Swimming with the Piranha and Dolphins

Generally, visitors are reluctant to jump into the Rio Negro or Amazon River and splash around, although it’s perfectly safe to do so away from the igarapés (shallow, swampy areas). Locals are known to swim with the pink river dolphins at the Meeting of the Waters and there are popular swimming holes all over the area—in the lakes and tributaries along Rio Negro mostly. In spite of this abundance of opportunity, most foreigners are timid about swimming, except when at the beaches on the margins of Rio Negro. Still, if your guide dives in, you can probably dive in too. There are numerous swimming holes around Manaus and along the excursion routes that are regularly used for cooling off.

Despite their fierce reputation, the piranha do not generally nibble on human flesh. The black piranha is mostly a fruit eater and the smaller red piranha prefers insects and pieces of other fish. Attacks on humans swimming in the river are almost unheard of and you’ll see locals jumping into the river without a single thought of peril.