▶ Watch the guide Base yourself at Lagoa da Conceição, in the middle of the island, and work outward from there. Give one day to the east coast: the Joaquina dunes, a sandboard, and Praia Mole for the afternoon. Give one to the south, where the Lagoinha do Leste trail ends at a beach no road reaches. Keep a third for the bay side, which means the Hercílio Luz bridge, the Mercado Público and oysters at Ribeirão da Ilha.
Santa Catarina Island runs about 54 km down Brazil's southern coast and carries the state capital on its western shore, tied to the mainland by three bridges. The Atlantic side takes the swell, the surf schools and the dunes. The bay side keeps the Azorean villages, the oyster rafts and the flat water.
The saltwater lagoon in the middle of the island, and the island's centre of gravity. Kitesurfers work the shallow end, boats run up to Costa da Lagoa where no road goes, and the bars along the lagoon stay open long after the beaches have emptied.
Brazil's best known contest beach, and the place sandboarding was invented. The dunes sit behind it, between the surf and the lagoon, and boards hire by the hour at the top of the access road. The wave is heavy for a first lesson. The sand is not.
An island off the island, listed by IPHAN in 2000 for more than 150 rock engravings, the largest concentration on the Brazilian coast. Clear water, one beach you can be left on without a guide, and a daily cap of 800 visitors that is now enforced by permit.
The Azorean village on the bay's south-western shore, settled in the eighteenth century and now the centre of Brazil's oyster farming. Pastel houses, the colonial church of Nossa Senhora da Lapa, and a line of waterfront restaurants shucking what the rafts offshore grew.
The 821 m eyebar suspension bridge that first joined the island to the mainland in 1926, closed in 1991 and reopened in December 2019 after most of its structure had been replaced. Traffic never came back. It carries walkers and cyclists, and it is lit after dark.
A beach with no road to it, held between two headlands on the south-east coast. Two trails reach it: roughly two hours along the coast from Praia do Matadeiro, or a shorter and steeper climb over the hill from Pântano do Sul. Carry water. Nothing is sold on the sand.
Begun in 1740 to a design by Brigadier José da Silva Paes, one of three forts that closed the northern entrance to the bay. The Federal University of Santa Catarina has run it since 1989, and the restoration is legible: barracks, chapel, powder magazine and the gun line above the water.
Two wings and more than a hundred stalls. The first opened in 1899, the second went up on reclaimed land in 1915, with towers and a bridge joining them. Fishmongers and grocers below, bars above. This is where the city eats a plate of oysters standing up.
The oldest of the Azorean parishes on the north bay shore, a row of whitewashed houses facing water that goes flat at dusk. Oysters come off the rafts in front of you and are shucked on the spot. The village looks west across the bay, which is why people drive out for the sunset.
The sea turtle programme's island station, 50 m from the beach at Barra da Lagoa and open since 2005. Five observation tanks hold four of the five species that nest in Brazil, alongside a video room and a children's space. The whole site is step-free.
Flat, warm and shallow almost all year, and the island's most expensive stretch of sand.
Kilometres of open sand, and the heaviest beach break on the island when a south swell lands.
Solid waves without the party, and Indigenous rock carvings at the northern end.
An old whaling and fishing beach, and one of the boat points for Ilha do Campeche.
Reached on foot from Armação, and the start of the long trail to Lagoinha do Leste.
Open since 1958 at Pântano do Sul, its walls and ceiling papered in handwritten notes left by customers since the 1970s.
A market stall turned institution inside the Mercado Público. Oysters and pastéis, eaten standing.
A long shallow slope that takes the sting out of the swell. The surf schools work here daily.
Picks up south and east swell, so it works year round, and is wider and quieter than Joaquina.
A lagoon-edge path to a fishing village reachable only on foot or by boat.
About two hours from Matadeiro, rocky throughout, and steepest in the first half hour.
Forty-five minutes through Atlantic forest from the end of the road, to a beach and a lighthouse.
2,030 hectares around the coast's largest freshwater lagoon, and the island's drinking-water source.
The dune field between the beach and the lagoon, and the birthplace of sandboarding.
Jurerê's other big room, and the one that books the visiting names in high season.
Craft beer and live music by the lagoon, and a slower start to the evening than the beach clubs.
The middle of the island, and the shortest drive to both coasts. Bars, restaurants, and the lagoon.
Calm water, beach clubs and the island's highest prices. Family-friendly by day.
About 90 km south, and the sheltered bay where southern right whales calve between July and November.
The whale route's centre, where the season runs from July to November and peaks August to October.
One of the three forts that guarded the bay, on its own island north of the city and reached by boat.
The island sees in the new year on the sand, dressed in white, with fireworks over the north bay.
The bloco that opens Carnival, named after the local cockle, with giant puppets through the old centre.
Parades and street blocos across the centre and Lagoa da Conceição, and the island's busiest week.
An Azorean cycle of processions, crownings and shared feasts across fourteen island communities.
The mullet run, worked by the beach-seine crews, and the one season the fish appears on every menu.
Southern right whales calve down the coast at Imbituba, Garopaba and Praia do Rosa. August to October is the peak.
A flat sea-level course along the Beira-Mar, with the half on the Saturday and the marathon on the Sunday.
The national oyster and Azorean culture festival, running since 1999: raw, grilled and gratinated, plus folklore.
The island's own airport, about 14 km south of the bus terminal, with a terminal opened in 2019. Bus 1830 runs into the TICEN terminal downtown.
The intercity coach station at the island end of the bridges, open around the clock, with services the length of Brazil. The TICEN city terminal is next door.
One operator, Consórcio Fênix, runs the island network through its integration terminals, with three hours of transfers on a single fare. Cash is R$7.70, the tourist card R$7.20.
The island runs about 54 km end to end with the sights spread down both coasts, so most visitors rent a car. Three bridges reach the mainland, where BR-101 runs north and south.
Santa Catarina grows about 90% of Brazil's oysters, eaten raw with lemon or gratinated.
Shrimp in four or five preparations, brought out in courses and sized to share.
Mullet, grilled whole with garlic, lemon and herbs. A June and July dish.
The same fish in a broth of tomato, onion, pepper and coriander.
A small cockle, cooked in vinaigrette or flambéed in cachaça, eaten as a starter.
The cockle again, this time as a fried pastry. Market food, eaten standing.
Shrimp baked in a whole pumpkin with cream cheese, and one course of the sequência.
Fish broth thickened with cassava flour. It arrives beside almost everything.
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