We are now Florianopolis (Floripa), the Island of Santa Catarina in Southern Brazil. It is a beautiful place and we have been very lucky to have found an awesome private cottage with a guide. We have been surfing pretty much everyday since we got here. We also went to do a BJJ class with an instructor who used to live of all places on the North Shore of Oahu for 7 years before moving back to Brazil. I guess there really arent that many amazing surf areas in the world and it is a pretty small community.
Floripa is a small island about a third to quarter the size of Oahu and I can tell that in the summer it would be a true paradise. However, the seasons seem to change here more than Hawaii, so at the moment it has been a little colder and rainier than perfect, but still very nice. Thankfully the weather has been improving since we arrived and I am going to chance it and say that we may not have any rain today.
The person that we are renting the house from is a former ASP pro surfer who has been awesome, taking us around the island to different surf spots. He has provided wetsuits so we dont have to rent, boards for us to use, and connections at local shops so that we can rent different boards when we go to other places by ourselves. That along with having Nilson here for a couple days when we first arrived has enabled us to see almost all of the island in a short time.
Before Nilson headed out we went to an all you can eat Brazilian BBQ and gorged for lunch. The food was amazing and they just keep brining you so much perfectly cooked meat. Different animals, different cuts, it just keeps coming. They try to throw you off by providing an awesome salad bar and dessert table, but the real draw is the meat. We had that for lunch and didnt really eat a full meal for another 24 hours.
Today we tried surfing at Jaoquina (spelling?) beach, but it was a little tougher than we expected. Because of the geography, the surfing here is pretty much all shore breaks. That means that there are constant waves only a short paddle from the beach. But that also means that it can be shallow and there are constant waves breaking on you trying to push you back to the beach. Trying to clear the break to get to open ocean can be hard. Today Marina and I both were not really able to get through the surf. After an hour or so of trying we decided to call it a day. However, as we had some food the weather and waves started to change and it looked a lot cleaner, little smaller, and more manageable. So I think we are going to try and head back tomorrow a little later in the day and hope the afternoon swell treats us better than the morning swell today.
Floripa is a small island about a third to quarter the size of Oahu and I can tell that in the summer it would be a true paradise. However, the seasons seem to change here more than Hawaii, so at the moment it has been a little colder and rainier than perfect, but still very nice. Thankfully the weather has been improving since we arrived and I am going to chance it and say that we may not have any rain today.
The person that we are renting the house from is a former ASP pro surfer who has been awesome, taking us around the island to different surf spots. He has provided wetsuits so we dont have to rent, boards for us to use, and connections at local shops so that we can rent different boards when we go to other places by ourselves. That along with having Nilson here for a couple days when we first arrived has enabled us to see almost all of the island in a short time.
Before Nilson headed out we went to an all you can eat Brazilian BBQ and gorged for lunch. The food was amazing and they just keep brining you so much perfectly cooked meat. Different animals, different cuts, it just keeps coming. They try to throw you off by providing an awesome salad bar and dessert table, but the real draw is the meat. We had that for lunch and didnt really eat a full meal for another 24 hours.
Today we tried surfing at Jaoquina (spelling?) beach, but it was a little tougher than we expected. Because of the geography, the surfing here is pretty much all shore breaks. That means that there are constant waves only a short paddle from the beach. But that also means that it can be shallow and there are constant waves breaking on you trying to push you back to the beach. Trying to clear the break to get to open ocean can be hard. Today Marina and I both were not really able to get through the surf. After an hour or so of trying we decided to call it a day. However, as we had some food the weather and waves started to change and it looked a lot cleaner, little smaller, and more manageable. So I think we are going to try and head back tomorrow a little later in the day and hope the afternoon swell treats us better than the morning swell today.
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