Where to surf in Florianópolis and Santa Catarina — spots by name and where there are lifeguards

How the spots were chosen

Ranking spots by level is pointless: it is seasonal and depends on the swell. They are chosen on a different basis: each has an organized scene, meaning a beach surf association, competition stages and people you can go to with a question. This is a verifiable criterion, unlike a “good wave”.

Surf schools are a separate list: they are listed according to the city directory, with address and phone, but without an assessment of quality and prices. Board rental is not listed separately.

Florianópolis island — seven associations

The island's scene runs along the eastern shore, from Ingleses in the north through Mole and Joaquina to Campeche and Armação in the south. The same order in which the beaches are described in Florianópolis — a quick guide.

South of the state — nine associations

The densest part of the coast.

Guarda do Embaú — the only spot in the state with official status: the first World Surfing Reserve in Brazil, discussed in Surfing — where, when, the rules and safety. From May to July it is closed for tainha fishing — this is on the mainland and the Florianópolis law has nothing to do with it, details there.

North of the state and Greater Florianópolis — eleven associations

ACSU — Assoc. Catarinense de Surf Universitário is separate: it is tied to the university community, not to a beach. Logistics along this coast are covered in Santa Catarina coast beyond the island — from Bombinhas to Imbituba.

Where there are lifeguards on the water

This is the second list, and for a visitor it is more important than the list of spots. The operation is run by the Corpo de Bombeiros, and it publishes both the scale and the stretches by name.

Season 2025/2026: the operation “Estação Verão” ran from 1 November 2025 to 5 April 2026. Full staff — 2,053 lifeguards at 429 posts — was in place in the high season, from 15 December to 22 February; the year before there were 1,980 lifeguards. From 23 February posts were reduced gradually, with reinforcement on weekends. Which posts are open today is shown by the CBMSC Cidadão app: a black flag there means the post is closed.

Season 2026/2027: the Corpo had not announced dates as of 1 Oct 2026. Going by the previous year, expect full staff from mid-December, but that is not a promise.

In Florianópolis the service is deployed by microregions of the ocean sandy beaches — among those named: Açores, Matadeiro, Morro das Pedras, Campeche, Mole, Barra da Lagoa, Santinho, Brava, Canasvieiras.

Across the state in January 2026 the Corpo reported 46 stretches under observation where no rescues were required, and named them, including Daniela, Forte and Jurerê, Lagoa da Conceição and Pântano do Sul on the island; Itajaí, Itapema, Penha, Porto Belo and São Francisco do Sul in the north; Laguna, Imbituba, Balneário Rincão and Passo de Torres in the south; plus freshwater stretches in Chapecó, Itá and Araranguá.

A spot on both lists — with an association and a lifeguard post — is the best information available about a place, short of assessing it. Matadeiro, Campeche, Mole, Santinho and Brava are on both.

This entry answers only the question “where”. Questions “is it dangerous”, “how to behave in the water”, “what about children” are answered in Water and drownings — rip currents, beach flags, what to do.

Tainha season: two months when surfing may not be allowed everywhere

This is a municipal law, not a custom, and it applies to the whole island. On the mainland each municipality has its own rules, and Guarda do Embaú is closed in these months — see Surfing — where, when, the rules and safety. From 1 May to 10 July — the tainha fishing season — on the beaches of the island of Santa Catarina fishermen have priority over surfing and any water sports (law 11.142/2024). Six stretches are free, on the others the rancho flag decides: green — allowed, red — not allowed.

The fish itself, the reason for all this, is seasonal for another reason: the fishery closes not by calendar but when the quota is used up, see Fish and seafood of Santa Catarina — what is caught and why the season ends early (in Russian).

The norm — art. 5 of municipal law 4.601/1995 as amended by law 11.142 of 19 Mar 2024. The wording has changed more than once: earlier editions gave other dates (15 May — 15 Jul) and a different list of places, so outdated versions circulate in chats and blogs.

