the largest lagoon in the região dos lagos, and, in fact, the largest permanent hypersaline lagoon in the world, the colossal lagoa de araruama has an insurmountable surface area of 220 kilometers squared, and is one of the true marvels of the state.

it is located further along the eastern coast of rio de janeiro, and takes up a portion of six of the regions municipalities, including saquarema, araruama, arraial do cabo, são pedro da aldeia, iguaba grande and cabo frio.

the lagoon is made up predominantly of three connecting pools, the pitanguinhas, vermelha and pernambuca, but also has the large enseada de tucuns stuck onto its eastern flank.