Praia da Pinheira
A calm bay over 7 km long in Palhoça, running from Praia de Cima to Ponta do Papagaio.
From the Residencial: About 25.0 km by car
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Photos: Gustavo Prim, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (opens in a new tab); Eliezer Pedroso, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (opens in a new tab); Larissa Fraga, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (opens in a new tab); Garopaba Por Aí (@garopabaporai_tv) (opens in a new tab).
Pinheira Bay, in Palhoça, has more than seven kilometers of beach, split into stretches with different styles: Praia de Cima, Praia de Baixo, Mar Azul, Praia do Meio (or Mar Aberto) and, at the end, Ponta do Papagaio.
Praia de Baixo has most of the services: markets, restaurants, snack bars, an ice cream shop, bars, pharmacies, inns, hotels and boat trips. In the northern stretches the coastal vegetation is better preserved.
The most visited spots
- Praia de Baixo: the stretch with the most facilities, with markets, restaurants, an ice cream shop, guesthouses and boat trips.
- Praia de Cima and Mar Azul: quieter stretches with a calm sea.
- Praia do Meio (Mar Aberto): the most open stretch, with preserved coastal scrub.
- Ponta do Papagaio: at the end of the bay, the forested peninsula with a clear-water cove.
Getting there
Via the BR-101, in Palhoça; from Gamboa it is about 26 km by car, through Paulo Lopes. There is no single beachfront avenue: each stretch has its own access street, such as Rua Manoel Martins (Praia de Baixo, with parking), Avenida Beira Mar (Mar Azul) and Rua das Flores (Praia do Meio).
Features
Calm water along most of the bay, wide light sand and preserved coastal vegetation to the north.
Things to do
Swimming, stand up paddle, kayaking and kitesurfing. From May you can watch the mullet fishing, and in February there is the Nossa Senhora dos Navegantes procession.
Safety tips
Since the stretches are reached by different streets, check on the map which part of the bay you want to visit. During mullet fishing, respect the fishers' space on the sand.
