Anavilhanas National Park & Novo Airão Guide: 400 Islands on the Rio Negro

Stretching for 90 kilometres along the lower Rio Negro northwest of Manaus, Parque Nacional de Anavilhanas protects 350,000 hectares of emerald forest and braided blackwater channels that form the second-largest freshwater archipelago on Earth. Inscribed by UNESCO as part of the Central Amazon Conservation Complex, the park encompasses more than 400 elongated alluvial islands, hundreds of mirror-still interior lakes, and seasonal igapó forests reachable from the charming riverfront town of Novo Airão.

1. Crossing the Rio Negro Bridge to Novo Airão

Before the inauguration of the 3,595-metre cable-stayed Ponte Jornalista Phelippe Daou (Ponte Rio Negro) in 2011, reaching the southern and western shores of the Rio Negro required waiting for car ferries. Today, you can drive or take a private transfer directly across the bridge from Manaus, following highways AM-070 and AM-352 through Manacapuru for 180 kilometres (about 2 hours 30 minutes on paved roads) to Novo Airão. Perched on a bluff facing the southern tip of the archipelago, Novo Airão serves as the official visitor gateway to Anavilhanas and hosts boutique eco-lodges, traditional wooden boatyards, and the sustainable marquetry workshops of the Fundação Almerinda Malaquias.

2. Boat Expeditions, Pink River Dolphins, and Seasonal Landscapes

Hiring a licensed wooden launch or speedboat in Novo Airão lets you explore two completely different faces of the archipelago depending on the time of year (see our seasonal water-level guide):

• High-Water Enchanted Forests (May to August): When the Rio Negro rises up to 14 metres, boats turn off the main channels straight into flooded igapó woodland trails (trilhas aquáticas), gliding beneath a vault of overarching branches reflected symmetrically in the jet-black water.
• Dry-Season Island Beaches (September to February): As the river drops, dozens of pristine white-sand beaches, such as Praia do Aracari, Praia do Bararoá, and Praia do Sobrado, emerge along the tips of the islands, offering private swimming coves across the archipelago.
• Wild Pink River Dolphins & Madada Caves: Along the Novo Airão waterfront, wild Amazon river dolphins (Inia geoffrensis, known locally as boto-cor-de-rosa) swim freely beside floating observation decks regulated by ICMBio. Longer boat trips continue upstream to the sandstone formations of the Grutas do Madada and the colonial ruins of Velho Airão.