Caldas Novas
Hot Springs Resort Town In GoiáS, One Of The Largest Hydrothermal Resort Areas In The World, With Neighbouring Rio Quente · Caldas Novas, Goiás
Caldas Novas is a resort town in southern Goiás, in the cerrado of central Brazil, built almost entirely around naturally hot water. Together with neighbouring Rio Quente it forms one of the largest hydrothermal resort areas in the world. The heat is not volcanic: rainwater soaks deep into the ground, is warmed by the natural heat of the earth at depth and rises back up through faults, emerging warm to very hot. Wells feed hundreds of pools in hotels, clubs and water parks, so the whole town is one long spa. It is a domestic, family place rather than an international one, with big resort hotels, many timeshare flats, water slides and wave pools. Rio Quente, a short drive away, has a warm river and the large Hot Park, and the diRoma parks are among the best known in the town. Above the town the Serra de Caldas Novas state park protects a plateau of cerrado, trails and small waterfalls. Crowds peak in the July school holidays and over long weekends, when prices climb. Water levels in the aquifer are monitored because of heavy use.
Caldas Novas and Rio Quente, GO, Caldas Novas, Goiás, Brazil
The town works all year and the water is warm in every season, but each club, water park and hotel keeps its own hours. Most water parks and day-use clubs open from morning to late afternoon, and several open on fewer days or close for maintenance in quieter months, so check the park's own calendar before driving out. Hotel pools often stay open into the evening for guests, and some run heated night swims. Hot Park at Rio Quente is normally sold as a day ticket and sometimes limits daily entries in peak periods. The Serra de Caldas Novas state park opens in the daytime only, with visitor limits on some trails and closures during fire risk or heavy rain - confirm at the gate. The busiest times are the July school holidays, the late-December holidays, Carnival and long weekends, when hotels sell out and parks fill early. Quiet weekdays in March to May and August to November are the calmest and cheapest. Timeshare sales stands around town are persistent all year and are not tourist information.