What cities have the best standards of living in Santa Catarina?

02/09/23 @john8670.  As it happens, we were in Florianópolis for the first time just last week.  My husband was taking a civil service exam there, and since we may move there if he's selected, we stayed a few days to get to know the place a little.

We liked it a lot, more, quite frankly, than I expected.  It's beautiful, clean, has a lot of things to see and do, a lot of very nice beaches and parks.  The island is a lot bigger than I expected, with a lot of conservation land in the mountains.  We'll definitely move there if the offer is right.

@abthree That's awesome I bet your husband gets it! Good timing too it's good to hear from someone that was there recently.

02/10/23 @abthree That's awesome I bet your husband gets it! Good timing too it's good to hear from someone that was there recently.
-@john8670

Thanks -- we're certainly hopeful.  He takes the first part of the bar exam next month and there are some more civil service exams coming up -- many were postponed because of the pandemic, and the hiring freeze before every presidential election -- so he has several strings to his bow.  Private practice or corporate work are also not out of the question.

Balneario Camboriu: it's clean, safe, and extremely walkable.  There's a constant 24x7 cleaning crew it seems in the Av Atlantica and Av Brasil areas.  I barely use our car here because again, it's so walkable. With respect to security there's a significant police presence, and no one seems to have reservations about walking around with mobile phones or jewelry which can be a bad idea in many other places.

There's a lot to do. Restaurants, bars, clubs, shopping, the beach. Around tourist season there's always some free events taking place at the beach. This season there was a summer kick off concert with the band Melim as the headline act, as an example. Its also relatively close to most other major cities in SC (Florianopolis & Blumenau are both about a 90 minute drive).

There is not much of an expat community, but I know a few folks. Some areas are prone to flooding, FYI.  Real estate is expensive as well.

@BRBC Can you get away with not having a car there at all? Are grocery stores, doctors offices, convenient stores, pharmacies, employers all within walking / biking distance? Also do they have a good bus terminal that can take you to São Paulo nearby? Is Ubber and Lyft pretty solid there too?

You don't need a car at all.  For the very occasional 'long' trip, I get an uber (over 1.5km; I'm a wimp).  Having said that, I live in the central beach area.  If you live far north or far south that may change, but seriously I doubt it.  It can almost certainly be a car-free city. 

I walk to the grocery store, restaurants, gym, BJJ gym, beach, and that's basically everywhere I go regularly.  I can also walk to some government offices (I walked to get my license, ironically).

Also, everything delivers.  When I don't feel like going out I get groceries delivered, dog food, restaurant food, water (20L bottles) etc..

The only reason we have a car, is we have another place in a different city in SC.  Getting Ubers there are difficult to come across because the city has a toll when entering which applies to non-residents, so uber drivers get killed with toll fees when entering (Bombinhas).  Otherwise we'd only take busses for longer trips or Uber for shorter trips, or walk for day-today activities.

@BRBC thanks! Looks like a pretty solid location overall. Close to Bombinhas one of the prettiest beaches in Brazil, Blemenue, Jaragua do Sul Pomerode Florinapolis etc

@john8670 You all have convinced me to seriously consider BC. I like a bit more of a rural life but the “city” does have its convenience. I'm hoping on my next Brazil trip l can get to visit. It's going to be a short trip so l will just have to see how it goes.

@BRBC , happy new year! so would you say that for someone wanting to open a chiropractic practic, that Balneário Camboriu  is better over all than centro in florianopolis?

@BRBC How about schools for kids?

@drnelsonsantosdc

Sorry I missed your question. Unfortunately I can't say which city is best.  BC has a population of only 150k people year round.  A quick google search on Floripa shows about 500k, but that was 2020 data.  So based on that Floripa is a larger market.  What you may want to do is compare that to the number of existing chiropractic firms in business in both areas and figure the approximate Chiropractic firms per capita.

@oluomoadebayo

Unfortunately I don't have school aged children, so I wouldn't be able to say for certain. I just googled "balneario camboriu escolas" and a lot of results had good google reviews.  That may be a place to start researching.. Sorry I can't be of more help.

@BRBC Do you know the temperature difference and cost difference compared to Florianopolis? Any idea on cost of rent?

@jasonlovesdogs

The temperature should be almost exactly the same.  Its a 90 minute drive between the cities, so we're not talking about a significant enough difference that average climate would be affected.

Floripa:

https://weatherspark.com/y/30020/Average-Weather-in-Florian%C3%B3polis-Brazil-Year-Round

BC:

https://weatherspark.com/y/30044/Average-Weather-in-Balne%C3%A1rio-Cambori%C3%BA-Brazil-Year-Round

BC should be more expensive with respect to real estate then Floripa.  They're both in the top 10 cities with the highest cost per Sq/M in Brazil.  If you want to get an idea of rents, search a site like vivareal or imovelweb. There is something in almost every price range in both cities.  Other cost-of-living items should be similar or relative to other areas of Brazil.  For instance, I have not found food, electricity etc.. to be much more here than it is anywhere else, for the most part.

Some items to add.. Floripa will have a better airport.  The BC airport is NVT and it only has direct flights to Rio and Sao Paulo, so almost every flight will be a connection.  That said I believe they're adding a direct flight to Buenos Aires.

Floripa is much more spread out, and therefore generally less walkable, although that may not be true of all areas, and will depend on your lifestyle....  The traffic in summer is pretty bad.  You definitely would be best off avoiding cars and would be best off with a scooter/motorcycle to drive between/around the cars. BC is definitely more drivable and more walkable.

