São Paulo coast, Ubatuba, Ilhabela, Maresias, Guarujá and Santos
You tapped the Pedra do Sino rocks with the car keys to hear them ring, and now the keys are missing
At Pedra do Sino on Ilhabela, a group of rocks gives the note of a bell when something metal or another stone strikes it.
Keys lost at Pedra do Sino leave a short list of places to look: the rocks you tapped, the sand between them and your towel, and the path back to where you parked. What helps most is knowing which of those came after you last had the keys in your hand.
Ring Seekers is a lost ring and jewellery recovery service that connects people who lost a ring, wedding band, watch, keys or phone on the São Paulo coast 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.
Back out to the rocks, eyes on the ground
Walk out along the walkway to the rocks you struck and back the way you came, watching the sand at the foot of the stones. The kiosks and the restaurant beside the beach are worth asking at too. After that, save two pins on your phone's map: one on the rocks where you stood, one where your towel lay.
Each part of the mainland has its own way of fixing a spot. In Ubatuba it is the kilometre on the BR-101 where you turned off for the beach, on the Santos seafront the canal you were closest to, and at Maresias the entrance you walked in by.
Places we cover on the São Paulo coast
- Ubatuba
- Praia Grande, Ubatuba
- Praia do Tenório
- Praia do Itaguá
- Praia do Cruzeiro (Iperoig)
- Praia da Enseada, Ubatuba
- Praia do Perequê-Açu
- Praia de Itamambuca
- Praia Vermelha do Norte
- Praia do Félix
- Praia do Lázaro
- Ilha Anchieta
- Picinguaba and Praia da Fazenda
- Ilhabela
- Praia do Curral
- Praia da Feiticeira
- Pedras Miúdas and the Ilha das Cabras
- Praia de Castelhanos
- Praia do Bonete
- Praia do Julião
- Praia do Perequê, Ilhabela
- Praia da Vila, Ilhabela
- Pedra do Sino (Garapocaia)
- Maresias, São Sebastião
- Juquehy
- Camburi
- Barra do Sahy
- Pitangueiras, Guarujá
- Praia da Enseada, Guarujá
- Santos seafront
Ilhabela by the ferry landing, the mainland town by town
On Ilhabela, it helps to know if you went left or right from the ferry; on the mainland, the town and the beach.
Right from the ferry, the south of Ilhabela
Turn right off the ferry and you are in the south of the island. Curral is roomy and busy, with a calm sea, big trees around it and boats that moor there. Feiticeira is reached along a path of a few minutes and has coconut palms, with rocks along its right-hand side. Julião, ringed by trees, and Praia Grande both have calm water where people take out paddleboards and kayaks. At Pedras Miúdas people snorkel and kayak around the Ilha das Cabras.
Left from the ferry, the centre and the north
To the left of the ferry lie the centre and the north of the island. Perequê's sand is pale and long, lined with coconut palms, with calm water used for paddleboards, kayaks and outrigger canoes. In the historic centre, the sand at Praia da Vila shows only at low tide, beside a square and a pier where fishermen stand. Farther north, a walkway at Pedra do Sino leads out to the rocks that ring, and Armação is where kitesurfers go.
Ubatuba, around the town
Praia Grande in Ubatuba is always full, with kiosks along its whole seafront, Rock Point at its right-hand end and Baguari at its left, both known for surf. Tenório, close by, has fine sand and a rough sea. Itaguá has firm sand and a calm sea, with the harbour quay at its right-hand end. Praia do Cruzeiro, also called Iperoig, lies in the centre of town, and Enseada has firm sand, calm water and rocky shores. Schooners from Enseada and the pier at Saco da Ribeira take people out to Ilha Anchieta.
Itamambuca, Félix and the south coast of Ubatuba
Itamambuca has soft white sand over a big stretch, a strong swell and good surf, and the mouth of the Rio Itamambuca at its right-hand end. Vermelha do Norte has soft sand and plenty of waves. At Félix the right-hand side is calmer for swimming, and the sea grows rougher towards the left. Perequê-Açu, over the bridge from Praia do Cruzeiro, sometimes gets good surf. On the south coast, Lázaro has clear water between wooded rocky points. In the far north, Picinguaba is a small fishing village beach with calm water and boats moored along it, and nearby Fazenda is wide, with a rough sea that sometimes brings surf.
Maresias, Juquehy, Camburi and Barra do Sahy
These four are in São Sebastião. Maresias is a praia de tombo, where the sand drops away steeply, with strong waves; surfers gather at the Canto do Moreira, its right-hand end, and the Rio Maresias meets the sea on the left. Juquehy has very pale, firm sand and a sea that is generally calm. Camburi has soft sand, a river crossing it and a sea that is usually rough. Barra do Sahy is a horseshoe-shaped beach with calm water and a wooden suspension bridge over the Rio Sahy.
