These two states form together with Rio Grande do Sul the Southern Region of Brazil. Santa Catarina and Paraná have fabulous beaches!
The capital
of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, is a city that partly lies on the
main land, and partly on an island, the Island of Florianópolis.
This Island has huge nature areas where you can hike, many many beaches,
and a very good infrastructure of hotels, houses, restaurants etc.
We found a site that describes and shows pictures of almost all the
beaches, lakes, smaller islands of this region AND is in English (hallelujah!).
So, take a look at Floripa.
Something that we highly recommend, is to simply rent a house. Through the following sites, you can choose a house, ask for the prices and reserve the dates:
If you like to surf, there is good news: the best waves are in October! The best beaches for surfing are Praia Brava (beach) in Itajaí (city), Silveira (beach) in Garopaba (city), do Cardoso (beach) in Laguna (city). If you would like to learn how to surf, you can get a three day course at Rosa (city), at the Escola de Surfe Capitão David. The lessons begin very calmly at a lagoon before taking you to the sea. They have packages for R$ 150 and R$ 180. Another option is the College Surf School, which gives you 10 lessons for R$ 200 or simply R$ 35 for each lesson.
In Florianópolis, at the Praia Mole, you can fly with a parapente at 100 meters height with an instructor. The cost of renting equipment and the instructor who will actually do all the flying, is R$ 100. Location: Rua João Antônio da Silveira 201, Lagoa da Conceição. Parapente Sul
You can also do Kite-surf and windsurf in Florianópolis. To learn how to windsurf, you can have your first lessons at the Lagoa da Conceição in Florianópolis with Openwinds.
You can also surf in the sand. Some beaches, like Praia da Joaquina in Florianópolis and Siriú in Garopaba have sand-dunes up to 40 meters and lease (for around R$ 10) nice equipment.
The best place to snorkel in the south of Brazil apparently is BOMBINHAS. You might be able to see dolphins and huge turtles! From Bombinhas you can go on snorkeling trips to the Ilha do Arvoredo, 6.5 km from the coast. This island is a a nature reserve, and an ideal place to dive. Patadacobra will take you to this island with all equipment (2 cylinders) for R$ 130. Another good option, around the same price, is Submarine.
All around the mountain areas of Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina and Paraná you might find rafting opportunities going through native forest. Here are a few:
This is a gigantic amusement park. It is in fact the biggest in Latin America. It´s of course aimed at children. What might make this one very different from amusement parks in Europe and USA, is that many shows are done with horses (such as replaying Excalibur!), and that there is a zoo with 700 animals. There is a very big rafting ride (you might have to wait a long time in the line for your turn, so you should try not to go on weekends). Entree fee for adults is R$ 69, and R$ 58 for children between 4 and 9. Open everyday from 9h-19h. The site is in Portuguese and Spanish only: Beto Carrero World. It is located in the city of Penha, Rua Inácio F. de Sousa 1597. how to get there
There is
a train-line called Serra Verde Express
that rides through the mountains from the Capital of Paraná, Curitiba,
to a port city, Paranaguá. This trip starts in the morning, at 8h15
from Curitiba, passes by Marunby, Morrestes and arrives at the coast
at 12h15. The train only does the full trajectory on Saturdays and
Sundays, but a big part can be done each single day. in the afternoon,
the train returns to Curitiba, which makes it into a perfect day-trip
to be done from Curitiba. the trajectory
At the same time,
it is great to stay in Paranaguá. The region where the port city of
Paranaguá is located, is the National Park of the Superagüi. Moreover,
from Paranaguá you are also very close to another great island, Ilha
do Mel. To get to this island, you need to take a boat, which also
leaves on Saturdays and Sundays at 9h30 and 13h30 and costs R$ 21
for a round trip, including visiting fee (apparently during the week
there are trips as well). It takes about an hour and a half to arrive
at the island. Attention: because Ilha do Mel is within an Ecological
Protected Region and is only 2760 ha big, only 5000 visitors are allowed
to be there at any time (and no type of motorized vehicles are allowed).
This means that making reservations for camping places or pousadas
beforehand might be really important!
About the Island:Ilha do Mel
To find places to stay at Ilha do Mel: pousadas in Ilha do Mel