By air
Florianópolis (FLN), ~12 km
South America · Brazil
Florianópolis, Brazil
An island of beaches, lagoons and surf
Getting there
Best time to visit
December to March — summer
Don't miss
Joaquina
Praia Mole
Lagoa da Conceição
Santo Antônio de Lisboa
Things to do
Beach-hopping
Sandboarding Joaquina's dunes
Evenings at Lagoa da Conceição
Where to eat
Sources: Photo: Agnaldo Servo · CC BY-SA 4.0
What to pack
Swimwear, sunscreen
A quieter corner
Lagoinha do Leste, reached on a forest trail
Questions travellers ask
When should I go to Florianópolis?
December to March, in summer. Fly into Florianópolis (FLN), about 12 km away, and bring swimwear and sunscreen.
What is there to do in Florianópolis?
Go beach-hopping, sandboard Joaquina's dunes, and spend an evening at Lagoa da Conceição. Praia Mole and Santo Antônio de Lisboa are worth a visit too.
How do I reach Lagoinha do Leste in Florianópolis?
On a forest trail — it's the island's hidden gem.
What should I eat in Florianópolis?
The oysters from Ribeirão da Ilha.
About Florianópolis
- Island
- Coastal
Where it is
Florianópolis, the capital of Santa Catarina state in southern Brazil, lies mostly on Santa Catarina Island, joined to the mainland by three bridges, with dozens of beaches, dunes and the Lagoa da Conceição lagoon.
History
The Carijó, a Tupi people, were the island's first known inhabitants, and Portuguese settlement began in 1673 at Nossa Senhora do Desterro. Some 6,000 settlers from the Azores arrived between 1747 and 1756, and in the 1890s the town was renamed Florianópolis, the city of Floriano, after President Floriano Peixoto; the Hercílio Luz suspension bridge linked it to the mainland in 1926.
People
The island's people, known as manezinhos, keep an accent and traditions inherited from their Azorean ancestors, from bobbin lace-making to the Boi de Mamão folk play. Portuguese is spoken, fishing villages such as Santo Antônio de Lisboa still land their catch, and the bays around the island are Brazil's leading area for farmed oysters.
Known for
- Beaches from Joaquina to Campeche
- Surfing and sandboarding
- Lagoa da Conceição
- Oysters farmed in the bays
- The Hercílio Luz Bridge
Did you know?
The Hercílio Luz Bridge, a steel suspension bridge opened in 1926, eleven years before the Golden Gate Bridge, was closed to traffic for decades and reopened in 2019 after a long restoration.
We haven't written a guide for this place yet — you can still plan a trip here.