Lençóis Maranhenses lagoon season: when the lagoons are full, and how to photograph them

The Lençóis Maranhenses lagoon season is the stretch of the year, roughly May to September, when rainwater fills the hollows between the white dunes of the Parque Nacional dos Lençóis Maranhenses in Maranhão, and a couple session there is priced from $150. Outside that window many lagoons shrink or vanish, which is why the date of a shoot matters more here than almost anywhere else in Brazil.

When the lagoons are full

The lagoons are not permanent lakes. They form from the rain that falls in the first half of the year, sit on an impermeable layer under the sand, and evaporate as the dry season goes on. The park's own Plano de Uso Público, published by the Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade (ICMBio) in 2022, says the landscape reaches its fullest from May, with lagoons full and settled weather, and that visits peak in July. The same plan says the season stretches into September and October, when the wind that draws kitesurfers arrives.

The pattern shifts with each year's rain, and ICMBio publishes no water-level bulletin for the park, so we ask the credentialed operators in the gateway towns how the lagoons look in the weeks before your date.

Barreirinhas, Santo Amaro or Atins

The park covers 156,608.16 hectares, according to ICMBio's page for the park, created by Decreto nº 86.060 in 1981 and listed by UNESCO as World Heritage in 2024. Three gateways put you on different dunes, and the choice changes the photographs.

ICMBio's Barreirinhas page says the Lagoa Azul trip normally runs in the morning as a half-day 4x4 tour, and that the Lagoa da Esperança takes more than an hour to reach from town. The Santo Amaro page describes the Emendadas circuit, whose lagoons join when the water is high, as an afternoon trip good for sunset. For a couple session, that makes Santo Amaro the gateway we suggest first when the light is the priority.

Who can drive you in

The rule that surprises most visitors is that nobody drives into the park on their own. ICMBio's visitor guidance says transport and guiding must be done by vehicles, drivers and visitor guides credentialed by ICMBio, and that private cars, motorbikes, buggies, quad bikes and UTVs are barred. Motor traffic is banned on the open dune field, and the rules are set by Portaria ICMBio nº 199/2017 and the park's management plan. ICMBio charges no fee to enter the park; the credentialed agencies charge for their own tours.

For a photo session this means the photographer travels in a credentialed vehicle with a guide like everyone else, and the timing of the shoot follows the tour's schedule. We book a private tour so the vehicle waits for the last light instead of leaving with a group.

Light, heat and wind

The sand reflects almost everything, so the middle of the day turns faces white and the lagoons pale. The usable light is the first and last hour, and the sun moves very little across the year because the park sits about 2.5 degrees south of the Equator.

Those times come from US Naval Observatory tables for the park on Brasília time, and sunset stays within a 15-minute band from May to October. We start a session 45 minutes before sunset and plan to walk back over the dunes in the blue hour with the guide. From August, wind lifts sand off the dune crests in the afternoon: dramatic in a photograph, hard on a veil and on camera sensors, so a flowing dress is worth weighing against the date. ICMBio's visitor guidance recommends carrying water, repellent and sunscreen, and at least three litres of water per person per day on the multi-day crossing.

Photography and drones in the park

Under ICMBio's Instrução Normativa nº 12/2025, ICMBio's summary says image capture needs no authorisation in a place and at an hour open to visitors, so a couple session on a public circuit with the tour is covered. Camping overnight in the dunes, a set or a staged ceremony is a different case, and the park's free special authorisation is requested ahead. The Pólo Oásis around Baixa Grande and Queimada dos Britos is a primitive zone with no motorised tours, according to ICMBio's page for the oases, and is reached only on foot on a crossing of up to 5 days.

A drone over the dunes needs a SARPAS authorisation under DECEA's ICA 100-40, in force since 1 July 2026, and ANAC's RBAC nº 100 keeps it 30 m from anyone who has not agreed to the flight. A flight in a national park also goes to ICMBio, so the pilot files both before the date. Our page on drone photo and video in the Lençóis Maranhenses and the drone guide have the detail.

Sessions in the Lençóis Maranhenses

The tour itself is paid to the credentialed agency, not to us, and we tell you before booking which tour the session rides on. See couple photos in the Lençóis Maranhenses for the circuits we use, read more about the Lençóis Maranhenses, or send us your dates on the booking page and we will check the lagoons for that month.