Choose your base in Santa Catarina

The working heart of the island — mainland-facing, ferry-loud, cheap rooms above the market and a real 5pm rush hour.

The showoff beach — private clubs, R$800 day-bed minimums and December Ferraris. Off-season it's a completely different place.

Backpacker central — cheap pousadas, a proper bar street, 15 minutes from Joaquina beach and the dunes.

Argentinian-flooded family beach — cheap rooms, schooner tours, everyone speaks Spanish and the water is calm.

Big, cheap and Argentinian in summer — 5-kilometre beach, working-class pousadas and dunes that connect to Santinho.

The island's south-side surf and skate scene — wide open beach, Ilha do Campeche offshore, real neighbourhoods behind.

Brazilian Miami — 6-kilometre wall of towers, huge beach, a legitimate nightlife scene and cable car across the bay.

The quieter neighbour to Balneário — long calm beach at Meia Praia, family pace, easy day trips to Bombinhas.

Cluster of small beaches with the clearest water in the state — snorkelling, marine reserve, terrible summer traffic.

The gateway town to the Bombinhas peninsula — cheaper base, decent beach, boats to Ilha de Porto Belo.

Brazil's largest Oktoberfest, half-timbered downtown, breweries — and floods every few years when the Itajaí-Açu rises.

Santa Catarina's biggest city — industrial, planned, functional. Dance festival in July, one of Brazil's best ballet schools.

The most German town in Brazil — half the population speaks Pomeranian at home, half-timbered farms and a proper 12 km rota.

One of Brazil's oldest cities — 1504 Portuguese port, colonial centre, calm-bay beaches on an island east of Joinville.

The south coast's surf capital — quiet fishing town in winter, packed with surfers and southern-hippy travellers in summer.

Working port town with the Projeto Baleia Franca research base and the beaches that Rosa doesn’t have room for.

Postcard south-coast bay — pricier pousadas on green hills, whales in spring, honeymoon and boutique-hotel scene.

Colonial fishing town where fishermen and wild dolphins cooperate to catch mullet — historic centre and long ocean beaches.

Highland town at 980 metres — canyons, Brazil's coldest recorded temperature, waterfalls and the Morro da Igreja cliff.

Brazil's highest city — apple orchards, most reliable snowfall in the country, wine at altitude and a national park.

Little Tyrol in Brazil — Austrian founders in 1933, Alpine architecture, woodcarving tradition and Tirolerfest in October.

Home to Beto Carrero World — Latin America's largest theme park — plus a decent working beach and cheaper family rooms.

Container port, seafood market and Marejada festival — functional city 15 minutes from Balneário and the Navegantes airport.

The family-friendly northern neighbour to Bombinhas — calmer water, easier parking, same clear-water peninsula.