Amazon River Cruises in Brazil

The Amazon River carries more water than any other on Earth—about 209,000 cubic meters per second—close to one-fifth of all the freshwater that reaches the world’s oceans. An Amazon River Cruise in Brazil is the most comfortable way to travel inside that system: you sleep on a small vessel, wake up deep in the rainforest, and cover distances on water that would take days on foot. Most of our boats carry 8 to 16 guests, making it an exclusive, more intimate experience.

Nearly every Amazon cruise itinerary starts in Manaus, the 2-million-person city at the heart of the rainforest and the gateway to the Meeting of the Waters, where the dark Rio Negro and the sandy Rio Solimões run side by side for about 6 km without mixing, kept apart by differences in temperature, speed, and density. From there, boats push into the Anavilhanas archipelago, a maze of around 400 river islands on the Rio Negro, and into flooded forests that larger ships cannot reach.

The forest has two faces, and the season decides what an Amazon river cruise can do. In the high-water season (December to May), the river rises by around 10 meters, floods the igapó forest, and lets canoes glide between the treetops. In the low-water season (June to November), white-sand beaches appear along the channels, and wildlife gathers around the shrinking water. From the deck and the excursion canoes, you can spot the animals of the Amazon, including pink river dolphins, giant river otters, caimans, sloths, monkeys, and countless bird species.

Vessels range from simple regional riverboats to air-conditioned cabins with private bathrooms and gourmet kitchens, so you can match a cruise to the comfort level you want.