Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Balneário Camboriú and Bombinhas
The watch strap let go while you were snorkelling off the rocks at Quatro Ilhas
Quatro Ilhas in Bombinhas has two ends, calm water for snorkelling by the rocks on the left and waves for surfers on the right.
A watch that came off at Quatro Ilhas is worth a message if you can say roughly where you were in the water. What decides it is the ground under you at the time, sand you could stand on or the rocks you swam along, and the last moment you remember the strap on your wrist.
Ring Seekers is a lost ring and jewellery recovery service that connects people who lost a ring, wedding band, watch, keys or phone in Santa Catarina with a metal detectorist who can search there.
Tell us what happened and where. We find a detectorist who can reach the beach, brief them with your map and photos, and tell you honestly if the odds are poor.
This page covers the coast from Balneário Camboriú and the Bombinhas peninsula to the island of Florianópolis, the village of Guarda do Embaú, Garopaba and Praia do Rosa.
Mask, fins and bag come first
Lay the kit out on the towel, mask, snorkel, fins and then the bag, and check every strap and pocket before anything is rinsed. Next, stand where you entered the water and save that spot as a location on your phone, noting the restaurant or kiosk facing you from the sand.
Florianópolis is split between the mainland and the island of Santa Catarina, with many beaches, so the name of the beach matters more than the name of the city.
Places we cover in Santa Catarina
- Florianópolis
- Jurerê Internacional
- Canasvieiras
- Ingleses
- Praia da Daniela
- Praia Mole
- Praia Brava, Florianópolis
- Praia da Joaquina and the dunes
- Praia do Campeche
- Praia do Moçambique
- Lagoa da Conceição
- Balneário Camboriú
- Praia Central, Balneário Camboriú
- Laranjeiras and Taquaras
- Praia do Estaleiro
- Praia do Estaleirinho
- Bombinhas
- Praia de Bombinhas
- Praia de Bombas
- Praia de Quatro Ilhas
- Praia de Mariscal
- Praia de Zimbros
- Guarda do Embaú, the village, the river and the beach
- Garopaba and its Praia Central
- Praia da Ferrugem
- Praia do Silveira
- Praia do Siriú and the dunes
- Praia da Barra, Garopaba
- Praia do Rosa, Imbituba
- Ibiraquera
Seven parts of the Santa Catarina coast
The Bombinhas peninsula, Balneário Camboriú, the island of Florianópolis, then Garopaba and its neighbours.
Quatro Ilhas and Mariscal
Quatro Ilhas changes from one end to the other. By the rocks on the left the water is calm, used for snorkelling and stand up paddle, and that part of the beach is lined with restaurants, kiosks and places to stay. By the rocks on the right the waves bring surfers. Mariscal gives more room on the sand, which is white and fine, and its medium-sized waves draw surfers too.
Bombinhas, Bombas and Zimbros
Praia de Bombinhas has very white quartz sand and a calm, clear sea with small waves, and families with children use it a lot. Bombas gets busy in high summer and has a promenade along its whole length. Zimbros, on the Baía de Zimbros, is quiet and full of boats.
Praia Central, Balneário Camboriú
Among the streets facing it are Rua 4000 and Rua 1400, and Pontal Sul, by Rua 4009, and Pontal Norte are landmarks along it. A street number is enough to put a towel or an umbrella on the right stretch.
Along the Interpraias road
In the south of the city, the Interpraias road winds from the Barra neighbourhood through Atlantic forest to Laranjeiras, Taquarinhas, Taquaras, Pinho, Estaleiro and Estaleirinho. Estaleirinho is quiet, with calm water and coarse sand. Estaleiro, next to it, has clear blue-green water over a beach that gets deep quickly.
Florianópolis beaches
Joaquina and Praia Mole are beaches for surfing, kitesurfing and sailing, and behind Joaquina is a dune field where people sandboard, with Campeche further south. Daniela is less popular, with calmer water, and suits a family day. Jurerê Internacional sits in a neighbourhood of smart restaurants and draws a young crowd, and Brava, Canasvieiras and Ingleses are among the island's other beaches. Praia do Moçambique is a long, open beach in the north-east, with the Rio Vermelho park between it and the Lagoa da Conceição.
Garopaba, Ferrugem and Silveira
Praia de Garopaba, the town beach, is also called Praia Central. It has a calm sea, stand up paddle and kayak hire, a wide promenade of restaurants and bars, and the historic centre at its right-hand end. Ferrugem lies between Silveira and Barra, with white sand and clear water, and at one end surfers and a young crowd gather by the beach bar. Silveira is a surf beach with pale, coarse sand. At Siriú the places to stay and eat are at the northern corner, and towards the south corner the dunes stretch for kilometres, used for sandboarding.
