Ilha de Santa Catarina in Brazil
Santa Catarina island is often referred to as Florianópolis or Grande Florianópolis. It is fringed with some 42 beautiful beaches; all are easily accessible and many offer accommodation. In general, the north is more heavily visited and has the bulk of the resorts and busiest beaches, whilst the south and east are somewhat quieter. The most popular surf beaches are at Praia Mole, and Joaquina in the north and Barra da Lagoa to the east. Campeche and the southern beaches offer more peace and quiet, and the Lagoa de Conceição just east of Florianópolis city has windsurfing and lively nightlife. Surfing is prohibited 30 April-30 July because it is the breeding season of the tainha (flathead mullet), a popular table fish.
Ins and outsAlmost all the beaches on the Ilha de Santa Catarina are easily reached by standard public buses, air-conditioned
executívo
buses, or
colectivos
(minivans), which run regularly. Buses to the eastern and southern areas (such as Joaquina, Lagoa, Lagoa do Peri and Pantano do Sul) leave from the local
rodoviária
on Rua Antônio Luz 260. Buses to the north of the island leave from another local
rodoviária
on R Francisco Tolentino immediately in front of the long-distance
rodoviária
. There are also
combis
to the beaches leaving from Praça 15 de Novembro in the city centre. Sche
dules are available from the tourist office and there is a full timetable on
www.pmf.sc.gov.br/portal/pmf/horarioonibus.
The temperature in the north of the island can differ from the south by several degrees.
Northern and central Ilha de Santa Catarina
Santo Antônio de Lisboa
Heading north from Florianópolis on the SC 401 highway,
Santo Antônio de Lisboa
is the first town of any size that you come to, after about 10 km. The main beach here is
Sambaqui
, a calm bay named after a huge shell midden once discovered here, and now used more for oyster cultivation than for swimming. The town has a few sights of interest though and is one of the oldest settlements on the island, founded by fishermen from the Azores in the 18th and 19th centuries. There's a little art gallery, the
Casa Açoriana
works from some 50 local artists, together with objects remembering the Azores. There are some pleasant cafés and restaurants on the waterfront and a handful of places to stay. Santo Antônio is sometimes called the 'city of bees' and honey is sold everywhere; some of the best is available in the apiary museum,
Museo da Apicultura
.
Beyond Santo Antônio, the island becomes increasingly commercial; around
Ponta Grossa
,
Jurerê
,
Canasvieiras
and, in the far north,
Ponta das Canas
. Together these resort towns make a mini-conurbation of hotels and services, clustered behind some of the islands' prettiest, if most heavily developed, beaches: Praia do Forte, Praia Jurerê, Praia Canasvieras and Praia Ponta das Canas.
Praia do Forte
is overlooked by the
Forte São José da Ponta Grossa
A half-hour walk of the far end of Ponta das Canas beach brings you to the first ocean beach,
Praia Brava
, which is backed by condominiums, sometimes polluted but good for surfing. Just south of here, is
Praia dos Ingleses
(bus No 602), which gets its name from an English ship that sank in 1700. The area is urban, popular with families and with many lively bars in high season. Dunes separate this beach from
Praia Santinho
, where Carijó inscriptions can be seen on the cliffs. Both Ingleses and Santinho have decent surfing. A 2-km trail continues south from Santinho to
Praia do Moçambique
, a glorious 8-km stretch of golden sand backed by an environmental protection area, the
Parque Florestal do Rio Vermelho
, which has some of the best surfing on the island.
The far end of Praia do Moçambique, near the cape, is known as Praia da Lagoa after
Lagoa da Conceição
, which lies less than a kilometre inland to the east, separating the Atlantic coast from Florianópolis city. This is a good place to stay with frenetic bar and nightlife in season. The lake and coastline are forested, pocked with dunes and offer great windsurfing and fishing. The town of Lagoa da Conceição has a pretty 18th- century church,
Nossa Senhora da Conceição
(1730). It also has a market on Wednesday and Saturday. Hang-gliding and paragliding can be organized from here or through the efficient English-speaking
Brazil Ecojourneys
, www.brazilecojourneys.com
. From the Centro da Lagoa on the bridge there are regular boat trips to
Costa da Lagoa
, which run around the lake stopping at various points. The service is used mostly by the local people who live around the lake and have no other form of public transport. The ride is spectacular and there is a charming restaurant to greet you at the end of a thirsty journey. A recommended meal is the
tainha
(local mullet) with salad, chips and an abundance of rice.
