Maceió

Currency budget Brazil

Cards are accepted along the seafront, in the barracas and on most excursions; Pix covers the rest for anyone with a Brazilian account, which a visitor usually does not have. Change money at a shopping centre câmbio rather than the airport, and keep small notes for the jangada, the craft market and coconuts.

ATMs & cards

Banco do Brasil, Bradesco, Itaú and Santander machines inside branches or shopping centres, in daylight — Parque Shopping and Maceió Shopping are the easy ones. Avoid the standalone kiosks along the seafront at night. Decline the machine's conversion, and take cash before a day trip north to the Costa dos Corais, where machines are thin.

Use machines inside shopping centres, and withdraw in the city before a day on the north coast.

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

The seafront from Pajuçara to Jatiúca is busy, lit and comfortable well into the evening, and that is where nearly every visitor stays. Away from it, use app cars rather than walking, especially in the centre after dark. On the beach, the usual Brazilian rule: take one card and a little cash, and nothing you would mind losing.

Our own assessment, not a sourced index.

Entry & visa Brazil visa rules

Health & emergencies all of Brazil

Required to enter

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

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

Sururu is the city's own dish — a small lagoon mussel cooked into a broth with coconut — and Massagueira, on the lagoon twenty minutes south, is where to eat it with fried fish. Tapioca on the seafront in the evening, and crab at the barracas.

Getting around

• Uber and 99 — cheap and quick between Pajuçara, Ponta Verde and Jatiúca, and the way to get anywhere at night
• On foot — the seafront promenade runs unbroken through the three beach neighbourhoods
• Bus — cheap, but not built for visitors; app cars cost little more
• Excursion van — how most people do Maragogi, Gunga and Milagres, collected from the hotel at dawn
• Airport: Zumbi dos Palmares is 30 min from Pajuçara by app car

eSIM

A data eSIM for Brazil, installed before you fly and working the moment you land:Works hereWorks hereRevolutIn the app

Must-see

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

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