My Brazil

Bonito is beautiful all the year round and a great adventure for the whole family

Safe and well-organized experiences in nature explain why Bonito is considered the best ecotourism destination in Brazil to travel with your family

By Daniel Nunes Gonçalves

We carefully placed our faces covered by the diving masks in the incredibly crystal-clear water of the rivers and saw many schools of fish just a few centimeters from our hands. When you look at the treetops on the farms where the tours take place, you become emotional when you see a rare pair of hyacinth macaws taking food to their fledgling. Then, with a light on your helmet, you can experience the adventure of following a guide inside a dark cave and finding inside it a well of blue waters that appear like the scenery from a fairytale. Those who travel as a family to Bonito are enchanted with a series of surprising – and safe – experiences like these. If the children are delighted with so many unique experiences, the parents enjoy this beautiful connection with nature as much or even more than the little ones.

This peaceful city in Mato Grosso do Sul has been elected the best ecotourism destination in Brazil 16 times, according to readers of Revista Viagem e Turismo. Bonito has become a favorite for families looking for outdoor trips. The privileged geography and the best-organized ecotourism structure in Brazil guarantee the approval of both 5-year-old children (the younger ones cannot use many of the attractions) and the grandmother who travels with them.

Here, nobody needs a shopping mall or computer games to entertain the kids. From the start to the finish, everyone tries to make the most of the natural attractions on the outskirts of the city that are easily accessible by car. The children love to expend energy playing in the refreshing water on the almost always sunny days of the Center-West. Parents and children are thrilled when they see the fascinating animals in the forest (it is even possible to see a tapir!). And everyone loves the regional food and the hospitality that makes the whole family want to come back.

In Bonito, all tours must be pre-booked with a local tourist agency, in a menu that includes more than 40 attractions, all with fixed prices and pre-established times. But be careful: do not delay! Each place only allows visits of about 10 to 12 people at a time, on average, in order to not have an impact on nature. The attractions are basically organized into four groups: flotation tours, adventures in nature, caves and adrenaline: many have their own particularities and age restrictions, therefore be careful when choosing the activities.

Flotation tour: feeling like you are in an aquarium

Everyone gets a floating life-jacket, a waterproof rubber suit, fins and mask with a respirator (some places even have Easybreath masks, which are much easier for children) in order to float in the calm waters of the super-transparent rivers. Once inside the rural properties such as Nascente Azul, Aquário Natural, Refúgio Ecológico Rio da Prata and Barra do Rio Sucuri, among others, simply follow the guide, enter the flow of the river and be enchanted by the piraputangas, curimbas and other schools of fish.

In some places, you can see the “water eyes,” which are the springs of water that look like small submerged volcanoes spouting out the sacred liquid of the Earth.

It is worth remembering that most of these tours only allow children over 6 years old in the water. Some even have the option of leaving a smaller child on the boat (with one of the parents) accompanying the flotation tour. However, it is not possible to change in the middle of the tour: those who float can only swim and those who stay on the boat can only observe.

Adventures in the parks, trails and waterfalls

With a pack on your back, hat and sunscreen, any small trail in Bonito that leads to a waterfall looks like an expedition from Dora the Explorer. At Estância Mimosa, where paths with handrails lead to ten waterfalls, you can spot macaws – including the threatened blue species – and even a couple of broad-snouted caimans that live in the lake. And believe me: the male answers when the guide calls out his name: “Tooony”!

The Eco Park Porto da Ilha is distinguished by its fun menu of attractions: you can go down the Rio Formoso by rafting or buoy-cross, pedal a water bike (!), row an inflatable kayak or by stand-up paddle. At the Fazenda Boca da Onça, in addition to the trails and waterfalls, there is the adrenaline of being able to rappel hanging from a rope, effortlessly, into the canyon of the Salobra River for 90 meters. Although children over 5 years old are allowed to descend, this type of attraction tends to appeal more to those teenagers who enjoy something more radical.

Caves to lose your fear of the dark

The caves of Bonito are prized. The most famous of them, the Gruta do Lago Azul, only requires the use of a helmet and due care on the 300 steps to descend to the beautiful waterhole that gives its name to the place. In the recently opened Gruta do Mimoso, there are only 78 steps to reach another blue lake. In this cave, it is important to take a flashlight because it is even darker. Unlike the Gruta do Lago Azul, in Mimoso the tourist can dive. In both cases, children have easy access. It’s just good to check whether the parents and the grandparents have sufficiently strong knees to descend and then up the stairs to these caves, which are among the most scenic attractions in Bonito.

The peak of adrenaline

No attraction in Bonito is more adventurous than the Abismo Anhumas. After 25 years being visited only by practitioners of abseiling with strong arms, this monumental cave, which you can only enter through a hole in the ceiling, was reopened in 2022 and is now easily accessible. Anyone can now enter there, suspended by a steel cable operated by an electric winch, without any physical effort.

Both children over 5 years old and even those in wheelchairs can go down the 72-meter precipice that leads to a blue lake where you can ride in an inflatable boat and even go diving (however, be careful, the water is very cold as there is little light). It is the most challenging – and fantastic – natural attraction in all of Bonito. It can be a test as to whether it is suitable for every member of the family because there is the challenge of overcoming the fear of heights and also the dark.

Another important tip is to research the best time of sunlight before buying the tickets.

Services

ACCESS

You can fly direct to Bonito or disembark in the capital Campo Grande and drive 300 kilometers, exploring the Pantanal of Mato Grosso do Sul.

HOTEL
Promenade Bonito All Suites

Newly opened, this new family-oriented hotel allows you to park your car in the front of the room and has a pool and a restaurant. There are 78 suites measuring 35 square meters with mini-kitchen, bed and bunk bed and even a small washing area with a clothesline. It accepts dogs and has ten suites that are adapted for guests with special needs.

Zagaia Eco Resort

This is a resort option further away from the city center with a complete infrastructure for families with several attractions and family rooms.

BEST TIME TO VISIT
Bonito can be visited year-round, but the waters can be less transparent during the summer rainy season, from December to February. It rains less from June to August.

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