Guarujá, Pitangueiras and Enseada
Pitangueiras, the main beach of Guarujá, lies in the centre of town, with clear water and strong waves. The Píer Tony Villela stands at its left-hand end. Enseada has a rough sea and kiosks from one end to the other; its left-hand corner, known as Tortugas, has calmer water and weaker waves.
The Santos seafront
The Santos seafront runs from José Menino to Ponta da Praia, with a garden along the beach and kiosks from canal 1 to canal 7. Other landmarks are the Praça das Bandeiras in Gonzaga and the Deck do Pescador at Ponta da Praia.
Four things to know before you message
Catching the ferry does not end it
Going back to the mainland, or home, changes nothing. The detectorist works from the pins and photos you send, and you hear the outcome in the chat.
What we ask first
The beach, left or right off the ferry if it was Ilhabela, and the latest point in the day you are sure it was with you. Rough answers are fine.
Our view of the odds
Along with the plan you get our view of it, including whatever counts against it.
Costs, in plain words
We explain the costs before any search is booked, and then it is your call.
Calm channel and open sea
Channel water and surf water are not the same.
Inside the Ilhabela channel
Many of the beaches on Ilhabela face the channel between the island and the mainland, which takes much of the strength out of the waves. Beaches outside the channel get much stronger waves: Castelhanos, reached by boat, trail or four-wheel drive, and Bonete, a wide beach ringed by trees, with surfers by the rock wall at its right-hand end.
Mainland surf beaches
Maresias, Pitangueiras and Vermelha do Norte are surf beaches. At Félix and at Enseada in Guarujá the calmer water is at one end, so tell us the end you swam from.
Questions about the São Paulo coast
We were already on the ferry back to the mainland when I noticed the engagement ring was missing. Where on Curral would a search start?
Where your things were. Curral fills up, and boats moor there as well, so tell us where your towel lay compared with the big trees and the kiosks, whether you swam or climbed aboard a boat, and roughly when you left the sand.
My bracelet came loose as we were pushing a hired kayak out at Julião, on Ilhabela.
Julião is ringed by trees and has a calm sea, and paddleboards and kayaks are hired out along the sand. Mark where you pushed off, tell us if you were still on your feet or already afloat when you noticed, and describe the bracelet: chain, bangle or beads, and what kind of fastening.
My Oura ring came off on Praia Grande in Ubatuba on a packed day, and I have no idea where.
Praia Grande is always full, and its kiosks run along the whole seafront, so the kiosk behind you is the clearest marker. Say too whether you were nearer Rock Point, the rocky point at the right-hand end, or Baguari at the left, and whether you went swimming.
At high tide we swam the river to reach Itamambuca, and on the far bank my wedding ring was gone.
From the Recanto de Itamambuca side, the beach is reached across the Rio Itamambuca, and at high tide that means swimming. If the river swim is when the ring went, it is a long shot, and you would hear that from us first. If there is a chance it came off afterwards, pin the place you climbed out of the river and where you sat.
My gold chain went while I was in the waves at Maresias, somewhere between the river and the surfers at the far end.
Maresias is a long beach, so pinning down your spot on it comes before anything else. Name the nearest landmark, such as the Praça do Surf or the entrance you walked in by, and say whether you were nearer the Rio Maresias on the left or the Canto do Moreira on the right. Tell us too what kind of clasp the chain has.
My phone fell out somewhere between our kiosk chairs on Enseada, in Guarujá, and the water.
The kiosks on Enseada run from one end of the beach to the other and set out sunshades and chairs for their customers, so the staff at yours watched the same stretch of sand you did and are worth asking. Then tell us the kiosk's name, and whether you were in the Tortugas corner at the left-hand end, where the water is calmer.
We lost an earring on the Santos seafront, but in the garden, not on the sand.
Then the garden is where to begin. It lines the beach along the seafront, and the kiosks stand from canal 1 to canal 7, so give us the number of the canal closest to you, and whether it was the grass, a path or a bench.
My signet ring went on Pitangueiras, and I cannot say whether it was on the beach or in the waves.
On Pitangueiras, the main beach of Guarujá, the Píer Tony Villela at its left-hand end is the landmark to measure from. Estimate how far from the pier you sat, and how far along you went into the sea; guesses are fine.
São Paulo coast
Which beach, and what went missing
Island or mainland, one chat carries the whole thing through to the end.
Those two are enough for a first message on WhatsApp. Where you sat and how the day went come out in the replies.