Floripa has more nature/hiking stuff to do than BC.

Before making any decision, I would really suggest getting an airbnb in both cities for a month, back to back and see what you think.  I think both are great choices for living in SC.

Hi,

I have been reading and reading people posts about the ocean water in Santa Catarina. Could it be true that the water is over polluted with sewage ? Have you heard / read this ? The more I read the more I hear people getting extremely sick from the ocean. I guess there is a blue flag that's used as an advisory for safe ocean water swimming.. This has me completely sorry to say “crapped out” No phun intended… What do you think ? Do you know of any government posts about this ?

Thanks,

Mark

That's a bullshit the water is very clean I live in near florianopolis

@markjimenez Here is the website: https://balneabilidade.ima.sc.gov.br/

For those of you that are interested in the beautiful region of Ubatuba:

[link under review]

    Hi,
I have been reading and reading people posts about the ocean water in Santa Catarina.     -@markjimenez

Hello Mark, I would love to know where you have been reading this and if possible, maybe you could share some links to your information on poopoo water around Brazil. After my own career in science/medicine in the USA, I have taught a lot of college-level biology, environmental science, etc., and have taken and tested numerous water samples myself, for a wide variety of things, in my own US college lab from about Buzios to Praia Grande, not as far south as  Santa Catarina. I have yet to find anything out of the norm. Thanks

@rraypo I posted a few links in my reply above.  They are fairly easy to find with a Google search.  There are always going to be reasons for water quality warnings for beach areas, be it caused by storm runoff, sewage treatment issues, etc. 

Here is a link for the Los Angeles area: http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/phcomm … rades.cfm/

05/01/24 I can't think of a coastal city or city on a major river in Brazil that doesn't have this problem.  For as long as there have been municipal sewer systems, most cities built sewer outfalls that pumped the waste into deep water with at first no, and later minimal, treatment.  And in very old cases there are still outfalls right at the shore, not even farther out.  Treatment plants came later, and struggle to keep up.  The deceptive part is that you don't have to see sewage in the water for it to be contaminated:  it can look pristine and still have very high bacteria levels.

The red flags on the map that @mikehunter posted in Post #19 above tells the story for the whole SC coast:  note how the red flags tend to cluster by the beaches closest to large concentrations of population.  Undoubtedly the mix of flags changes day to day, with wind patterns, tides, currents, shore configuration, and rainfall, so checking it before every beach trip wouldn't be a bad idea. 

Thanks, @mikehunter!  As we consider moving, I've added looking for this kind of data to my To-Do list for every location we seriously consider.

@markjimenez

You do realise that, for most of the year, the sea can be really cold in S Brazil, compared to the N and NE? Even further north than SC, in Rio for example...

@Peter Itamaraca More information about water temperatures can be found here: https://seatemperature.info/brazil-wate … ature.html

and here: https://www.surf-forecast.com/breaks/Pr … st/six_day

Being from California, I've never been big on swimming in the ocean.  It's just too cold here, no matter the time of year.  But it is still nice to go to the beach and hang out.

Does anyone know why sometimes when I post links I get "link under review"?  Is it if you post 2 links in one post? 

  05/02/24  Does anyone know why sometimes when I post links I get "link under review"?  Is it if you post 2 links in one post? 
   

    -@mikehunter

Usually that happens with new posters, whose links are reviewed by Moderators before they are allowed to appear.   That certainly would not apply to you.  There may be something about the link itself that tripped an alarm. 

Yeah, seems hit or miss.  Here is the link I tried to post yesterday and is under review.  If it posts, then there is a limit on the number of links you can put in one post:

https://qualipraia.cetesb.sp.gov.br/qua … tuba.phtml

Edit: Yeah, apparently you can only post 1 url per post.

@rraypo First I want to thank you for responding to my post. If I have offended anyone, I promise that was not my intention. My wife and I visited Floripa last year and LOVED it. We are headed back in March. We love it there so much. We are really considering on buying an apartment/condo in Bombinhas. And the more I read posts/comments. The more I read about people getting sick from the ocean water. And I read some writings about sewage. I was real sad. But then I started looking into posts about Blue Flag beaches and now I am way more happier.

RRAYPO, Question cause you do know a lot about SC. Do you recommend any areas that are similar to Bombinhas ? I really fell in love with photos and cant wait to visit the Canto Grande area. Bombas and Mariscal appear to be more my liking...

Any buying property ? Any recommendations ? How do i know I wont get screwed ? Do i need to hire a lawyer ?

Thank you,

Mark

@Peter Itamaraca Hi Peter. I have been reading and I am thankful to have read about Blue Flag posting for beaches. Peter do live in Santa Catarina ? If you do would you mind If I ask questions ?

Thx,

Mark

@mikehunter THANKS MIKE !!! AWESOME

@abthree - We are still planning on moving to Bombinhas. Unless we can find somewhere nicer in SC. A bit cheaper wouldn't be bad as well..

    @Peter Itamaraca Hi Peter. I have been reading and I am thankful to have read about Blue Flag posting for beaches. Peter do live in Santa Catarina ? If you do would you mind If I ask questions ?
Thx,
Mark
   

    -@markjimenez

Hi Mark - No, I live on the island of Itamaracá in Pernambuco, NE Brazil.

@Werner Wegener ? - clear water doesn't mean it's not contaminated.

@Peter Itamaraca ok thx