Guarda do Embaú and Praia do Rosa
Guarda do Embaú is a village in Palhoça, with dirt streets and places to stay scattered along them. The Rio da Madre runs between the village and the beach, which lies in Paulo Lopes, and people cross it by swimming, on foot at low tide or by canoe with a boatman. Praia do Rosa, in Imbituba, is a bay and a well-known surf spot, and the lagoon and beach at Ibiraquera are used for windsurfing and kitesurfing.
What happens to what you tell us
A thread you can scroll back through
Everything stays in one WhatsApp chat with one person, so your pins, photos and answers stay in order.
Written for someone who was not there
The detectorist gets your pins and photos with a short account of the day: the beach, which end of it, where you went into the water and what you have already checked.
Our view before any plan
Before anything is planned you get our view of the chances, set against what you told us: the beach, the water and the hours that have passed.
The costs, before a plan is fixed
We explain the costs before any search is booked. Nothing goes ahead until you have read them and agreed.
Sandbars, rocky corners and a lagoon channel
What lay under the water where it happened tells a detectorist a lot.
Rock or sand underfoot
At Silveira the south corner breaks over a rocky bottom and the middle over a sandbar. Quatro Ilhas has rocks at both ends. Say whether you felt sand or rock when you stood up.
Where the beach shelves fast
Estaleiro, on the Interpraias road, gets deep quickly, so tell us first whether it came off in the sea or up on the sand.
The channel at Praia da Barra
In Garopaba a lagoon channel separates Praia da Barra from Ferrugem, and its water at the northern end is calm and shallow, used for stand up paddle and canoeing. If something went while you were out on it, say where you set off.
Questions about Santa Catarina
The watch came off while I was snorkelling at Quatro Ilhas, somewhere off the left-hand rocks.
The two places that matter most are where you walked into the water and where you came out. People snorkel at the calm left-hand end, where restaurants and kiosks line the sand, so the one you faced as you went in is a good marker. Say whether you followed the rocks or stayed over sand, and whether your feet could still touch the bottom when you last felt the strap.
The car keys were in our beach bag opposite Rua 3000 on Praia Central, and they were gone when we packed up.
Rua 3000 is one of the numbered streets facing Praia Central in Balneário Camboriú, so you have already placed yourselves on the beach. Go back over each time the bag was opened, for sun cream, a drink or a phone. Pin where the bag sat, and describe the fob or tag on the keys.
The pendant slid off my chain somewhere on Praia de Bombinhas, and I only noticed at the kiosk.
In summer the sand at Praia de Bombinhas has kiosks and hired chairs, kayaks and boards, so the kiosk where you noticed is a fixed point to work out from. Mark it, then mark where you had been sitting and the stretch of water you swam in, if you went in. Send a photo of the pendant.
I walked along the beach in Garopaba from the fishing boats to the old town, and my wedding ring was gone by the church.
That walk runs along Praia de Garopaba, the town beach, where fishermen prepare their nets and canoes, towards the historic centre at its right-hand end, with the grotto, the Praça 21 de Abril and the Igreja São Joaquim. Tell us whether you walked on the sand or on the promenade, and mark where you set off and where you noticed.
We sat halfway along Silveira to watch the surfers, and afterwards the engagement ring was no longer on my hand.
In the middle of Silveira the waves break on a sandbar, and the surf at the south corner breaks over a rocky bottom. The sand on Silveira is pale and coarse, with shells and small lagoons along the beach. Tell us how far you were from the south corner, and whether you went down to the water or only sat and watched.
A necklace went missing somewhere between where we were staying in Guarda do Embaú and the river.
On the Palhoça side, Guarda do Embaú is a village of dirt streets, and the Rio da Madre runs between it and the beach. Walk us through the route street by street, from your door to the bank, and mark the spot where you waited before crossing. If it went during the crossing, say whether you swam, waded at low tide or took a canoe, and where you came out on the beach side.
We are staying in Garopaba but lost a phone on a day at Praia do Rosa. Is that part of the same area?
Yes. Praia do Rosa is in Imbituba rather than Garopaba, but the two towns belong together on the Rota da Baleia Franca, and we treat them as one stretch of coast. Rosa is a bay and a well-known surf spot. Tell us which part of the bay you spent the day on, and each time the phone came out of the bag.
My metal-framed glasses fell out of a shirt pocket at some point during a day and evening in Jurerê Internacional.
Jurerê Internacional is a neighbourhood as well as a beach, with smart restaurants and lively nights, so a day there may not have been spent only on the sand. List the places you went in order, and mark where you last remember the glasses. If it was the beach, pin where you sat.
Santa Catarina
Rocks, kiosks and numbered streets
Any fixed point you remember gives a search somewhere to start.
On WhatsApp, share the location you saved at the water's edge, or a photo taken from where you sat. If you saved neither, a street number or the name of a kiosk will do to begin.