Immediately east of the lake and south of Praia Moçambique,
Barra da Lagoa
is a pleasant fishing village and beach, lively in the summer season, with plenty of good restaurants and a popular youth hostel. You can walk across the wooden suspension bridge to a restaurant overlooking the bay, a spectacular setting for a meal. It is reached by
Transol
bus. The same bus goes to the beaches immediately to the south at
Mole
, which is a soft-sand beach, good for walking and with championship surfing. In season, it has some of the liveliest beach and nightlife with a 20-something crowd.
Joaquina
, immediately to the south of Mole and served by the same bus, has some of the best surfing on the island; championships are held here in January. There is sandboarding on the towering powdery dunes that separate the beach from the Lagoa da Conceição.
Southern Ilha de Santa Catarina
Campeche
Praia do Campeche
, 30 minutes by bus (
Pantano do Sul
or
Costa de Dentro
) from Florianópolis is one of the most popular places to stay in the island. It has long been a hippy and new age hang-out, perhaps initially in homage to the French writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, author of
Le Petit Prince
, who visited here several times in the 1920s when he was working as a pilot of Ligne Latécoère. The tiny town's main street is named after his book. There are several beaches around Campeche.
Praia da Armação
is the busiest, with many bars and restaurants overlooking a powdery surf beach. From here there are trips offshore to the
Ilha do Campeche
, an island with a fine white-sand beach broken by boulders, scrubby subtropical forest and good diving. It is protected by the
Instituto de Património Histórico Nacional
(
IPHAN
) because of the myriad petroglyphs, paintings and inscriptions that pepper the islands' rocks.
The beaches immediately to the south of Campeche are called
Morro das Pedras
and
Armação
. Both have good surfing, especially the north end of Armação, which is considered one of the most challenging surf spots on the island. Armação village was an important whaling centre in the 19th and early 20th centuries. A few hundred metres inland from Armação beach is the
Lagoa do Peri
, a protected area and the largest stretch of freshwater on the Santa Catarina coast.
After Armação town look for a bar by the roadside called Lanchonette e Bar Surf. Just before the bar there is a road to the left. Walk up a red clay path and after about 200 m you should see a path (unsignposted) on the left, leading up into the hills. A steady walk of up to two hours will lead you over two montes (hills) with a fabulous view over Praia da Lagoinha de Leste. This beach rarely gets crowded, even in the summer months. Camping is permitted and if you don't fancy the walk, you can pay one of the fishermen to take you from the Azorean fishing village of Pantano do Sul, immediately to the south. This is an unspoilt, relaxed spot with a long, curved beach and lovely views across to the Três Irmãs islands. There are several pousadas, bars and restaurants, though not much nightlife. For Praia dos Naufragados, at the southern tip of the island, take a bus to Caieira da Barra do Sul and walk for an hour through fine forests. From the lighthouse and fishing village, it's possible to visit the small island of Forte Nossa Senhora da Conceição, just offshore You can take a boat trip with Scuna Sul from Florianópolis.
Ribeirão da Ilha and the southwest
A trail leads from the village of dos Naufragados to
Caieiras do Sul
, which is connected to Florianópolis city on the SC401 road. The beach here is lapped rather than pounded by waves as it is the first southern beach round from the cape. Heading north on the SC401 is the village of
Tapera do Sul
, surrounded by mangroves. The road leads on to the pretty Azorean fishing village of
Ribeirão da Ilha
. This is the best preserved of all Florianópolis's 18th-century settlements, with streets of colourful low houses topped with terracotta tile and fronted by rather unprepossessing concrete cobbles. The village is one of the most popular places in southern Brazil to eat oysters with the local producer,
Ostravagante
, being the only one in the state to have the federal seal of approval for oyster farming. There are many oyster restaurants in town and many buses for the 27-km return ride to Florianópolis city.
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This is edited copy from Footprint Handbooks. For comprehensive details (incl address, tel no, directions, opening times and prices) please refer to book or individual chapter PDF
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