Manaus

Currency

Change money in Manaus before going into the forest — a jungle lodge takes cards for the booking and cash for everything else, and the villages take cash only. Rates in the city centre beat the airport. Tips for guides and boatmen are expected and are best given in reais.

ATMs & cards

Draw what you need in the city, from Banco do Brasil, Bradesco or Itaú machines inside branches and shopping centres. There are no machines on the river. Decline conversion, and do not use street kiosks after dark near the port.

There is no cash machine in the forest. Take what your lodge stay and your guide will cost before you leave the city.

Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.

Safety

The centre is lively by day and best left by taxi at night, especially around the port and the Zona Franca shops. Ponta Negra and the hotel districts are calm. In the forest the risks are not criminal: heat and dehydration, sun on open water, and the need to go with a licensed guide rather than whoever offers at the dock. Yellow fever vaccination is strongly recommended for Amazonas, and some onward countries ask for the certificate.

Our own assessment, not a sourced index.

Entry & visa

Health & emergencies

Required to enter

• Yellow fever certificate, but only if you are arriving from a country where yellow fever is present

Worth having

• Yellow fever — recommended for most of Brazil including the area around Rio
• Hepatitis A
• Typhoid
• Tetanus up to date

Getting treated

Public emergency care (SUS) is free to everyone including foreigners, but is crowded and slow. Private hospitals in Rio and São Paulo are excellent and expect insurance or payment up front.

Dengue, zika and chikungunya are all present and mosquito-borne — repellent matters. Yellow fever vaccination should be given at least 10 days before arrival.

Orientation, not medical advice. Entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history and where you have been — check with a travel clinic or your national health service four to six weeks before you go.

Food tip

Amazonian food is unlike the rest of Brazil: tambaqui and pirarucu grilled whole, tucupi broth, jambu leaves that make your mouth tingle, and fruit — cupuaçu, açaí as the locals actually eat it, graviola — you will not have tasted. Eat at the Mercado Adolpho Lisboa in the morning and along Ponta Negra in the evening.

Getting around

• Boat — the roads run out almost immediately; the river is the transport network and always has been
• Uber and 99 — cheap and reliable within the city, and the sensible way to the port and the airport
• Bus — extensive and hot; useful for the Ponta Negra beach and the university
• Lodge transfers — most jungle stays include the boat out, which is half the experience
• Airport: Eduardo Gomes has flights from São Paulo, Brasília, Miami and Panama; it is 20 minutes from the centre

Internet speed

Broadband here runs at 1.9× the global median of 128 Mbps. Mobile runs at 2.4× the global median of 110 Mbps.

Source: Ookla Speedtest Global Index · measured May 2026

Must-see

Things to do

• See a performance in the Teatro Amazonas
• Go out to the Meeting of the Waters, where the black Negro and the brown Solimões run side by side for kilometres
• Spend two nights at a lodge in the Anavilhanas or Mamori
• Canoe the flooded forest between April and July, or walk its trails from September
• Watch pink river dolphins from a boat rather than a feeding platform
• Eat your way through the Mercado Adolpho Lisboa

Nearby day trips

Say a few words

Portuguese (Brazilian)

• HelloOi / Oláoy / o-LA
• PleasePor favorpor fa-VOR
• Thank youObrigado / Obrigadao-bree-GA-doo / -da
• Yes / NoSim / Nãoseeng / nowng
• Excuse meCom licençakong lee-SEN-sa
• How much is it?Quanto custa?KWAN-too KOOS-ta
• The bill, pleaseA conta, por favora KON-ta
• Cheers!Saúde!sa-OO-djee

Softer and more open than European Portuguese, and the de sounds like "dje".

Religion

Catholic and Evangelical

The largest Catholic population in the world, with a fast-growing Evangelical share and Afro-Brazilian traditions such as Candomblé and Umbanda practised alongside.

Do's and don'ts

Do

• Greet with a kiss on each cheek between women, or a woman and a man; a handshake between men
• Expect physical closeness in conversation — standing back reads as cold
• Arrive late to social invitations; on time is genuinely early
• Learn a few words of Portuguese, and never open in Spanish

Don't

• Do not make the OK sign with finger and thumb — it is obscene here
• Do not walk with a phone visible in the street
• Do not wear obvious jewellery or watches on the beach or in the city
• Do not call Brazilians Hispanic or assume they speak Spanish