sell June to September, just after the rains, as the best window, when the pools are full and the skies have cleared. Book that window early; it is the busiest time in the park’s small gateway towns.

How to get there

• Fly to São Luís, Maranhão’s colonial capital, connecting through a Brazilian hub such as São Paulo.
• Drive about 250 to 260 km east to Barreirinhas, the main gateway, roughly four to five hours by bus, van or private car, according to Bahia.ws. Barreirinhas airport takes only charter flights from São Luís, which are possible but costly; scenic flights over the dunes also leave from São Luís.
• Atins, a quieter village at the mouth of the Preguiças River and a kitesurfing base, is reached by boat downriver from Barreirinhas or by 4×4. Santo Amaro do Maranhão on the park’s western side is the other gateway.
• Inside the park, only 4×4 vehicles cross the sand, and visits are run by local guides.

Three ways to see it

• Day trips from Barreirinhas. 4×4 tours to the lagoon circuits near town are the classic introduction. Go late afternoon for sunset over the dunes.
• The Preguiças River. Boat trips run downriver past riverside communities towards Atins and the coast, a gentler way to see the region.
• The three-day crossing. Visit Brasil describes a guided trek from Barreirinhas to Santo Amaro, overnighting with families in two oasis villages, Baixa Grande and Queimada dos Britos. The days start before dawn to beat the heat: about 6 km on day one, 12 km on day two and 14 km on day three, ending at Lagoa do Cajueiro. Along the way, the board says, scarlet ibises flock over the lagoons. It is hot, sandy work, and it is the most memorable way to experience the park.

Plan it

• Visa: Canadians, Americans and Australians apply online at least two to three weeks ahead.
• Timing: June to September for full lagoons; ask your operator how the year’s rains went, since lagoon levels vary.
• Cash: Visit Brasil warns that ATMs do not work in the region’s villages, so bring reais.
• Pack: sun protection, a hat, sunglasses, water and light layers; you will walk barefoot on sand.
• Stay longer: the park is big enough for two bases, such as Barreirinhas for the classic lagoon circuits and Atins for quieter dunes and the coast.
• Pair with: São Luís, a UNESCO-listed colonial centre, at either end.

Sources

• Visit Brasil / Embratur, 3-day Lençóis trek
• Visit Brasil blog, Lençóis Maranhenses
• Visit Brasil, Preguiças River
• UNESCO World Heritage Committee decision 46 COM 8B.6, 2024
• Bahia.ws, access and distances
• Air Canada, Brazil eVisa notice
• Wego, Brazil e-visa in 2026