Recife de Areia

Set in oceanic waters, Recife de Areia marks the start of Parcel das Paredes and has a sandbank at its center. It is circular, with a radius of about half a nautical mile (930 m), the same radius as the protection circle defined in the park's founding law. Trips usually go out in the weeks of the full and new moon, at low tide, when the reef platform is exposed and natural pools and tide pools cut off from the sea form.

In the pools and bays around the reef you can see fish and corals, notably large numbers of sea turtles. The natural pools also have mollusks and algae. The sandy-bottomed natural pool is surrounded by reefs with corals, fish and sea turtles. On the reef you can spot green turtles and blue and other colored bodiões. In 2008, Mussismilia braziliensis, M. hispida, M. hartii, Millepora sp, Palitoa corilian and gorgonians were recorded on the reef, with about 20% of the corals bleached.

The park was created on 30 April 1999 by Alcobaça Municipal Law No. 471/1999 and lies within the Ponta da Baleia/Abrolhos Environmental Protection Area. The reef has been used for many years as one of Alcobaça's main fishing and tourist-trip spots, and in the peak tourist season more than 50 boats can occupy the area at once. After an explosive increase in visits in 2020, the municipality began to regulate and reduce visitation in 2021. Law 848/2021 renamed the unit Parque Natural Municipal Marinho Recife de Areia, divided the park into zones, including the Diving Zone, and approved an Emergency Public Use Plan. In 2022 the first marker of the park's zoning boundaries was installed, brought by the Environment Department and fixed in place by Brazilian Navy canoeist Adelson Carneiro, who was passing through Alcobaça on a leg of the "Do Oiapoque ao Chuí" expedition. In March 2026, a baseline biodiversity survey of the reef was carried out across its three management zones.