Mangunça – Dunes, Lagoons and Beach

Mangunça combines dune formations and rain-created lagoons with native forest, mangroves, and an extensive beach. The area is one of four communities in the Reserva Extrativista de Cururupu. If you’re looking for a vacation rental in Mangunça, you’ll find a landscape shaped by nature and water, with varied scenery along the way to the dunes, during the journey there, and at the beach.

Dunes, Lagoons and Forest

The dune formations are among Mangunça’s distinctive landscape features. Between them lie lagoons formed by rain. This means the surroundings are not just a landscape of dunes: bodies of water are also part of the area’s scenery. Native forest with diverse local flora is another feature of the route from the Fazenda to the dunes. The trail also passes through flooded areas and mangroves. This sequence makes the walk an opportunity to experience several different landscapes, rather than focusing the outing solely on the dunes themselves.

Walking from the Fazenda to the Dunes

Plan for a walk of about an hour and a half along the route from the Fazenda to the dunes. It passes through native forest, flooded areas, and mangroves. The approximate duration and the landscape features described give you concrete points to consider when deciding whether this outing fits into your day’s plans. At the end of the walk, you’ll reach an extensive beach in Mangunça. This makes the route to the dunes a beach outing too, with the beach itself among the tourist attractions of the region’s communities.

Birdlife and Life by the River

Wildlife also shapes the impression of the area. Mangunça is one of the well-known places in the Reentrâncias Maranhenses used by Nearctic migratory birds. On the way to Mangunça, you may spot, among other birds, sandpipers and scarlet ibises (guarás). These birds offer a specific focus for travelers who enjoy spending time observing nature. Fishing, in turn, is one of the most important livelihoods for Mangunça’s residents. On the way to Mangunça, wooden fishing huts stand along the river. Together, the huts and the importance of fishing offer a glimpse of local daily life, alongside the scenery of forest, lagoons, and beach.

Getting There and Choosing Your Destination

A special way of arriving is also relevant when choosing where to go: Ilha de Mangunça can be reached by boat from the Beira-Mar pier, Cururupu’s main port. This boat access is another point to consider alongside the walking routes described above. When choosing your vacation rental, consider whether you’d like to discover Mangunça primarily for its dunes and lagoons, nature watching, fishing and the fishing huts, or its extensive beach.

More places to discover: Bacabal, Santa Helena, Araioses, Cururupu, Escalvado, Carolina, Dom Pedro and Barra do Corda.

View the broader travel guide: Maranhão.