The trail
Waterfalls and mill ruins.
Pedro Soares de Oliveira Neto — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Daniela Lopes Segadilha — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Pedro Soares de Oliveira Neto — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Andreia Reis from São Paulo, Brasil — CC BY 2.0 · Andreia Reis from São Paulo, Brasil — CC BY 2.0
Naufragados, «the Shipwrecked», is Florianópolis's southernmost beach, 43 km from the centre, a 1.5 km strand that no car can reach. There are two stories behind the name: one of Juan Díaz de Solís's ships was wrecked here in 1516, or two Portuguese ships carrying about 250 settlers from the Azores went down in 1753, with only 77 surviving. You reach it on a clear forest trail of about three kilometres from the end of the road at Caieira da Barra do Sul, passing small waterfalls and the ruins of an old colonial flour mill, or by boat from the Caieira. On the rocks at the right end of the beach stands the Naufragados lighthouse, opened in 1861, from which you can see the Araçatuba fort on its islet off the coast. The beach is almost free of buildings, with a few small stalls in season, clean water and a wide strip of sand. Bring water and food, and head back before sunset.
Waterfalls and mill ruins.
View of Araçatuba fort.
No cars, no buildings.
Trailhead at Caieira da Barra do Sul, southern tip of Santa Catarina Island
On a forest trail of about three kilometres from Caieira da Barra do Sul, or by boat from there.