Attending a World Cup match at the Natal Arena das Dunas stadium? Tips!
The game was incredible, the experience was unmatched. No complaints here, I just learned a few things for next time.
Here are the takeaways I wish I knew before attending my first match at Arena das Dunas:
1. Pack those throwaway ponchos — two per person, perhaps, if this monsoon keeps up. The people who had them were the smartest and the happiest. (And ziplocs for passports, tickets.)
2. Leave early. Earlier than early. Roads, bridges, entrances and signage around the stadium aren’t really complete yet and we ended up needing the extra hours. We left at 9:30am for a 1pm game — our hotel is 10 minutes by taxi.
3. Take a change of clothes (or ladies, at least an extra shirt and underwear!) if it is raining. It took us two hours to figure out a way back to our hotel and well, EVERYTHING was wet wet wet. Ewww.
4. Wear sneakers to the games. We did. Yay.
5. Food at the stadium is terrible and half of it hadn’t arrived in time for the game! Don’t arrive hungry.
6. Easy Taxi is like the Uber of Natal. (Maybe Brazil?) Not completely dependable during the post game rush (duh) but worked well for us on the way to the stadium.
7. Take plenty of cash. This is a no brainier, but our Visa was put on security lock down when we were at the game. (And, yes, we had given the bank a heads up that we would be in Brazil.)
8. When you arrive, ask the first staffer you see to point you toward your entrance. Each ticket holder is only allowed to enter in the one entrance, which is determined by their section. This was our biggest issue and it resulted in about two miles of unnecessary walking. Our fault for not asking someone sooner. I can’t find the map that the staffers had anywhere online, so just ask. And ask again.
9. Even if you are completely soaked from head to toe and everything goes wrong, smile. Look around! Look at where you are. It’s amazing.