On one of the calmer mornings of our week in Florianópolis, we set out early on the scooter, heading south toward Ribeirão da Ilha. The sky was spotless, the air already warm but still carrying a bit of that sleepy, early-day stillness. The ride itself was a joy—quiet roads, gentle curves, and the occasional glimpse of sea through gaps in the trees. When we reached the village, it felt like stepping sideways into another century.
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Ribeirão da Ilha is one of the oldest settlements on Santa Catarina Island, and it wears its age well. Colorful colonial houses lined the waterfront, their pastel facades peeling just enough to look charming, not neglected. Many had sea-themed murals or tile mosaics on their walls. A few seabirds loitered along the coast, clearly in no rush to start their day.
The village was still waking up. Restaurants and bars stood closed, chairs stacked, doors cracked open to the morning breeze. The old church, Nossa Senhora da Lapa, modest and timeworn, looked out over the bay with the kind of calm authority only centuries can give. We strolled slowly along the beach, where small houses were built directly on the sand, some of them so close to the water that gentle waves lapped at their very foundations. There was barely anyone around—just the two of us, the birds, the sound of the sea, and that soft sun-soaked peace that makes you want to speak in whispers.
After the walk, we continued toward the east of the island. As we climbed the hill out of the village, we caught a perfect view of Ribeirão and the bay, spread out below us like a miniature painting: tiles, boats, and water all drowsing under the sun. A little farther on, we passed through Sertão do Ribeirão, a tucked-away mountain settlement that felt like it had been lifted out of Switzerland and dropped into southern Brazil: wooden houses, rolling hills, and a kind of tidy serenity that didn’t quite match the rest of the island’s coastal flair.
We stopped for a short hike to Sertão Waterfall, aka Cachoeira da Carambina (location), just five minutes through dense green. The trail was quiet, the air cooler under the trees. The waterfall itself wasn’t massive, but it was secluded and fresh, pouring into a clear, shallow pool—a good place to linger if you’re not in any kind of rush.
Lastly, we descended the mountains toward the lagoon of Peri and Armação Beach on the opposite coast.
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