Accident Creates Paradise with Warm Crystalline Waters in Pernambuco

01/23/2017 - 13h38

An isolated, nearly untouched paradise, the Azul lagoon (Lagoa Azul) is the new destination in Pernambuco this summer.

It opened to the public a little over a year ago and is located in Jaboatão dos Guararapes (33 kilometers from the state's capital, Recife).

The Azul lagoon has attracted tourists and residents of the state looking for some peace and quiet or adrenaline.

When visitors see the lagoon with its warm water, surrounded by a 50-meter high rock, they cannot imagine that it was created by accident.

The place was a quarry more than 30 years ago. During the digging to extract ore, the machines reached the groundwater, making the water rise to the surface.

The crater is some 120 meters wide and 22 meters deep and became the ideal place for those who want to enjoy some rest with their families in a site surrounded by forests.

As the Azul lagoon is in private property, visitors have to pay R$ 10 (US$ 3) to access it. It is open on Saturdays and Sundays, but it also opens on weekdays in January.

	Leo Caldas/Folhapress
	Lagoa Azul, Jaboatao dos Guararapes, PE - Pernambuco

Visitors are not allowed to bring food or beverages. There is a small bar and some kiosks that sell beer, soda and appetizers at the site.

On weekends, visitors can swim in the lagoon and practice radical sports such as Tyrolean traverse, rappelling and bungee jumping.

The access to the Azul lagoon is the biggest complaint of those who visited it. Folha drove along the 30-kilkometer road that begins in Recife. Most of the way is done on PE-17 highway. There are no signs or road markings and some parts of the road have no shoulder.

The access to the lagoon is through a community where the road is not paved.

Translated by THOMAS MUELLO

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