Recife Cruise Port

Here’s the bucket list for your day ashore: the most extraordinary thing to do at each stop, who runs it, and how to book it direct — so you can weigh it against your ship’s excursion and pick what suits you.

1history

Recife & Olinda: Private Historical City Tour in English

Glide between two UNESCO-worthy cities — baroque Olinda on its hilltop and canal-laced Recife Antigo — with a dedicated English-speaking guide and private vehicle. A rare chance to read 500 years of colonial Brazil at your own pace.

Book it Recife & Olinda City Tour: Unveiling the Charm of Two Cities $32 per person

Run by Limite de Municípios: Recife/Olinda · 4.80 from 26 reviews

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What to expect, timing & how to book →

2water

Porto de Galinhas Natural Pools: Private Full-Day Transfer & Jangada

Travel in private style to Brazil's most celebrated beach, Porto de Galinhas, where at low tide the coral reefs form warm, jewel-coloured natural pools teeming with fish. A bucket-list swim accessible only by traditional jangada raft.

We have not yet verified a bookable operator and price for this one, so we are not quoting either.

What to expect, timing & how to book →

3culture

Instituto Ricardo Brennand: Art, Armour & Tropical Gardens

Step inside one of Latin America's greatest private museums — a mock medieval castle housing an extraordinary collection of Dutch Golden Age paintings, 3,000 pieces of arms and armour, and Frans Post's iconic 17th-century Brazilian landscapes — all set in 50 acres of Atlantic forest.

Book it Instituto Ricardo Brennand with transfers from Recife $45 per person

Run by Instituto Ricardo Brennand · 4.90 from 17,000 reviews

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What to expect, timing & how to book →

4scenic

Carneiros Beach & Catamaran: Full-Day Natural Pool Paradise

Board a catamaran at Praia dos Carneiros — a near-deserted coconut-fringed beach south of Recife — to anchor over translucent natural pools where warm Atlantic water meets a coral reef. One of Brazil's most achingly beautiful and uncrowded beach days.

Book it Recife: Tour to Carneiros with Catamaran Ride $62 per person

Run by Manguezal Ecoturismo - Catamarã Praia dos Carneiros · 4.70 from 367 reviews

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What to expect, timing & how to book →

5adventure

Maragogi Reef Tour: Brazil's Caribbean, Full Day from Recife

Journey north to Maragogi — nicknamed 'the Brazilian Caribbean' for its impossibly clear water and powder-white sand — and swim the Galés marine sanctuary, where natural pools over a living reef rival anywhere in the tropics. Utterly unmissable.

We have not yet verified a bookable operator and price for this one, so we are not quoting either.

What to expect, timing & how to book →