Need Info on Florianopolis -

Gentlemen -

I am back in Floripa and need some help. What places and areas do you recommend? Now I stay in centro in dowtown Floripa on the island itself. I checked out Praia Mole and it´s way out in the middle of nowhere, so is Canasvieiras. Floripa people are not really that outgoing nor are Cariocas for that matter and Colombians certainly appear to be more likeable to gringos so I will give this my best shot. Do you guys advise renting a car or Bus/Taxi/walk it? Where do other Americans go, chat and hang out? I´d like to know the lowdown on how others see it Floripa. Any recommendations on renting an apartment and where? What about good Gyms on the island?

Thanks in advance

[El Capitan]

Hi Ray, Sorry can't help you too much with Floripa...but seeing as you haven't had too much of a response on a Saturday afternoon, I've dug into my little bag of stuff to see what I could find...

http://www.guiafloripa.com.br/index.php3

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic..._Catarina.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florian%C3%B3polis

http://wikitravel.org/en/Florianopolis

http://www.braziltour.com/site/en/ci...08&estados=351


All these sources, and all of the folks seemed to have some pretty good input. I hope it helps...

[Micky10]

Didn't Bueller hang out there before - that is who you need, and/or Nuno - Good luck Ray!

Love - Micky

[Bueller]

Hi Ray,

How long are you planning to stay in Floripa? It's really hard to rent an apartment there without a cosigner, in fact you can't rent through a brokerage without someone who owns property locally and is willing to put it up as collateral for you. It's not impossible though, and here are some options that I know of:

-- check out the links that EC listed, especially guiafloripa.com

-- go down to the Rodoviária Rita Maria (interstate bus terminal), and there is a business inside that rents apartments short term to tourists.

-- go to the store on Conselheiro Mafra (one of the pedestrian-only streets in the heart of downtown) called Casas do Cano (Plumbing House) and ask for Junior. He probably won't be there because he spends most of his time at another store, but they can put you on the phone with him. He owns the chain of stores, plus dozens of individual apartments around town. He lived in Ohio for a while, so he speaks some English. I rented from him for a couple of years and he didn't ask for a cosigner.

-- go to the apartment building I used to live in, at Rua Teniente Silveira 600 (two streets up from Conselheiro Mafra, behind the Lira Tennis Club), and ask the doorman about apartments for rent. I rented two different apartments from two different landlords and didn't need a cosigner for either.

-- go to the building next door and ask about apartments. On one side is the Hannover building, which is recently built and probably more upscale than what you're looking for, but on the other side is a building that sometimes gets confused with a hotel. That is, sometimes when people asked me for directions, they asked for the __________ Hotel, because that's the way it's sometimes advertised. In other words, they are used to having short term tenants. Actually, you might try this option first.

If you decide not to rent an apartment, but you want to stay near downtown, check out the Hotel Daifa http://www.hoteldaifa.com.br/ . The owner is from Ibiza and speaks English, and last I checked you could get a room with a great view for about half the price of a comparable room in downtown itself (the Daifa is a few blocks outside of downtown). He and his wife helped me a lot when I was new in town, really nice folks. The pics on their home page are what you see from your room.


As far as whether you should rent a car, I had the best luck renting from http://www.viamar-rentacar.com.br/ , which is near the Shopping Beiramar. However, if you have to rely on public transportation to get around, that's more opportunity for you to mingle and meet people. Maybe try a mixture of both? Parking downtown is a hassle and expensive.

So you want to meet other gringos... well, if you must, a good place would be out at the Lagoa da Conceição, especially at places like the John Bull Tavern. If you're going to spend time out there enjoying the night life, that would be a good argument for getting a car. There are a couple of choperias downtown, one called Ilhéus, the other called O Botequim, which are pretty happening at night. You can also go to places like Box 32 and Toca do Urso inside the Mercado Central during evening rush hour, but don't linger too late there as the people from the favelas come down at night. Personally I wouldn't bother too much with Canasvieiras, unless you want to meet aging Argentines. Keep in mind that that is one of the beaches that faces the mainland, thus no waves. If you want to do some surfing, buy a used board and go to Ingleses, Mole, Joaquina, Mozambique (clothes optional there) or Campeche. Also, a great place to hang out is along the Beiramar Norte, where they have the bike trail that goes along the water. If you're going to be there for a while, consider buying a bicycle. If you just want to try it out once, you can rent a bike at the concession there, but the bikes aren't that great. Whatever you do, don't try to use the bicycle/footbridge over to the mainland after dark. By day it's fine, but at night you run a great risk of getting mugged.

For gyms, remember that the Portuguese word is academia. Here is a list:

http://www.webbusca.com.br/pagam/flo..._academias.asp

That last one, on Rua Bocaiúva, would be a great location. Bocaiúva runs parallel to the Beiramar, one street up, and is a nice area.

If you like oysters, be sure to go down to Riberão da Ilha, down in the south part of the island, which is the oyster harvesting capital of Brazil. There are restaurants that have seating on a pier over the water. There you place your order, and they go pull the oysters out of the water to serve to you, or you can handpick them yourself. Of course, all over the island you will find good seafood. There are plenty of good seafood restaurants around the Lagoa da Conceição, and don't forget that due to the immigration of Italians to the area there are plenty of excellent Italian restaurants as well. The best one is Sapore di Sale, on Rua Bocaiúva, and you should also try a pizza/pasta place called São Francesco. Speaking of pizza places, a good guy for you to meet is the owner of Pizzeria Michelangelo, on Bocaiúva, named Marcelo. He's a young guy, speaks English, and knows a lot of people. Also, there's Guto, the owner of It's Italian-- I'm thinking out loud here, that would be a good place to meet gringos. Guto used to run a pizza place in San Diego, and he would definitely be a good guy to meet as well. He owns several businesses, including a guest ranch where you can go horseback riding, rappeling, whitewater rafting, etc. You can find him at his restaurant most evenings, and I'd highly recommend going there to chow and say hi.

Guys -

Excellent feedback and I thank you. Bueller, your recommendations on Floripa and lengthy write-up is very much appreciated. I will check out all your references. So far, two days into it and my second time back ....Floripa is the most different city I´ve ever experienced in Brazil. It´s weird; Recife, BH, RJ, Natal, Sao Paulo and Salvador all have similarities in the people, the way they look and act to the environment and even landscape, but Florianoplis is very different than these other cities in Brazil. It´s to early to make a call, still decompressing. However, I have seen some stunning looking women - blonde women no less with great physiques and a few that would blow away any 8+ Paisa, Calena or Costeña. It´s the winter now so it is chili. The summer really heats up so I hear but without a doubt if I were looking to live in Brazil full-time and needed the main ingredients not found in other areas of Brazil like safety, cleanliness, order, decent folks - Florianopolis is the place I would choose to live and work and the ladies look real nice. I´ll try and post more as time allows. Thanks again for all the great info!

[Bueller]

I'm between gigs right now and looked at airfares to a number of places to spend my time off. First choice was Florianópolis, but airfare on Expedia was almost $4000 from Nashville. If it weren't for that, I might be there myself right now.

[Junfan]

I dated a girl from Florianopolis that was living in Dallas...those girls are built for one thing, and it ain't playin' dominos.

Check out Camboriu Brazil - a cool small town without the violence of the bigger cities.

http://www.camboriu.com.br/pages/icambu.html

http://www.boisc.com/library/omraden/omr1a.jpg

[Bueller]

Ray, what's new? Are you still in Balneário Camboriú? Brazil?

[Charlie640]

Ray.... you speak Portuguese??