Gruta do Lago Azul Natural Monument — Attraction in Região Geográfica Imediata de Jardim

This cave is seriously amazing. It's advised to get on an early morning tour or better yet, the tour which starts about 8am so you'll be in the cave at the 830-9am mark which is when the sun shines through the opening at the right angle to light all the water up and you see the stunning blues!

There is a great gift shop with some great Brazilian made items and a small canteen for drinks and snacks. The toilets are actually amazing which was unexpected for the remote location of the caves (you'll need good transfers I recommend a private driver to help get you there on time). The road is gravel and if it rains it would be pretty impassable - not so many good 4wd car options here.

The tour is a short walk in the bush and then the 300 stairs down which are slate and abit slippery if it's rains. The guide was great and made a really great attempt at helping explain some complex rock formations/science in English. There is just the one large cave you walk to the bottom but then just back out again. You won't be able to touch the water or anything. Wear...

The cave itself is nice and impressive, but the surrounding organisation to us appeared not very accommodating for foreign visitors. We do not speak Portuguese and were told at check-in that the guide would speak at least some English, which was not the case. They seemed to not bother that we didn't understand and there was no effort to, for example, switch us to the next tour 20 minutes later which apparently was run by a guide who spoke some English and had other international visitors (which we found out after the tour).

So, the 'safety briefing' at the beginning and information during the tour were only provided in Portuguese. At other attractions around Bonito we found at least some signs in English, which helped us to understand a bit more.

So honestly, it was a bit dissappointing for us to pay the not cheap price for the tour and transport for an experience where we could not understand anything.

Nevertheless the natural beauty of the cave...

The Gruta do Lago Azul is about 1 hour drive from Bonito, mostly dirt road (translation: bumpy ride). It is a very beautiful cave with plenty of stalagmites (^) and stalactites (v). From the reception area there is a short hike to the entrance of the cave and then one descends steps that have handrails except in a few spots. At the bottom one can see the lake and its beautiful blue water.

Best time to go: from mid-november to mid-february there is a time when the sun hits the late directly. Usually around 8:30-9:00 AM in the morning. These are the most sought after spots for the cave and I believe one needs to setup a visit at these times months ahead.

Tip: Apply plenty of insect repellent on exposed skin. Some women obviously knew about this and came with yoga pants and long sleeves which are an excellent way to defeat...