Discrepancy in sources: 10 or 31 July. The press and city sites (ND Mais 30 Apr 2024, Floripa Mil Grau and Guia Ingleses 30 Apr 2026) name the end of restrictions as 31 July, but they do not quote the law: this is the end of the fishing season in general. Law 11.142/2024 — municipal, not state law — gives fishermen priority until 10 July; the text was checked on 30 Sep 2026, and on 31 Oct 2026 the city council site was again behind a bot check. The mayor's portaria for 2026 suspended transportation to the island of Campeche for the same period, from 1 May to 10 July (NSC Total, 1 May 2026). After 10 July the rancho flag and the nets on the beach should still be respected while fishing continues.

Why. The tainha runs along the shore in schools and is caught with a beach seine from the shore — a traditional fishery whose fish a surfer physically scares away. The issue is the fishermen's work, not safety.

Confiscation of boards for violations was abolished by law 10.020/2016: the previous wording allowed confiscation of equipment until the end of the season and its return after payment of a fine. The ban itself remained.

Kite and wind: why there is no such list

For wind sports there is no such list at all: kites have no beach associations, and practice zones are regulated by port captains and municipal acts.

The stations themselves are listed: where they teach, repair and rent, see Kite stations and schools in Florianópolis — addresses and phone numbers (in Russian). On the zones and what the law says, see Kitesurfing, windsurfing and wingfoil — Brazil's wind scene.

Sources

1. T3Florianópolis city guide, surfing schools section — ten schools with phone numbers; some have no street address, they operate from the beachguiafloripa.com.br · other
2. T1Federação Catarinense de Surf — list of 28 affiliated associations, each tied to a beach, coastal stretch or environment; page updated 26 Feb 2025fecasurf.com.br · primary source
3. T1Corpo de Bombeiros SC — nominal list of 46 sectors under lifeguard supervision, January 2026cbm.sc.gov.br · primary source
4. T1Corpo de Bombeiros SC — operation “Estação Verão” 2025/2026: 2,053 lifeguards at 429 posts, start 15 Dec 2025cbm.sc.gov.br · primary source
5. T1Corpo de Bombeiros SC, 23 Feb 2026 — high season 15 Dec 2025–22 Feb 2026 closed; post-season until 5 Apr 2026 with gradual reduction of posts; active posts — in the CBMSC Cidadão appcbm.sc.gov.br · primary source
6. T1Corpo de Bombeiros SC, 6 Apr 2026 — “Estação Verão” 2025/2026 ran from 1 Nov 2025 to 5 Apr 2026, 156 days; 56 of 60 deaths on the water — outside sectors with lifeguardscbm.sc.gov.br · primary source
7. T1Save The Waves — Guarda do Embaú as the first World Surfing Reserve in Brazil; from May to July the beach is allocated to the mullet fishery and surfing is not allowedsavethewaves.org · primary source
8. T1Prefeitura de Florianópolis municipal law 4.601/1995 — regulation of amateur water activities: classes of small vessels, navigation limits 100 and 200 m, surfing rules during the tainha (mullet) seasonsistemas.sc.gov.br · primary source
9. T1Law 10.020/2016 of 25 May 2016 — season 1 May — 10 July, six permitted sections, seizure of equipment abolishedsistemas.sc.gov.br · primary source
10. T1Florianópolis law 11.142 of 19 Mar 2024 — new art. 5 of law 4.601/1995: from 1 May to 10 July priority for tainha (mullet) fishing over all water sports and small vessels, free sections, green and red rancho flagscmf.sc.gov.br · primary source
11. T2NSC Total, 1 May 2026 — Portaria of the Secretaria do Meio Ambiente of the Prefeitura de Florianópolis: transport to Ilha do Campeche suspended from 1 May to 10 July 2026 for the tainha (mullet) fishing seasonnsctotal.com.br · secondary source
12. T3ND Mais, 30 Apr 2024 — «until 31 July», ban on all water sports; rule not named. Source of discrepancy, not a referencendmais.com.br · other

T1 — primary: law, agency site, price list. T2 — secondary: press, specialist sites. T3 — other.