Find and Book Maragogi, AL Events Through Varoom in Centro, Ipojuca

Summary: Landscape. Transparent water. Varied excursions. It could be added that they provide a mask and snorkel for a better experience. Very good photos.

Summary: This publication (part 1) is made based on a trip of one week in Maragogi and one week in Porto Galinhas in February 2024. (After Carnival week) Arrival in Recife and Transfer to Maragogi. Recife airport is not too big and it is easy to get there. We rented a car at Foco rent a car for the 2 weeks; It does not have an office at the airport but a company van passes through the airport door to take you. You just have to stop at the sign on the sidewalk that identifies the company and as the van passes by it picks you up. Interesting fact 1: we had a fully paid reservation at Movida rent a car, but mastercard (at least in Uruguay) has them blocked due to suspicious activities; We did not have a card from another stamp and we could not pay the guarantee. After three hours without finding a solution, we went to Foco and we had no problem there. Fortunately, the travel agency that made the reservation managed to refund our money for the reservation at Movida. The treatment at Movida was not very good and in some cases, very bad. I can't rate the rental service itself, because I didn't get to use it. The attention at Foco was good when it came to the delivery and return of the car. It is also important to know: - Possible damages or missing items are charged very expensively. The person who returned the car in front of me had had the spare wheel stolen without him realizing it and they charged him the equivalent of $500 for the cover and a sheet metal rim. (from a Fiat Cronos !!!!!!!) - The car categories are a bad joke; A supposed Premium hatch is a Fiat Argo 1.0 lacking power and equipment. Unless there are several people or you are used to large cars, I suggest renting the cheapest category. - 10 days after returning the car, I have not received the confirmation promised by Foco regarding the cancellation of the warranty pre-authorization for 500 reais, even though I have requested it repeatedly; In any case, they have not charged me anything more than the agreed price at the moment. Interesting Fact 2: Before going we were inquiring about the issue of buying a Brazilian prepaid chip to have internet. Apparently only in official company locations you can activate a chip with a passport number and those locations are in shopping malls or in city centers; That is to say, one can buy the chip anywhere but if you do not have or obtain a Brazilian document it cannot be activated. In the end we tried to buy a Claro prepaid chip in Uruguay, to which charging the equivalent of 11 dollars (and sending a text message) gave us 3 gigabytes of internet for a month in Brazil and can be recharged. It worked perfectly, activating automatically as soon as we went down the San Pablo scale. As Claro is present throughout Latin America, it is likely that this possibility of prepaid roaming applies to other countries. (gives a small balance for calls and texts, but is more data oriented) Interesting Fact 3: We spent the first week in Maragogi, so we moved there directly from Recife. The first section of the Route is acceptable; Then it deteriorates quickly, several wells, little or no signage, many curves and a large number of unpainted and unmarked donkey backs (lombadas, etc.) when passing through towns or cities. They are about 120-130 kilometers and if you don't know the route I recommend doing them during the day due to the problems mentioned. I must clarify that at no time is there a feeling of insecurity, at least during the day. From Maragogi to Porto (50-55 km) the first section is average and the southern access to Porto is absolutely deplorable. From Porto to Recife (50-55km) the route is concessioned with a toll (10.70 reais) and is in good condition and generally well signposted; There is a toll-free alternative that we do not use. At no time did we feel a sense of insecurity, clarifying that we always travel during the day. Interesting fact 4: We made all the transfers based on Google Maps and there really was no problem with their directions; If you do not have internet, it is essential to first download the map of the offline area; Only traffic problem warnings are lost. We had several places that we had seen in videos marked as favorites and that makes getting around much easier. Interesting fact 5: Both in Maragogi and Porto de Galinhas, the tide table influences everything, the walks, the possibility of going to a beach or not, etc. They are easily found on the Internet. Trips to natural pools, reefs or the famous Moses Trail are only done at low tide. The ideal ones for walks are 0.3 or less; to go to the beaches and see their best version may be older. The change is so great that the same beach can have sandbanks of 300 meters or more at low tide and lack sand at high tide. I suggest always having on hand the table for the period in which you are staying in these areas, since the plans regarding places or times depend on the tides. Interesting fact 6: In February, 5 and 30 is day and just after 6:00 p.m. is night. The temperature during the day was greater than 30 degrees (higher thermal sensation) and at night it was more or less 25 degrees or more. Almost every day it rained for a while in the morning for a short period and it quickly improved; It rained several times in the early morning. Interesting fact 7: The price of fuel (naphtha-gasoline) ranges between 5.80 and 6.15 reais depending on the location and the seal of the station, since there are many different brands. Interesting fact 8: Almost everyone pays with a card or a Brazilian application called Pix, we saw very few people paying in cash. I recommend not carrying dollars, there is very little exchange (and I don't know if the exchange is favorable) and the dollar is not used there in any area. Week 1: Maragogi. Maragogi is not only a beach, but a municipality in the State of Alagoas that has a total of 10 beaches with different names (from south to north, Sao Bento, Camacho, Maragogi, Burgalhau, Barra Grande, Antunes, Xareu, Ponta de Mange, Dourado, Peroba); To the north of the municipality of Maragogi Alagoas ends and Pernambuco begins. BEACHES OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF MARAGOGI. (from south to north) We rented an apartment on Sao Bento beach, the southernmost beach in Maragogi and next to Camacho, the least visited by tourists; There the atmosphere is absolutely local. MAIN ROUTE: This municipality is crossed from south to north by route AL101, which runs parallel to all the aforementioned beaches and is the one that must be used to travel to all places of interest. AL 101 is in relatively good condition, but it is a route to travel with great caution; It is narrow with no separation between round trips, its 20-25 km in this section are almost entirely urban, it is flanked by towns and houses on both sides in almost its entire length. Since it lacks sidewalks or even shoulders, people walk on the side of the road; You can also see many loose animals (chickens, dogs, cats and horses). It also has many, many donkey backs (lombadas) that are not painted and often not marked. Walking with caution you can walk day and night, there is no sense of insecurity at any time. If you have a rental car, all trips on this route are easy and everything is close no matter where you are staying. The internal streets in general (at least the ones we were able to use) are in poor condition (or very bad) and if it rains, water accumulates. SHOPPING. Since my country, Uruguay, is expensive, the prices of food and drinks in markets in general are not excessively expensive. Maragogi is not a place that has many large supermarkets, in general they are small businesses where it is sometimes difficult to get some non-basic items. The largest, well-stocked supermarket with good prices that we saw is called OLIVETO, it is on AL 101 north of Maragogi beach, on the right hand side if you go north. WALKS. We only went for a ride on the so-called Croa de San Bento, where they take you to the reef that is exposed at low tide and then to snorkel with fish. This highly recommended excursion costs 80 reais per person and lasts about three hours. This place is still not as well known as the Maragogi walks and much fewer people go there. It leaves from San Bento or Camacho beach. The trips to the natural pools of Maragogi are between 80 and 100 reais, but they are really saturated with people and that, at least for us, does not attract us. The ubiquitous buggy rides are also offered; Although we did not do it, we were able to find out that they cost between 250 and 400 reais, since it takes 3, 4 or more hours and takes up to 4 people. I got the impression that there is no unified rate, each driver charges what they want and it is a matter of negotiating. These walks consist of visiting the beaches of Maragogi, Barra Grande, Antunes and Xareu. For those who rent a car, all these beaches are more or less within reach and can be visited with much more time by going on your own. Although it is a personal decision, having a car is not worth taking the walk, with a little research on the internet and YouTube you can access all the beaches that the walk includes. There are two viewpoints to visit. The one at the Sao Bento monastery, the highest place in Maragogi, admission is free and you can get there from Sao Bento beach (it's a little scary how steep the street is to climb to get there). The other viewpoint is in Maragogi, Mirador do Cruzeiro. The entrance is through Maragogi beach, the climb is very steep but the view is very good; They charge six reales per person. EAT OUT: There are all kinds of prices, but basically the price for two people does not go below 100 reais. Then you can spend 200 or more for two people to eat lobster, shrimp or good quality meat. As a reference, in a very large buffet on Peroba beach you paid 35 reais per person with three meat options (without repeating meat), without dessert or drinks. In the same place there was the option of buffet with meat skewers, without drinks or dessert for 60 reais per person. Curiously, most places to eat have almost all the options with dishes for two people, which are generally abundant. Sao Bento and Camacho: They are the least touristy places in Maragogi. In Sao Bento, the incidence of the tide is very great; At low tide there is an immense sand bank and at high tide, there is practically no sand. It is a picturesque beach with an impact, especially at low tide, of a river that flows there, which affects the color of the water. Access from the route is relatively easy. Maragogi: Although it is the best-known beach, it is not the best in the area. Most of the tours depart from there. It has a nice promenade parallel to the beach with many places to eat and the only place in the municipality that has a center with many shops; I recommend going at night, there is a good atmosphere to walk around. It has several accesses from the AL. 101, it is not difficult to get to the beach or the center by car. Barra Grande: This beach is famous for having the famous Camino de Moisés, which is a sand bank that at low tide (less than 0.2 and preferably less than that) is exposed and allows you to enter more than a kilometer walking along the beach. sand. There are bars set up there, and they sell all kinds of things. On days of very low tide it is absolutely packed with people. We did not have days of very low tide; The day we went with a 0.3 tide, the sandbank was not completely visible, you could walk in the water up to your ankles; It was also full of people. The beach has several bars where it is possible to use chairs and umbrellas in exchange for drinks; If you do not want to use these, you have to walk about 50 meters or more to one side or the other from the access you use, where there are no longer many people. Strangely, on this and other beaches, most people crowd into these bars and there is practically no one within walking distance. Whether with one option or the other, the beach is very good and the water is warm. Access is through a town next to AL 101; You can leave your car on the streets of the town (if there is space because a lot of people go) or pay for parking next to the beach. We opted to pay parking for 20 reais for the whole day (be careful they close at 4:00 p.m.) Antunes-Xareu: These were, in our opinion, the best beaches in Maragogi. At low tide, large sandbanks and natural pools form, the water is