Florianópolis — Brazilians’ beloved southern island city
Exploring southern Brazil through the city of Floripa
During my many conversations with the Brazilians, I never once heard a negative comment about Florianopólis (or as some call it, Floripa), the capital of Santa Catarina, a southern state in Brazil. Thanks to my friend Breno’s recommendation, I chose Floripa as my stop in the south.
Perhaps not so well-known outside of South America, Floripa is a city 75 minutes south of Sao Paulo by plane. It’s an island connected by a bridge to the mainland. Although it might not seem like it, it takes 30 minutes by car to go from side to side, which translates to around 30–45 Reais (6–9 dollars) on an Uber ride one-way, depending on the time of day.
The Florianopólis airport
I want to first give credit to the airport. It is so beautifully designed and efficient, I think it was my famous airport by appearance in LATAM. Much like Hong Kong or Dubai, the signs are clear and situated where one expects to see them. The neatness of the interior reminded me of the nicer, newer terminal 4 of Madrid’s Barajas airport, and the half-outdoor entrance and abundance of greenery reminded me of Bali. Funnily enough, I found Floripa to resemble Bali in several aspects. I will elaborate further shortly.
For this part of the journey, I was traveling with my American friend Jason. The hotels in southern Brazil are quite expensive, with the prices being similar to Spain or Portugal. He kindly allowed me to crash on the sofa of his Airbnb, so I saved a lot on the accommodation fees (thank you). We stayed in an area called Campeche, which is on the east side of the island by the beach, and a 30-minute taxi ride from the city center.
The city center
The city center itself feels European. Due to the immigration history, the south of Brazil is said to be the place where Europeans settled. The city of Floripa was no exception, and the designs of the city had strong traces of their footsteps.
Even in the city center, Floripa has a very tranquil atmosphere that feels drastically different from Rio or Sao Paulo. It’s said to be one of the safest capitals in Brazil. I also noticed that there were fewer homeless people on the streets.
I was introduced to a friend of Luiz, who was living in Floripa. We managed to catch up during my visit, and I learned that the city had one area consisting of a few streets of bars. Live music was also somewhat popular in the city.
Campeche, the area where we stayed was extremely quiet and felt like a complete countryside. We were less than 5 minutes from the beach on foot. However, we were also 5 minutes walking from the closest food-selling place, and 10 minutes from the closest grocery store.
The island feels like Bali because you can be in the city center, and go to malls, bars, and parties, but within half an hour, you are by the beach, by a lagoon, exploring waterfalls, or hiking the most beautiful nature. It adds to the similarity when I discovered cute cafes and yoga classes being offered in multiple places.
Fishing villages, beaches and waterfalls
One of the most famous places to visit in Floripa is the hike to Lagoinha do Leste beach in the south of the island. Jason and I went on the 1-hour hike. It’s not a difficult hike, but I mistakenly decided to wear my Havaianas flip-flops, and as soon as they touched the water, they started to act up and it broke several times. For the most part, Jason was just walking way ahead I struggled through the hike.
The name Lagoinha do Leste implied that there was a small Lagoon. I only discovered it by chance after deciding to run down the beach to lose some fat. I stopped by the little shop by the lagoon and the people running the shop asked me to play something “from Hong Kong” on their speaker. I put on Jolin Tsai and went to swim in the lagoon, listening to ‘play 我呸’ on full blast. I was happy.
On another day, we visited a beautiful fishing village called Ribeirão da Ilha on the west side of the island, overlooking the mainland. The village was so small it was literally a 10-minute walk on one street. It has a small church on a small plaza and a few seafood restaurants. That’s it. The view was so worth it though. We ended up getting lunch at a restaurant by the beach.
Only a few hours before my flight to Argentina, I met up with a Bolivian guy called Mauricio. He was living there and had a car. In the mere 3 hours that I had, we drove to a beautiful beach across town and had a quick waterfall-chasing journey.
From the beach, we followed a little sign that said “Cachoeira”, and within 20 minutes, we found a little rock pool with greenish-blue water and a tiny stream of water that fell. Aside from us, there were only a few other visitors. I said hi to a group of boys who came from all different parts of LATAM. In the near 30-degree heat, we jumped in the water which felt super refreshing. Despite the time crunch, I was so glad I agreed to do this.
After a quick dip in the water, he drove me back to the Airbnb, where I picked up all of my luggage. Mauricio offered me a ride to the airport. After quickly saying goodbye to Jason, we headed straight to the airport. Leaving Brazil after a month, I carried with me the fondest memories, taking a final bite of pão de queijo as I waited at the boarding gate.
