Bonito
Brazil
Spring-fed rivers clear enough to snorkel over the fish as if they were in air
Photo by Azzedine Rouichi on Unsplash
Photos by Rafael Vianna Croffi, Azzedine Rouichi, Aurélia Ferreira and Edson Junior on Unsplash
Best time to visit all of Brazil
April to October, the dry season
Climate month by month
The next sixteen daysOpen-Meteo
Average high and low · °C
Rainfall · mm per month
Best months to visit This month · wettest 200mm in Jan
Where it is
21.13°S, 56.49°W Open in Google Maps
Things to do
Weeks of it- Stay four or five nights: two tours a day is the most anyone enjoys, and the best ones are a full morning each
- Book through an agency before you arrive, and weeks ahead for the summer holidays, Easter and the July school break — every attraction has a daily cap and the popular ones sell out
- Float the Rio da Prata or the Sucuri, an hour or more downstream with a mask, among dourado and piraputanga
- Go to the Gruta do Lago Azul in the morning, when the light reaches the water
- Watch the red macaws nesting in the Buraco das Araras sinkhole at the end of the day
- Abseil 72 metres into the Abismo Anhumas, if you are comfortable on a rope — it takes few people a day and a training session the day before
Bonito travel tipsthe general rules
Currency budget Brazil
ExpensiveThe tours are the expense, and they are paid at the agency when you book, by card. Prices are set by each attraction and are the same at every agency in town, so there is nothing to haggle and no point shopping around on price — choose the agency on how well it answers questions. Pix needs a Brazilian account; as a visitor you are on cards and a little cash for meals, tips and the market.
ATMs & cards
Bradesco, Banco do Brasil and Caixa all have branches with machines on or near Rua Coronel Pilad Rebuá, the main street. Draw in the daytime and decline conversion. Out at the attractions there is nothing, but lunch is usually part of the ticket and the rest takes cards.
Avoid these
- Banco24Horas machines outside a building
- counting on a machine at the attractions — there are none
Use these instead
- Bradesco
- Banco do Brasil
- Caixa
The tours are paid by card at the agency, so cash is for meals, tips and the odd extra at a farm. The branches are on and around Rua Coronel Pilad Rebuá.
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 all of Brazil
SafeA small, calm town where the risks are in the water and on the road. Snorkel trips ban sunscreen and repellent because they cloud the rivers, so wear a long-sleeved top rather than burning for two hours face down. Follow the guide's line in the water — you float, you do not stand, because the bottom is what keeps the river clear. The farm roads are dirt and slick after rain.
Where to walk, and where to pay attention (6 areas)
Comfortable, including after dark
- Rua Coronel Pilad Rebuá — the main street and its restaurants, in the evening
- Balneário Municipal de Bonito — the town's river beach, by day
Worth more attention
- Sun on the snorkel trips, where sunscreen is not allowed — cover up instead
- The unpaved farm roads after rain, if you are driving yourself
- Abismo Anhumas — the abseil and the climb back out on a rope, which is harder than the way down
- Standing on the riverbed or leaving the guide's line, which damages the river and earns a firm word
Our own assessment, not a sourced index.
Entry & visa Brazil visa rules
No visa neededup to 90 days
Other passports
e-Visa requiredup to 90 days$80
Brazil reintroduced visas for these three nationalities. It is an e-visa applied for online.
Visa required in advance
Entry rules change often and depend on your passport, not where you live — the official page above is the authority, and the airline checks before you board.
Health & emergencies all of Brazil
Good but costlyRequired to enter
- Yellow fever certificate, but only if you are arriving from a country where yellow fever is present
Jabs worth having, and what happens if you need a doctor
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. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.
Food tip
GoodMato Grosso do Sul eats like its neighbour Paraguay: chipa and sopa paraguaia (which is a cornbread, not a soup), and tereré, cold maté passed round a group. The rivers give pacu and pintado, and the town restaurants serve farmed caiman — jacaré — as ribs or croquettes. Most of the river trips include a buffet lunch at the farm, which is the best meal of the day.
Travel tipsGetting around
Car needed- UberWorks here
- 99Works here
- inDriveWorks here
- BoltNot here
99 the Brazilian one, often cheaper
- Against a taxi
- Cheaper than a taxi and, in the big cities, the default for everybody.
Some favela and periphery addresses will not be accepted by drivers at night; that is a driver safety decision, not a fare one.
Time zone and your working day
America/Campo Grande — the same time as you
8 hours of overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are — 09:00–17:00 your time, 09:00–17:00 theirs.
No overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are. Working from here means one of you keeps odd hours — their day starts at 09:00 on your clock.
office hours both at once night
Their 09:00–17:00 is 09:00–17:00 on yours.
The difference from the UK, Europe, the US and ten more
Worked out against America/New York, which is where this request looks like it came from.
eSIM
A data eSIM for Brazil, installed before you fly and working the moment you land:
Works here
Works hereRevolutIn the app
Must-see
Travel tipsNearby day trips
Travel tipsSay a few words
Portuguese (Brazilian)
- HelloOi / Oláoy / o-LA
- PleasePor favorpor fa-VOR
- Thank youObrigado / Obrigadao-bree-GA-doo / -da
- Yes / NoSim / Nãoseeng / nowng
4 more phrases
- 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".
Travel tipsReligion
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.
Travel tipsDo'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
Where to stay in Bonito
No Holistay rentals in Bonito yet — the platform is just opening up. Every listing here will have a video tour and the option to negotiate the nightly price directly with the host.
In the meantime, here is Bonito on the sites that do have the inventory — each search is already filled in:
- Booking.com hotels, guesthouses and apartments — the widest coverage almost everywhere
- Airbnb whole homes and apartments, and the better option for a week or more
How to get there
Fly into Campo Grande CGR
4h 30mfrom the airport· 203 km as the crow flies
Four and a half hours by road, about 300 km; shuttles meet the main flights.
Also worth pricing: Bonito BYO — a few Azul flights a week from Campinas, 15 minutes from town — the easiest way in when the schedule fits.
Google Flights · Rome2Rio for the trains, buses and ferries as well as the flights
