Macuco Safari – Boat Tour At Iguazu Falls In Brazil

Fast Facts and Recommendations:

1. Macuco Safari is located within the Iguazu Falls National Park on the Brazilian side.
2. The safari is open from 09:00 AM to 05:00 PM daily.
3. Macuco Safari tours depart every 15 minutes. No advanced reservation is required.
4. Macuco Safari offers several different tours. We took Macuco Safari Traditional Tour which includes an electric cart ride through the jungle, a short walk (600 meters) to a small waterfall, and a boat ride to the mighty Iguazu falls.
5. Macuco Safari Traditional Tour costs R$198 per person.
6. This price does not include the entrance to the Iguassu Falls National Park.
7. It costs an additional R$57 for Iguazu Falls National Park tickets. More information about the park can be found here: Visiting Iguazu Falls In Brazil
8. Macuco Safari boat ride at Iguazu Falls, Brazil will not make you wet. You’re going to get drenched.
9. Since you’re going to get drenched, bring a towel, swimsuit and spare clothes.
10. You’re going to get drenched no matter what. Don’t act smart and try using one of that plastic ponchos. It’s useless in front of the mighty waters of Iguazu.
11. I recommend doing the Macuco Safari boat tour towards the end of your day in the park. This way you will not have to carry your wet clothes all day long.
12. The entire boat ride is photographed and recorded. The photographs and recordings can be seen and purchased at the exit gate.
13. You can take your own camera for photographs and recording. Just make sure that the camera is either GoPro or any other waterproof camera.
14. Lockers are available for rent both at the Macuco Safari entrance and boat station. It costs R$10 to rent a locker.
15. I recommend taking the locker at the boat station right before the boat ride. This way you can have all your belongings, including your camera and phone for the first half of the tour where you go through the jungle, which means you can use your camera and phone for taking photographs.

Overview:

Well, I can’t tell you how badly I wanted to see Iguazu Falls on our Brazil trip. I remember how mesmerized I was seeing Niagara Falls for the first time. Having heard Iguazu Falls is nearly twice as tall as Niagara Falls, I was even more excited to see this monster of falls. Having been to Niagara Falls and its boat tour is known as ‘Maid of the mist’, I was looking for a similar boat tour at Iguazu Falls. That’s when I found out about ‘Macuco Safari’ which turned out to be more thrilling than ‘Maid of the mist’ because of speed boats.

Getting to Iguazu Falls:

Brazil is a big country, and getting from one place to another requires not only money but time as well. Since Foz Do Iguacu is located pretty remote, a road trip from Rio De Janeiro was not an option. Luckily, we found good flights from Rio that suited our plan and pocket. This is what our itinerary looked like:

Basically, we had one and a half days at the falls. Since we were not going to the Argentina side of the falls, this much time for the Iguazu Falls was more than sufficient.

Our time at the Macuco Safari:

At the visitor center, we figured out that we will have to take a shuttle bus to the Macuco Safari bus stop. The bus was a double-deck panoramic bus, which provided us a good overview of the park’s natural beauty. The bus stopped at multiple locations, and information about the stops and other tours and services was being transmitted through the loudspeaker on the bus.

In the double-deck panoramic bus, visitors can enjoy nature’s most exuberant views.

For Macuco Safari, get off the bus at ’10. Macuco Safari’ stop. It’s the 3rd stop from the visitor center station.

Once you have deboarded the bus at the Macuco Safari bus stop, you will see the Macuco building across the road. Cross the road, get your tickets for the Macuco Safari Traditional Tour which includes an electric cart ride through the jungle, a short walk (600 meters) to a small waterfall and boat ride to the mighty Iguazu falls.

You will also have an opportunity to leave your belongings in a locker there. However, I recommend taking the locker at the boat station right before the boat ride. This way you can have all your belongings, including camera and phone for the first half of the tour where you go through the jungle, which means you can use your camera and phone for taking photographs.

You will now be asked to board an electric cart where a guide will welcome you with a friendly smile.

Throughout the electric cart ride, the multi-lingual guide will provide details on flora and fauna.

Electric card ride is followed by an optional short walk down to the bottom of a small waterfall. The walk is around 600 meters and there is a little climbing involved here.

Stairs to the waterfall..

Going down to the bottom of the photo-op waterfall..

Once you have reached the bottom of the fall, you can spend a few minutes there for photo-op. Then you take the same stairs back and follow a new wooden trail to the boat station.

On my way to the boat station..

Once you arrive at the boat station, you can rent locker and store all your belongings there. There are restrooms for you to change your clothes to swimsuits. Then you march down several stairs to the awaiting boat.

Us at the boat station..

The boat ride from the station to the falls is short because it’s a speed boat. But, you will enjoy the speed and the thrill that comes with it! I would recommend taking the first seats on the boat if possible.

On our way to the mighty Iguazu Falls..

On our way back to the boat station. You can see we all are completely soaked.

The boat will now drop you back at the station. From there, you take the electric cart back to the Macuco Safari bus stop.

More information about getting to Foz Do Iguacu and the Iguazu National Park can be found here: Visiting Iguazu Falls In Brazil

Where did we stay in Foz Da Iguazu, Brazil

Thinking a return flight to Rio from Foz Da Iguazu will be too hectic giving us less time to spend at Iguazu Falls, we had booked our return flight for the next day. This means we were looking for someplace cheap to stay for just 1 night and that’s when I stumbled upon Tarobá Hotel. It has got great reviews, good connectivity to the falls (direct public bus to falls), and cheap hotel rooms (including breakfast). Basically, it had everything we were looking for. We booked a Superior Double room at Tarobá Hotel for $38.62 which included breakfast. The room was nice and clean and big enough for 2 people. Breakfast was sumptuous with a wide variety of options to choose from. No doubt it was a great value for money, but the thing that we loved the most about this hotel was its connectivity to the falls. Since it’s located pretty close to the bus station, you can catch a direct bus to the falls from right outside the hotel.

Verdict:

I highly recommend doing this boat tour on your next trip to Iguazu Falls because that’s the best way to get in touch with the Iguazu Falls!