Revoada dos Guarás Tour in Atins: Everything you need to know

Bird watching was never my thing, but the affordable Revoada dos Guarás in Atins was worth including in my 5-day Lençóis Maranhenses itinerary!

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What is special about Guarás?

Guarás are typical to South America and are considered one of the most beautiful birds in the continent due to their red color.

Guarás’ crab-based diet is the reason for their strong and beautiful red color. Such vivid color is only seen in wild Guarás, as the animals raised in captivity have a different diet.

What is the Revoada dos Guarás Tour?

During the day guarás hunt, and starting at sunset, they return to trees in the Manguezal to sleep. The Revoada dos Guarás Tour takes you to a strategic point in the ocean, where you can watch groups of guarás heading to trees to sleep.

Most groups are of 2-4 guarás, but you can see groups as big as 10 heading home. The birds arrive sporadically, and you can sit in your boat and watch them slowly come. It is mesmerizing to see empty green trees becoming red as the birds start to settle. Use the slider below to look at the trees before and after the Guarás arrive!

How much is the Revoada dos Guarás Tour in Atins?

In Atins, there are two tour options to pick from:

Motorboat tour: This tour takes you to see the Guarás in a modern yet very small and humble motorboat (Lancha Voadeira). A seat on the boat goes for ~R$100 (~20 USD) and a private tour for up to 3 people goes for ~R$450 (~90 USD)
Wooden motorboat tour: This tour goes to a different location than the usual motorboat tour, and offers a unique experience. My friend and I paid R$120 (~24 USD) per person for a private tour. This option is not typically on the menu of tour companies, and you can specifically ask for it or book it with a local fisherman. We had a good experience booking with Aloha Atins.
If out of Barreirinhas: If you are booking your tour coming out of Barreirinhas, you might be looking at a much higher cost due to the need to relocate to Atins. Because of the expensive price tag of this quick tour, it might be worth to spend a night in Atins and simply take the Atins <> Barreirinhas boat transfer.

My experience on the Revoada dos Guarás tour

Booking and boarding:

Because the regular motorboat tour was not available on that day, we opted for the wooden motorboat tour, which goes for R$120 per person.

We met our tour guide on the beach and walked into the sea to board the tiny wooden boat. We started navigating to a strategic location to watch the Revoada dos Guarás. The watching spot was not very far from the Kite Point in Atins, and to get there we got to navigate in the middle of many kite surfers.

Tour the good side of the Revoada dos Guarás tour:

Because the wooden boat tour is not mainstream, only two other tourists were there to watch the scenery. As the guarás started to come, I was both enchanted and disappointed. I expected to see many guarás flying together, but the groups were mostly of 2 to 3 guarás.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that as the sun set, bigger groups of guarás would come, and the tree they were heading to would become increasingly red. The final sight was stunning.

At that point, I was in love.

The unfortunate side of the Revoada dos Guarás tour:

Unfortunately, as we were heading back, I understood two reasons why the tiny wooden boat was not a mainstream method for seeing the revoada dos guarás:

The motor can disturb the birds: After all the birds were peacefully resting in the tree, our guide turned on the motor to navigate back to the beach. The loud motor sound scared the birds, and they immediately flew away from their trees. Although the birds returned to their tree after the scare, I was upset to have disturbed them in their home.
The ride back can be wet: The ride back to the beach was wet and freezing. The waves were a lot bigger than on the way in, and water kept hitting us in our faces. We were extremely uncomfortable because the salt water was irritating our eyes and our expensive camera equipment was not properly protected. By the time we left the boat, we were as wet as we’d have been had we jumped into the ocean for a swim. This issue could have been mitigated had the tour company told us about the rough conditions at night for us to pack and dress properly.

Overall, we loved the tour. Although we were bummed by the two issues we encountered, we recognize that they can be easily fixed by the tour organizers! If you are heading to Atins, the Revoada dos Guarás Tour is a nice and unique way to enjoy the sunset and the wildlife in Atins.