Barreirinhas

The least taxing of the standard tours to the lagoons. The most popular offer leaves around 14h from the city, picks up clients and gets to the ferry at around 15h. After crossing, it's a half-hour bumpy ride to the foot of a medium-sized, smooth-sloped dune. In wet season, the guide is likely to walk the group through a circuit of four to five lagoons, but everybody congregates at the start (the highest point) for watching the sunset. Compared to Lagoa Bonita, the panoramic views are not as impressive, but the individual lagoons are prettier.

The most popular offer leaves around 14h from the city, picks up clients and gets to the ferry at around 15:00. After crossing, it's a one hour ride to the foot of a high, steep dune (there's a rope to help you up). In wet season, the guide is likely to walk the group through a circuit of three to four lagoons, but everybody congregates near the Brazilian flag at the start (the highest point) for watching the sunset. Compared to Lagoa Azul, there are great panoramic views of white sand dunes as far as the eye can reach, but this expanse might make it harder to forget the crowds around you.

Starting in Barrerinhas, it goes downstream with three usual stops at Vassouras, Mandacaru and Caburé. This is a touristic tour, but you can ask to be dropped at Atins before the boat returns nonstop to Barreirinhas. Some agencies charge extra for that, some don't. Likewise, some agencies charge extra for luggage.

Usually a morning-only tour, people go to Cardosa village, from where they hop on buoys and float their way to a pick-up point (visibility is low and snorkeling is not really an option).

Road tour visiting all the main attractions around Atins.

In the unlikely possibility that you're not following the Rota das Emoções trail, but you still want to visit the Parnaíba Delta, it's possible to organize it as a day trip from Barreirinhas. It leaves at around 07:30 from town, from where it's a 2-hr ride to Tutóia. The boat tour will visit mangroove areas, seahorse spotting areas, make a couple of stops on idylic fluvial islands for bathing and finally wait for the ibis birds to fly back to their favorite island at sunset.