I spent several weekends in Florianopolis from November 2000 to late January 2001… Florianopolis (or Floripa for short) is the capital of Santa Catarina, and is maybe 500 miles south of Sao Paulo. Its my favorite city in Brazil, a large island surrounded by 42 beaches - I would happily root down there if the situation presented itself to me… I am not all that familiar with the "city" though. I have stayed there before, I know there's a City Center district, lots of clubs, bars, live music venues, etc - but I would rather hang at one the beaches. Overall, theres a really cool vibe in Floripa. Lots of artists, hippies, many beautiful women (like all of Brazil), and surfers - it makes Curitiba (the "big" city I lived in, 4 hours south of Floripa) seem conservative. The public transportation there is good, and affordable - its easy to get to the beaches from the Center, and taxi's are usually good, cheap, and honest. As for accommodations - plenty of expensive high-rises in the city, and plenty of pousada's along the beaches.
Here are a couple links to Pousada Alemdomar, and Pousada da Vigia... I haven't stayed at either, but they both look nice on their webpages.
The beaches are nice; some are a little crowded, some not so bad. Many café's/taverns/drink vendors - lots of Brasilian music along with the Doors and Bob Marley (both are very popular in Brazil).
The seafood in Floripa is excellent, great camerone (shrimp/prawns)… Also, there is lots of sport and recreation available. To name a few:
Personally, I like Lagoa best, because of the nightlife. Many bars, restaurants, and places to see live music. I recommend you check out Drakkar - a very cool bar that usually has good live music (jazz or blues). Decent food, good drinks, cool friendly crowd - their website is at bardrakkar.com.br, in Portuguese.
Keep in mind, when I say how cool and safe it is here, its still Brazil, and there are some poor, desperate pesoas out there… Its nothing like Rio or the North of Brazil; just try to be alert, aware, and street smart. Also, like all of Brazil - a little Portuguese goes a long away.
I have separated the pictures into two sections: Joaquina (because I have so many pictures), and the rest-> mainly pictures from Praia Mole, Lagoa, and Barra da Lagoa. The city view pictures were taken from atop my hotel in the City Center. Enjoy~
Joaquina - surfing, sandboard (like snowboarding on sand dunes)
Morro da Lagoa - hang glide, paraglide, hiking (forest preserve)
Praia Mole - surfing
Barra da Lagoa - surfing
Lagoa de Conceicao - jet ski's, windsurfing