absolutely transparent and warm, even hot. It is completely worth visiting them and walking around them. There is no free public access for cars to these beaches; It is only allowed for the buggies that do the rides. However, going along AL 101 there are two or three signs indicating the existence of private parking next to the beach. (they say “parking lots beira mar”) We used one of them that charged 20 reais per car and had bathrooms and showers. They also rented chairs and umbrellas; I think they charged 20 reais for an umbrella and two chairs, but I'm not sure because we had some borrowed from the owner of the apartment we rented. It also had a beach club but it was not mandatory to consume there; You can bring your chairs, umbrella, refrigerator, etc. and find a place on the sides of that club. I recommend not using the parking lots in this area on the side of AL 101, because you pay almost the same and you have to walk a fairly long distance to the beach; It is worth paying for parking next to the beach. Ponta de Mangue. This is a very good beach, similar to Antunes, but it has less strip of sand so at high tide it is almost completely covered; Better to go at low tide. There is a well-known all-inclusive hotel, the OCA Maragogi; Right next to this hotel there is public access for cars and people, which is free (it is easily identified by the existence of a long wall that divides the hotel from the street that allows access); I could not identify the existence of another access to this beach. Peroba: It is the last beach in the municipality of Maragogi and after it the state of Alagoas ends and Pernambuco begins. It is an excellent beach at low or mid tide; At the top the strip of sand almost disappears. It is one of the beaches with the easiest access, since from the AL. 101 leaves several streets towards the beach and ends there. We used an access located in front of the highway police headquarters, in a place where several street vendors are located and which is easily identified by an abandoned building that must have been a hotel. Entering through there, the advantage is that you can drive right up to the sand and there are several trees that provide spectacular shade. Although there is a sign (very old) that says private property, there are no problems entering. I do not recommend going to this beach further north (on the Pernambuco side) since there is a river that flows there and this affects the color of the water. If you continue north you can visit the first city of Pernambuco, Sao José da Coroa Grande; This one has a beach but we didn't go. There are several supermarkets there that are very well stocked and have good prices. OTHER BEACHES. In this case they are beaches that are located south of the municipality of Maragogi. Japaratinga: It is the municipality immediately south of Maragogi. As in the latter, Japaratinga is a municipality with several beaches and at the same time the name of one of them. The beach in the center of Japaratinga is excellent, with a large strip of sand that makes it suitable for all types of tides; There are several restaurants in front of the beach itself and from there there are walks to reefs and natural pools. Access is very easy, since there are several nearby streets where you can leave your car. Continuing south along the street closest to the beach (and after a sharp curve) there is a place where the beach is surrounded by small cut logs, next to which you can park your car and stay on the beach, which has excellent shade. All the beaches to the south of these and to the end of the municipality are good, with very few people and in general with relatively easy access. Patacho: This is a beautiful beach in the municipality of Porto das Pedras, which is immediately south of the municipality of Japaratinga (20-25 kilometers from Maragogi). To get there there are 2 ways: - Follow the Japaratinga coastal route; It ends in a river where the crossing is done by raft that costs 20 reais per section for a trip of about 10 minutes. It is about 20-25 kilometers from Maragogi. The drawback is that depending on the time and day, the wait to cross can be up to an hour. There are two rafts but sometimes only one works at a time and it takes longer. - Take the route that avoids the raft away from the coast; The route is in fair condition. In this case the distance to travel is extended to about 45-50 kilometers from Maragogi. Patacho is a long beach, with few people, transparent and warm water. It has a free parking lot in excellent condition with bathrooms and showers. On the other hand, the streets to get there from the route are in poor condition. On this beach there are also walks to the reef which is very close. It is undoubtedly worth the transfer to see this beautiful beach. Continuing south on AL 101 (at that time under construction that made it difficult to travel) along the so-called ecological route, you can reach Sao Miguel Dos Milagres. The place where we arrived at this beach was full of people and we didn't like it; but if you go about 100 meters or more to the south (walking or driving along the street parallel to the beach) there are almost no people and the beach is excellent, much better if there is low tide. Conclusions of the week in Maragogi: - Although it is already a well-known tourist place, it is undoubtedly not yet a strong destination for foreign tourists like Porto Galinhas. The vast majority of tourists are Brazilians. - The beaches and water are excellent and there are many to see. - Transfers within the municipality are simple, but you must travel with caution. - The road infrastructure leaves much to be desired, the main routes are regular or in poor condition and the internal streets are usually in poor condition. - It is very important to previously investigate on the Internet and YouTube in relation to access to the beaches, since in some cases access from the route is not easy. - It is essential to pay attention to the tide table and plan departure days and times according to the most favorable low tide.End of part 1.

Summary: I made the package of 3 tours (city tour, Buggy, Maragogi and island sto Aleixo 👇✈️ + Buggy end to end with this Enterprise. I am passionate about every detail they provided on my vacation! Processing and amazing photos. I recommend!!