Santa Catarina with kids: a 4-day north-island plan that actually works
A family walking along the calm shoreline of Praia de Canasvieiras at low tide
Four days on the calmer north end of Florianópolis, structured around nap times, low-swell beaches, and hour-by-hour timing.
Why the north island and not the south
Santa Catarina has better beaches than the north of Florianópolis if you are a competent adult who wants surf, drama and a walk in. It does not have easier ones. The north-facing beaches — Canasvieiras, Jurerê, Daniela, Ponta das Canas, Praia dos Ingleses — are protected from the south swell that shapes the rest of the coast, which means small waves, gentle shorebreak, and calm water at low tide. For a family with under-eights this is not a preference, it is the whole point. The south of the island and the Rosa coast are for older kids who can swim in surf; the north is for kids who cannot.
The trade-off is that the north end is more developed and, in January and February, genuinely busy. Traffic on the SC-401 from Jurerê to Canasvieiras can add 40 minutes to a five-kilometre trip at 11:00 or 17:00. This itinerary is built around that traffic: you leave your base once a day, do one thing properly, and come back before the afternoon jam. In March or April, when families have gone home and the weather is still warm, the same route runs at half the effort. Nothing below assumes school-holiday density; if you are travelling in high summer, add 20 per cent to every drive time.
Day 1: arrival, Jurerê Tradicional and the pier
Fly into Florianópolis and take a 45-minute R$120 taxi to your base — for kids under eight, Jurerê Tradicional (the older, quieter half) is the right choice over Jurerê Internacional (the beach-club side). Rentals in Tradicional run R$680 to R$980 a night for a two-bedroom apartment in high season, R$420 to R$580 in shoulder. Check in by 15:00. Spend the first afternoon on the beach directly in front of your building — do not try to drive anywhere on arrival day, small children respond badly to being packed back into a car after four hours of travel.
The Jurerê pier at the western end of the beach is a proper 20-minute walk from the main strip, past the sand-only stretch that most tourists never reach. This is where locals actually swim; the pier itself has a small kiosk selling water and coconuts (R$10 each), and the tide pools at its base at low tide hold small crabs and hermit crabs that occupy an entire afternoon of five-year-old attention. Dinner at one of the family-facing restaurants on the main avenue — the pizza and pasta places take walk-ins for R$180 to R$260 for a family of four, and none of them mind loud children.
Day 2: Praia do Forte and the fortress
The Fortaleza de São José da Ponta Grossa sits at the western tip of the north island, 15 minutes' drive from Jurerê. Entry is R$20 for adults and free for under-tens. The fortress is intact enough to be interesting — cannons pointed out to sea, a chapel, a powder magazine, a proper walk along the battlements — and small enough to visit in 90 minutes without exhausting anyone. Go at 09:30, before the heat and before the tour buses arrive at 11:00. The parking is free and the walk from the car park to the entry is about 200 metres of shaded path.
Directly below the fortress is Praia do Forte, a small crescent beach that is even calmer than Jurerê because it is tucked into the headland. This is a swim-and-snack beach, not a full-day beach — spend two hours here after the fortress, eat lunch at the single kiosk (grilled fish plate R$65, portion of fries R$28), and be back in Jurerê by 14:30 for the naps that anyone under six is going to need after a fortress and a swim. Afternoon in the apartment pool if you booked one, or back on the beach for a second short session at 16:30 when the sun has softened.
Day 3: Ilha do Francês boat trip
The Canasvieiras marina, ten minutes east of Jurerê, runs half-day boat trips to Ilha do Francês for R$95 an adult and R$50 a child under 12. Boats leave at 10:00 and 13:30 and return four hours later. The 10:00 trip is the one to book with kids — it puts you at the island by 10:45, in flat clear water 100 metres offshore, with a couple of hours to swim and eat before the afternoon wind picks up. The boats are 60-passenger catamarans with shade, toilets, and a small bar; life jackets are provided for children and the crews are used to families.
Ilha do Francês itself is a rocky outcrop with two small beaches and clear water suitable for snorkelling with masks brought from home or rented on the boat for R$15. There is no development on the island — no kiosks, no shade beyond what you bring — so pack water, snacks, and a beach umbrella if you have one. The return sail hits Canasvieiras at 14:30, which puts you back in Jurerê for a late lunch by 15:15 and gives everyone the rest of the afternoon to recover. Book the boat the day before via WhatsApp; the operators respond quickly and take payment in cash on the day.
