Advertisement
Tim Version:
* Surfed and got very very drunk in Florianopolis and loved every minute of it.
* Experienced P12 (an outdoors huge club pool party) in all its glory and didn't want to ever leave. I miss Aussie Sunday Sessions though=(
** An apology, a severe lack of photos here! Its a very photogenic place but as I spent most of my time either in the water or consuming tasty beverages, I almost never had my camera on me! I will try and get photos from others who were there with me **
The version dancing drunk as a monkey at a pool party filled with some of the most beautiful women ever created, both naturally and (probably the majority here) surgically enhanced:
Florianopolis is a well off area and the intro to the mainland section and its bus station is no exception. Well organised, not cramped for space, and easy to navigate. We found our way from the large bus station to the smaller bus station, and after a small wait and an awkward boarding with 4 guys, 4 large backpacks, and a bus with an extremely small turnstyle that we had to fit
everything through, we were on our way to the coastal side of the island. It's an island but truly may as well be the mainland as it is so close and only a short bridge ride across from the mainland and has all the commercial services of anywhere else so don't think "tropical island". It is however magnificantly beautiful. As with what you see from the photos of Rio, this part of Brazil has green covered mountains meeting the sea seperated oonly by perfect golden sandy beaches and is a real paradise. The sun had come out to shine when we had reached Florianopolis in the bus, and it showed no signs of hiding behind any clouds. A perfect intro to the place.
We all headed for the area Barra Da Lagoa, where the 3 others got an apartment and I went to the hostel Backpackers Sharehouse. While it is a very cool hostel I ended up switching to it's sister hostel, Backpackers Sunset, within a day as it was way more suitable for surfing as it is near the good surf beaches in this part of the island. It also turned out to be kick ass as for
facilities and the view, the view... wow, million dollar view! It looks out over the lake from its position high atop the hill, giving perfect sunsets and views of others windsurfing, kitesurfing and sailing the lake below. This is all seen from the bar as you drink a few beers, or from the pool as you swim around (also usually with a beer), or from the TV room with the pool table. All have breathtaking magic views and with the hostel at full capacity and above (people were sleeping in tents they set up as they ran out of beds) the place still didn't feel cramped at all. It might sound funny to talk up a hostel that much but it really was that good. The staff, also a champion crew of people.
Over the 10 days or so that I stayed there I got to surf a few days, although the swell and sandbanks in the 2 close beaches, Mole and Joaquina, turned nasty for the last half of my stay. This however really didn't bother me as I actually ended up spending a lot of time just watching others surf as the level of skill here can
be incredible, a common theme in Brazil with anything relating to sport. It is a place that I would love to return to with my own boards and a car though as so many of the most awesome surf beaches are just too hard to reach using public transport with surfboards, board rental is expensive, and the boards that I got at the hostel for free were seriously waterlogged. I miss my boards =( I really do.
I spent a lot of time just hanging around the hostel enjoying the killer views, and talking with all the awesome guests that just kept arriving. While the place started off very Australian, it ended up very Irish by the time I was leaving, and mostly filled with girls which is never something to complain about! We hit up a few clubs while there, though really none are worth talking about in my opinion except for P12. I'm not a club person, and am first and foremost house party person. Pubs then come second but clubs, a very distant 3rd. This place P12 started during the day which was the first bonus to me, as I much prefer to do a Sunday
Session style thing, starting and finishing drinking earlier. Second bonus, its a pool party! Sun, girls in bikinis, beers, cocktails, its always a recipe for success and smiling happy people. Third, no dress code, so we entered in shorts, tshirts and flip flops and I spent most of the night (including on the dance floor) in bare feet which is another thing that makes me feel so much happier and relaxed. Fourth, to really have that beach feel, most of the place is sand and has big comfy cushions and sun lounges around that could fit a family on them, which is both perfect while the sun is shining to lie around on and just as perfect for when you find that special girl and want to escape somewhere private from the dance floor. It was a budget killer of a night but well worth it and if you go to Flori I'd say even if it means it is the only night out you can afford it is still worth doing.
Florianopolis really has a bit of everything. From beautiful happy people to brilliant beaches and surf to great bars and clubs and lots of work opportunities. It
Our secret little beach
Just up the hill and through some bush from the hostel Backpackers Sunset is also one of the most affluent areas of Brazil, making it expensive to travel and live but wages if you work there should match the cost of living so its all good. Of all of Brazil this is the place that I would choose to live.
After a lot more drunkeness and cash dropping than expected and with a nasty front of weather coming in to kill the surf and sun, myself and 3 girls decided it was time to make an early escape to Rio de Janeiro to checkout what was on up there. Rio is where, when I was planning Brazil, I thought I would most likely want to live so I wanted toleave a fair chunk of time for extra looking around and research should I get there and find that true. Fingers crossed it is as incredible as the rumours all say it is but even if it wasnt I was traveling with good company which always helps.
Advertisement
Tot: 1.069s; Tpl: 0.102s; cc: 15; qc: 62; dbt: 0.2967s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 9;
; mem: 1.2mb
calvin
non-member comment
Thanks for a greta blog
I'm looking to surf for a couple of week somewhere. So I'm looking for a good school but accomodation that is safe where I can lock a laptop would be great. Id love to bring my midi controller and mix a bit, do you think there might be opportunity there to play ? Did you see any capoeira going on. How easy is it to get here from Rio. And the same questions about good safe accomodation there if you have any advice ? thanks