RouteAracaju

Mangue Seco: The Desert Island at Sergipe's Southern Tip

Mangue Seco — on the Sergipe-Bahia border, accessible only by boat — is one of the Northeast's most remote and beautiful coastal villages; enormous white dunes, a sheltered lagoon, and no roads make it extraordinary

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1
Only access to boat
Mangue Seco is only accessible by boat from Pontal - the 15-minute crossing of the mouth of the Real River to a village with no cars, no roads and electricity recently installed; the isolation is the attraction
2
White Dune Landscape
The giant white sand dunes that surround Mangue Seco - some as high as 30 meters - create a desert landscape on the Atlantic; the sand dune hikes at sunset, with the sea on one side and the estuary on the other, are spectacular
3
Real River Estuary
The Real River - the border between Sergipe and Bahia - creates an estuary at Mangue Seco that is sheltered from the Atlantic; the calm waters are used for swimming and the mangroves are navigated by small boat
4
Jorge Amado's Tieta
Brazilian writer Jorge Amado set his novel Tieta (and TV movie Globo) in Mangue Seco — the village's fame grew from the TV series and remains a cultural reference for Brazilian visitors
5
Buggy Rides on the Dunes
The dune buggy rides from Mangue Seco over the huge white sand dunes to the seashore and back are the village's adventure offering - the scale of the dunes and the remoteness of the landscape are both memorable
6
Fishing village life
The fishing community of Mangue Seco maintains the traditional coastal lifestyle - the crab traps in the mangroves, the fish are dried on racks and the wooden boats are the reality along with tourism