Araruama Lagoon is a large hypersaline body of water in Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, bordered by several municipalities including Araruama, Cabo Frio, and São Pedro da Aldeia. It’s notable for being one of the largest hypersaline lagoons in the world, with salinity levels exceeding those of the Atlantic Ocean, which lies just a short distance away. In several quiet towns along the lagoon’s south shore, you can literally walk from the ocean’s waves to the lagoon’s calm, shallow waters in just a few minutes. This rare geographical setup has helped the area become popular with wind sports enthusiasts, thanks to the consistent breezes and flat water. If you want to observe a coastal environment where salt production, leisure, and small-town life all overlap, this is a low-key but interesting destination to check out.
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We visited Araruama Lagoon on a Sunday trip during our month-long stay in nearby Arraial do Cabo. While it wasn’t as exhilarating as our day trips to the enchanting towns of Cabo Frio and Armação dos Búzios, it was a pleasant outing nonetheless.
We took an Uber and got off at the eastern edge of Figueira town, then set off walking westward along the lagoon. It was a particularly windy day, and the wide water surface was agitated—churned like a restless sheet of tin beneath the sky. The shore was bordered by a narrow strip of sand, followed by a broad stretch of grass. Here and there, small groups of bathers—likely the local owners of the scattered littoral properties—lay supine or sat in camping chairs far offshore in the shallow water.
We’d have liked to have a coffee, but there was nothing along that part of the shore aside from houses. Eventually, we came across a guesthouse-restaurant that—although it didn’t serve coffee—offered açaí. By the way, if you’re planning to spend a few days in the area, there are plenty of nice lodges marked on the map below.
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The shoreside path eventually came to an end, and we had to continue our stroll along the busy main road further inland. In the town center, we finally found our coffee at a bakery. Caffeinated and hungry, we set out in search of lunch. We bought a whole roasted chicken from a roadside grill and made again for the shore, where we devoured it with our hands, sitting on the grass before the waterline.
That part of the shoreline was busier with Sunday trippers. A couple of bars were crowded with drinkers and loud with samba. Children played a football match on an open pitch. We enjoyed a last, digestive stroll in the windy sunshine before catching the bus back home.
Photos
View (and if you want use) all my photographs from Figueira in higher resolution.
