Florianópolis
Brazil
An island with forty-two beaches, and a different one for every mood
Photo by Paulo Kopzinski on Unsplash
Photos by Christian von Koenig, Pedro Fritsch, Renato and Diego Panario on Unsplash
Best time to visit all of Brazil
November to April
Climate month by month
The next sixteen daysOpen-Meteo
Average high and low · °C
Rainfall · mm per month
Best months to visit This month · wettest 220mm in Jan
Where it is
27.60°S, 48.55°W Open in Google Maps
Things to do
A week easily- Swim and eat at Lagoa da Conceição, then stay for the night out
- Surf or watch the surf at Joaquina
- Walk the trail to Lagoinha do Leste, the beach you cannot drive to
- Eat oysters at sunset in Santo Antônio de Lisboa
- Take the boat up the Costa da Lagoa for lunch
- Sandboard the dunes at Joaquina
Florianópolis travel tipsthe general rules
Currency budget Brazil
Mid-rangeCards everywhere, including at beach kiosks. Change what cash you want in the city rather than at the airport, and remember that the island runs on Brazilian summer prices between December and March — the same pousada can double.
ATMs & cards
Banco do Brasil, Bradesco, Itaú and Santander in the shopping centres and in Lagoa da Conceição. Avoid standalone machines late at night, decline conversion, and note that the beaches in the south of the island have very few ATMs at all.
Avoid these
- machines in beach kiosks and late-night bars
Use these instead
- Banco do Brasil
- Bradesco
- Itaú
- Santander
The south of the island has very few machines. Draw before you drive down there.
Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.
Safety all of Brazil
SafeOne of the safest state capitals in Brazil and noticeably calmer than the northeast: families walk the beaches at night in summer. The usual Brazilian habits still apply in the centre and around the bus terminal, but the island itself is relaxed. The Atlantic is the real hazard — Joaquina and Mole have serious rips, and the lifeguard flags mean what they say.
Where to walk, and where to pay attention (7 areas)
Comfortable, including after dark
Worth more attention
- Centro, Florianópolis — and the bus terminal at night
- The southern beaches’ unlit access roads
- Rip currents at Joaquina and Mole, which are surf beaches
Our own assessment, not a sourced index.
Entry & visa Brazil visa rules
No visa neededup to 90 days
Other passports
e-Visa requiredup to 90 days$80
Brazil reintroduced visas for these three nationalities. It is an e-visa applied for online.
Visa required in advance
Entry rules change often and depend on your passport, not where you live — the official page above is the authority, and the airline checks before you board.
Health & emergencies all of Brazil
Good but costlyRequired to enter
- Yellow fever certificate, but only if you are arriving from a country where yellow fever is present
Jabs worth having, and what happens if you need a doctor
Worth having
- Yellow fever — recommended for most of Brazil including the area around Rio
- Hepatitis A
- Typhoid
- Tetanus up to date
Getting treated
Public emergency care (SUS) is free to everyone including foreigners, but is crowded and slow. Private hospitals in Rio and São Paulo are excellent and expect insurance or payment up front.
Dengue, zika and chikungunya are all present and mosquito-borne — repellent matters. Yellow fever vaccination should be given at least 10 days before arrival.
Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.
Food tip
Very goodAzorean island cooking, which means oysters — Santo Antônio de Lisboa farms them and serves them by the dozen — plus sequência de camarão, a shrimp parade that arrives in six courses and defeats most people. Eat sunset oysters on the west coast and seafood on the east.
Nightlife
A student and surf city in winter, and one of Brazil's biggest party destinations in January.
- Jurerê Internacional — the beach clubs, and the money
- Lagoa da Conceição — the year-round scene, and the lagoon
- Centro, Florianópolis — the cheap student bars
Closing: 05:00 in season.
A beer in a bar: R$8–14
Getting around
Limited- UberWorks here
- 99Works here
- inDriveWorks here
- BoltNot here
99 the Brazilian one, often cheaper
- From the airport
- Guarulhos to central São Paulo R$80–130
- Against a taxi
- Cheaper than a taxi and, in the big cities, the default for everybody.
Some favela and periphery addresses will not be accepted by drivers at night; that is a driver safety decision, not a fare one.
Time zone and your working day
America/Sao Paulo — 1 hour ahead of you
7 hours of overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are — 09:00–16:00 your time, 10:00–17:00 theirs.
No overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are. Working from here means one of you keeps odd hours — their day starts at 08:00 on your clock.
office hours both at once night
Their 09:00–17:00 is 08:00–16:00 on yours.
The difference from the UK, Europe, the US and ten more
Worked out against America/New York, which is where this request looks like it came from.
Internet speedall of Brazil
Why these are Brazil's numbers and not Florianópolis's
Home broadband — Fast. Several people on calls at once, large uploads, 4K. Broadband here runs at 1.9× the global median of 130 Mbps.
Mobile data — Fast. Enough to work from a cafe or a beach on a hotspot all day. Mobile runs at 2.5× the global median of 109 Mbps.
Ookla publishes no separate figure for Florianópolis, so these are medians for all of Brazil. Cities usually beat the national number and remote islands and national parks fall well below it — treat this as the country's shape, not as a measurement of the street you will be staying on.
A median is the middle of every connection tested there, old copper and new fibre together — so in a country part-way through laying fibre it sits well below what a fibre line actually delivers, and a rental on one can run several times this number. Half of the connections are slower; a fibre flat is rarely one of them. It says what a place can do, not what your rental does, so every listing on Holistay carries its own measured speed and the date it was tested.
Getting online: Airalo or Holafly — a data eSIM for Brazil, installed before you fly and working the moment you land.
Source: Ookla Speedtest Global Index · measured June 2026
Must-see
Nearby day trips
Say a few words
Portuguese (Brazilian)
- HelloOi / Oláoy / o-LA
- PleasePor favorpor fa-VOR
- Thank youObrigado / Obrigadao-bree-GA-doo / -da
- Yes / NoSim / Nãoseeng / nowng
4 more phrases
- Excuse meCom licençakong lee-SEN-sa
- How much is it?Quanto custa?KWAN-too KOOS-ta
- The bill, pleaseA conta, por favora KON-ta
- Cheers!Saúde!sa-OO-djee
Softer and more open than European Portuguese, and the de sounds like "dje".
Religion
Catholic and Evangelical
The largest Catholic population in the world, with a fast-growing Evangelical share and Afro-Brazilian traditions such as Candomblé and Umbanda practised alongside.
Do's and don'ts
Do
- Greet with a kiss on each cheek between women, or a woman and a man; a handshake between men
- Expect physical closeness in conversation — standing back reads as cold
- Arrive late to social invitations; on time is genuinely early
- Learn a few words of Portuguese, and never open in Spanish
Don't
- Do not make the OK sign with finger and thumb — it is obscene here
- Do not walk with a phone visible in the street
- Do not wear obvious jewellery or watches on the beach or in the city
- Do not call Brazilians Hispanic or assume they speak Spanish
Where to stay in Florianópolis
No Holistay rentals in Florianópolis yet — the platform is just opening up. Every listing here will have a video tour and the option to negotiate the nightly price directly with the host.
In the meantime, here is Florianópolis on the sites that do have the inventory — each search is already filled in:
- Booking.com hotels, guesthouses and apartments — the widest coverage almost everywhere
- Airbnb whole homes and apartments, and the better option for a week or more
How to get there
Fly into Hercílio Luz FLN
20 minfrom the airport· 8 km as the crow flies
20 min to the centre, longer to the north of the island.
Google Flights · Rome2Rio for the trains, buses and ferries as well as the flights
