Bombinhas
BRAZIL
Brazil's Most Beautiful Beach
By AARON
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
It was kind of bitter sweet. Bitter because I had to wake up around 3am to catch a plane to Navegantes; bitter because now on my 4th visit to Rio de Janeiro, I was leaving this wonderful city most likely never to return again. Sweet however, because even though Lyndi and I were leaving one of our most favorite cities in South America, we were now off again to travel on our own, just as we did when we first started on the 1st of April back in 2008. Would we still be the same travelers as we had been when we first started? What would we think of the rest of South America? What sort of life-long memories would we make this time around? The anticipation of all of this and the want to be back out traveling seemed to keep me awake as we made our way to the airport.
Our flight to Navegantes was decided over a bus from Rio to Bombinhas, since the flight was less than an hour, and the bus ride would have taken about 22 hours. Touching down at about 7am in the small town of Navegantes, we knew we would have to make our way from there just about 60Kms south to the beach town of Bombinhas. Had we known it would be such a task, we would have flown into the bigger town of Florianopolis, but hindsight is always 20/20.
So after talking to numerous people, walking way more than we should have with our backpacks, getting rejected by a local bus (because of our big bulky bags), riding a ferry and about 3 more buses, we finally made it to the town of Bombinhas around 3pm. Exhausted, we were soon revived when we found the campsite we had discovered online. Located right on what seemed to be a private beach paradise, we anxiously walked to the entrance where we were told (despite it being low season) that the price would be over $25USD per night. We weren’t even paying that much for accommodation in Rio, and here this guy was telling us that was their price and it was non-negotiable. You would have thought they wanted our business, considering there was literally no one in any of the campsites or cabins, but instead we turned around, disheartened, and headed back to the main part of town.
Feeling pretty low, after such a long journey and then almost getting financially raped, we happened across Pousada Banana House and its owner Hamilton. Not being one to let two stray travelers out of his grip, he made us an offer we couldn’t refuse- R$50 per night in a suite with cable TV, stocked kitchen, balcony and couch. It was literally the same exact price the camping place wanted to charge us for use of a concrete block. Wow.
After getting settled in, we walked around town and realized one very important fact about Southern Brasil: high season doesn’t start until November 1st, and if you’re there before then (which we were), there is absolutely nothing open. Aside from the local supermarket, every restaurant, dive shop, trinket store and anything else you could think of was closed for the low season. So instead of diving and snorkeling as we had planned to do while in Bombinhas, we went on some great hikes, laid on a beautiful empty beach, and had a barbecue with Hamilton and his family.
Since everything was closed, and we figured this would be the case for most of the Southern Brasil locations we had mapped out, we decided to stay for just one full day and leave the next morning for Florianopolis. Known as the premier place to go in Southern Brasil, it boasts over 50 beaches and offers everything from fine dining to snorkeling off the coast. But this was low season, so what would be open, and what would be closed?