Day 4: Ingleses, the sandboarding dunes, and the ride home
Ingleses is 25 minutes east of Jurerê on the SC-403 and holds one of the two things kids remember from a Santa Catarina trip: the sand dunes behind Praia dos Ingleses. Rent sandboards at the kiosk at the dune access (R$25 per board per hour) and let anyone over six try the shorter slopes. The dunes are genuinely impressive — 40 metres high in places — and the sand is soft enough that falls are undramatic. Two hours is plenty. Go at 09:00 before the sand heats up; by 12:00 the surface is uncomfortably hot for bare feet.
Lunch at one of the Ingleses beachfront restaurants (R$180 to R$240 for a family of four) and then the beach itself for the afternoon. Ingleses is slightly more exposed than Jurerê but still gentle enough for confident swimmers over five; keep smaller children in the ankle-depth shorebreak. Head back to Jurerê by 16:30 to pack, and eat the last dinner at whichever restaurant your kids have decided is theirs. Fly out the following morning — build in a two-hour buffer for the airport road in summer traffic, which can genuinely take 90 minutes for what is a 20-kilometre drive.
What to pack that the guidebooks don’t mention
Two things save families more headaches than anything else. First, proper long-sleeve UV swim tops for every child — the sun at this latitude in January is fierce, and sunscreen fails on wet, wriggling kids inside an hour. Decathlon in Florianópolis sells them for R$65 each; bring from home if you can. Second, a small folding beach shade or pop-up tent (R$180 at any beach shop in Canasvieiras). Umbrella hire on the beach is R$40 a day and often unavailable in peak weeks; owning your own means you set up where you want and stay as long as you want.
Add: water shoes for anyone under ten (the rocks at Praia do Forte and Ilha do Francês are sharp), a proper reef-safe sunscreen (Australian Gold and Sundown are widely sold at R$45 to R$85), and a small cool bag for the boat trip. Do not bother bringing a stroller for anything but airport transit — the north island beaches are all soft-sand access, and strollers become anchors within 20 metres of the road. A baby carrier or a lightweight beach cart works far better. Nappies, formula and standard baby food are available at any of the four supermarkets in the north end at Brazilian rather than tourist prices.
Where to sleep and what to skip
Jurerê Tradicional is the base that makes this itinerary work. The apartments are family-scaled, most have small pools, the beach is 200 metres from the door, and there are three supermarkets and a pharmacy within a five-minute walk. Skip Jurerê Internacional unless you specifically want the beach-club scene, which is not designed for families and prices dinners at R$400 a head. Skip Canasvieiras as a base — it is cheaper (R$320 to R$480 a night) but the town itself is denser and busier, and the beach is more crowded. Skip the south of the island entirely; the drives are too long with small children.
The two things to skip from a standard tourist list are the trip to Lagoinha do Leste (a 90-minute hike each way, unsuitable for anyone under 12) and the boat tour of the whole island (six hours on water, past nap window, past attention span). Both are excellent trips for adults or older kids and terrible ones for the age group this itinerary is aimed at. Keep the plan tight, keep the drives short, and accept that four days on the north end is a proper holiday rather than a lightweight version of a bigger tour. It is what the geography actually offers families with young children.
Before you book
The questions people ask about Canasvieiras, answered with this month’s numbers.
It is built around children aged roughly three to nine. Under-threes need less driving and more downtime — cut Day 3's boat trip and add a second Jurerê beach day. Over-tens can handle the south of the island, longer walks and the surf beaches, so consider the Lagoa da Conceição area instead.
Jurerê, Daniela and Praia do Forte are as safe as beaches get on this coast — small waves, gradual entry, and lifeguards in high season. Ingleses is slightly more exposed and can build small shorebreak on windy afternoons. None require confident swimming ability in ankle to knee depth, but adult supervision is not optional at any of them.
You can, using taxis and Uber for the day trips — the fortress run is R$45 each way, Ingleses is R$65, and the marina at Canasvieiras is R$25. That comes to roughly R$540 in transport over four days for a family of four, which is close to what a rental costs. Rent the car; it is easier and lets you stop at supermarkets.
Tap water in Florianópolis meets Brazilian potability standards but tastes strongly of chlorine and is not what locals drink. Buy 5-litre bottles at the supermarket for R$8 each for drinking and brushing teeth; use tap water for washing. Restaurants and kiosks serve bottled or filtered water by default.
