Port of Manaus

About this place

The Port of Manaus on the Rio Negro is the most important river port in the Amazon basin and the main transport hub for the whole upper basin, reached by ocean-going ships after more than a thousand kilometres up the Amazon. Its best-known feature is the floating pier built by the British company Manaus Harbour in the early 20th century, at the height of the «Rubber Cycle», which rises and falls with the river, whose level changes by more than ten metres between the flood and dry seasons. The port is a window on everyday Amazon life: wooden boats of two or three decks where passengers sling hammocks for journeys of several days to Santarém, Belém and the river towns, small craft loaded with fruit and fish, and tour boats leaving for the «Meeting of the Waters», where the black Rio Negro and the brown Solimões flow side by side for kilometres without mixing. The port is close to the iron Adolpho Lisboa market and the historic centre, so it fits into one walk with them. Meeting of the Waters trips are booked at the river passenger terminal or through agencies in town. Go in the morning, when it is busiest, and keep an eye on belongings.