South
An 18th-century whaling station turned fishing village — calmer at the south end, surf at the north, boats to Ilha do Campeche.
Open sea · Road
Praias
Every beach
The island has more than forty and they are not interchangeable — the Atlantic side has real surf and rip currents, the bay side is flat calm. Red flag = rip tide, don't swim there. Is it just me or does the island kind of looks like a turd in my illustration...
Water
Access
34 beaches
South
Over the footbridge from Armação and ten minutes on foot — no road, no buildings, east-swell surf.
Open sea · Trail
Praia da Barra da Lagoa — open in Google Maps
Barra da LagoaSouth
The island's fishing port and its beginner surf — long gentle waves tamed by the canal, surf schools everywhere.
Calm · Road
Prainha da Barra da Lagoa — open in Google Maps
Barra da LagoaSouth
The little cove over the canal footbridge — Atlantic character, soft waves.
Open sea · Trail
South
The offshore one — clear calm water and 5,000-year-old rock art, capped at ~800 visitors a day. Boats from Campeche, Armação and Barra da Lagoa; book the R$15 ticket ahead.
Calm · Boat
South
3.5 km of white sand and a proper right-hander — Saint-Exupéry landed his mail plane here. Boats to Ilha do Campeche leave from this end.
Open sea · Road
South
Campeche's rougher continuation — consistent surf, risky swimming.
Open sea · Road
Gravatá — open in Google Maps
Lagoa da ConceiçãoSouth
The costão at the end of the Rendeiras — flat, crystal lagoon water off the rocks. Not to be confused with the mapped Praia do Gravatá, a tiny Atlantic cove between Mole and Joaquina.
Calm · Trail
Praia da Galheta — open in Google Maps
Lagoa da ConceiçãoSouth
Naturist since the 1970s and a protected park — no buildings, no vehicles. Walk in from the north end of Mole (~1.2 km).
Open sea · Trail
Praia da Joaquina — open in Google Maps
Lagoa da ConceiçãoSouth
Surf championships since the seventies; sandboarding was invented on its dunes.
Open sea · Road
Praia Mole — open in Google Maps
Lagoa da ConceiçãoSouth
Surf and kite championships, hang-gliders landing on the sand, the young and the beautiful.
Open sea · Road
Praia do Pântano do Sul — open in Google Maps
Pântano do SulSouth
The fishing village with the fish restaurants — the sheltered end of the bay stays flat.
Calm · Road
Via Trilha Lagoinha do Leste. No road, no kiosks, bring everything.
Open sea · Trail
Where the paved road ends — forested slopes, tainha fishing, few people.
Open sea · Road
A sheltered 75 m cove past the end of the Solidão road — no road, no services, shellfish on the rocks. Trilha do Saquinho gets you there.
Calm · Trail
South coast, open Atlantic — a long, quiet, well-preserved strand facing the Três Irmãs islets, ~2 km from Pântano do Sul village. Easy free parking; space to yourself even in season.
Open sea · Road
South
Sheltered fishing community at the island's end — more waterfront than bathing beach, but it's the Naufragados trailhead and where boats leave for the Araçatuba fort.
Calm · Road
Praia de Naufragados — open in Google Maps
Southern tipSouth
Southern tip, trail-in only. Worth the walk — deserted sand, the 1861 lighthouse, and the fortress island of Araçatuba across the strait. Rustic beach bars, nothing else.
Open sea · Trail
South
A 520 m bay beach by the air base and one of the south's oldest fishing colonies — Ilha das Laranjeiras sits 200 m offshore for the SUP-inclined.
Calm · Road
Praia da Cachoeira do Bom Jesus — open in Google Maps
Cachoeira do Bom JesusNorth
2.8 km of warm, barely-sloping water carrying on from Canasvieiras — part of a 10 km walkable sweep of sand.
Calm · Road
North
Near-waveless bay water — come for the promenade, the views and the restaurants rather than a swim.
Calm · Road
Praia de Canasvieiras — open in Google Maps
CanasvieirasNorth
The north's mass-tourism hub — very shallow warm water, Argentine crowds, bilingual everything.
Calm · Road
North
A 3.5 km sand spit at the Ratones river mouth, backed by mangrove — flat, quiet, family. Strong current off the channel tip.
Calm · Road
North
Below the 18th-century Fortaleza de São José da Ponta Grossa — oyster farms and feet-in-the-sand seafood, no hotels.
Calm · Road
North
Five kilometres that work like a small city — hotels and bilingual services, calmer at the south end, surf at the north, the island's biggest dune field behind.
Open sea · Road
North
A string of six tiny coves with natural pools between Jurerê and Canasvieiras, ~15 min along the sand from either end. No services — bring a picnic.
Calm · Trail
North
The quieter, residential half of the same beach — shallow flat water, locals' summer houses, families.
Calm · Road
Praia de Jurerê Internacional — open in Google Maps
Jurerê InternacionalNorth
Mansions, imported cars and the beach clubs — 'Brazilian Miami'. The same calm 2.2 km of sand as the traditional side.
Calm · Road
North
A 760 m cove of very calm, warm water at the island's tip — still a tainha-fishing nucleus, prized for quiet.
Calm · Road
Praia de Ponta das Canas — open in Google Maps
Ponta das CanasNorth
A working fishing colony in among the hotels; the shore is slowly eroding.
Calm · Road
Praia Brava — open in Google Maps
Praia BravaNorth
The one north-tip beach with real waves — surf, rip currents, and a wall of condo towers.
Open sea · Road
North
Bucolic bay-side fishing village that kept its 19th-century face — named for the prehistoric shell middens found there.
Calm · Road
North
Rustic surf that can hit 8 ft, dune fields, and prehistoric rock carvings on the costão by the resort.
Open sea · Road
Praia do Moçambique — open in Google Maps
São João do Rio VermelhoNorth
The island's longest and emptiest beach, inside the Rio Vermelho forest park — surf, dunes, tainha nets, zero infrastructure.
Open sea · Road