Today at this beach
Tide coming in
High tide at 12:16 · 1.8 m · Pernambuco time (UTC-3)
InterpretationPartial window for the natural pools today, from 04:01 to 07:31, around the 06:01 low tide (0.5 m). Pernambuco time (UTC-3).
See the full tableMonthly tablePontal de Maracaípe is the southern tip of Maracaípe Beach, in Ipojuca (PE), about 6 km from the Vila de Porto de Galinhas (the village center), where the Maracaípe River meets the sea. It has shallow water at low tide, mangroves, tours by jangada, a traditional sail raft, to see seahorses, and the most famous sunset in the area.
Getting there
By car, buggy or bicycle, heading south from the Vila along Estrada de Maracaípe. The parking lots are near the end of Rua Professora Erothides Flora Chalaça and charged R$ 10 to R$ 20 in 2025 and early 2026. The "ponta a ponta" (end to end) buggy tour starts at the Pontal and runs to Muro Alto. From the Pontal you can see Serrambi, across the river.
Swimming and natural pools
At low tide you can walk many meters in knee-deep water, and children and older people enjoy the shallow parts. At the tip of the Pontal, natural pools form when the tide is 0.0 to 0.6 m, and they are reached by jangada. Check the tide table before you go. On the open-sea stretch of Maracaípe, to the north, the waves are strong.
Jangada tour and seahorses
The Pontal jangadas have no sail: they are pushed with a pole through the estuary, between mangroves and sandbars. The tour cost R$ 60 per person in 2025 and lasts about 1 hour. In 2018 the price was R$ 25, and in 2022, R$ 40. Only jangada operators from the local association run boats at the river mouth. See the seahorse jangada tour page.
The Maracaípe seahorse (*Hippocampus reidi*) is an endangered species. Some jangada operators still take the animal out of the water and put it in a jar for tourists to see; a 2011 study linked this practice to the population decline. Ask to watch the seahorse in the water, without removing it. Projeto Hippocampus, an NGO that studies the species, has trained jangada operators from the community.
Sunset
The sunset seen from the Pontal is the best known in Porto de Galinhas. To watch it from a jangada, go out in the late afternoon, around 16:00. There are food and drink stalls, beach umbrellas and chairs on the sand.
Protected area
The estuary is part of the Sirinhaém and Maracaípe Rivers Estuarine Environmental Protection Area (APA), created by State Law 9,931 of 1986, covering 3,335 hectares in Ipojuca and Sirinhaém. In 2017 the municipality created a municipal nature park of just over 15 hectares of mangrove at the Pontal, following a recommendation from the Pernambuco Public Prosecutor's Office.
Precautions
- Do not take seahorses or crabs out of the water, and do not take anything from the mangrove.
- Wear sunscreen and bring water.
- When the tide is rising, come back from the more distant sandbars.
- Emergency: Fire Department (Bombeiros), 193.
Today at this beach
Tide coming in
High tide at 12:16 · 1.8 m · Pernambuco time (UTC-3)
InterpretationPartial window for the natural pools today, from 04:01 to 07:31, around the 06:01 low tide (0.5 m). Pernambuco time (UTC-3).
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