The Nice Guy’s Guide to Meeting Women in Florianopolis

Florianopolis is one of Brazil’s most touristic cities. Of course, it plays second fiddle to Rio de Janeiro (for good reason). But you can’t go wrong by checking out Floripa, as it’s locally known, for a week-end or two. I’ve been to Florianopolis twice. First time was early January 2015. Second time, April 2021

Florianopolis is the capital of Santa Catarina State. However, it’s only the 2nd largest city of the state. Joinville is the largest. This is an unique part of Brazil, which was colonized mostly by Germans, Italians, and other Europeans, rather than the Portuguese.

Locals live in Floripa due to high standard of living, low levels of crime, and the relaxed vibe.

Florianopolis Women

Most people in Florianopolis identify as white (80%). This usually means they have some European ancestry, but this is often combined with indigenous Brazilian genes.

Nevertheless, ride-sharing apps like 99Taxi is often very telling of the general population demographics. For example, in Floripa I often got white drivers, with German and Italian resemblance. While, in Salvador, black drivers are the norm, in Maceio brown guys, etc. So it’s fair enough to call Florianopolis women, mostly “white”.

The girls are attractive. Their personalities tend to be more reserved, typical of the South of the Brazil. This applies especially to the local girls. Nevertheless, since it’s a coastal holiday city, the women are reasonably friendly even if you get turned down. I had a local girl recently try her luck and open me at the supermarket. Another decent-looking hired gun was pushing me for a long conversation at her shop, hoping I’d ask her number.

Since it’s a warm beach city, the people tend to be warmer than inland. This applies especially to girls who are originally from other states in Brazil – similar to you, they’re also semi-“outsiders”.

With regards to the conservative local girls, the most attractive girls will often get married and have kids, thus exiting the dating market. Unless you’re only dating other tourists, there is less of a hook-up culture. So it is wrong to say that all Brazilian girls are “easy”, or that you don’t need game in Brazil. If you want uninhibited girls, and game at easy mode, go North to Manuas, Belem, Fortaleza, Natal, etc. But if you want to practice game and sharpen your skillset at a higher difficulty level, then stick to the South of Brazil. In the South, you get more of those “hard-to-get” vibes. Similar to Argentina, women like to be chased in Floripa, instead of simply hooking up left and right.

In Floripa, if you’re a tourist outside of high season, you should lower your standards a little to get some action. Currently in Autumn, it’s too quiet to get with the hottest girls. What further adds to this problem, is that nightlife is mostly shut due to the scamdemic.

In Summer, when it’s pumping with tourists and regular nightlife, it’s much easier. People are friendly since it’s a holiday city. But otherwise, pulling isn’t easy peasy in Florianopolis. Bring good game, as well as some portuguese knowledge (ideally).

Florianopolis Daygame

There aren’t nearly as many hot girls outside as in Curitiba. But at least, in Floripa you can relatively easily do one approach a day. In Northern Brazil, you’re lucky if you can find one hot girl to approach per day, since the girls are less hot than the South.

Villa Romana Shopping (previously known as Shopping Iguatemi) is a great large mall, but quiet in daytime during the week. It’s an upmarket and high quality environment, but you’d have to come during peak hours to get better chance to number-close.

A second mall option, is Floripa shopping. I went there one afternoon at around 5pm, deliberately with the intention to do some daygame. However, I was very disappointed. It’s a small mall, and there was zero daygame sets worth approaching. Thus, I definitely rate Villa Romana much higher than Floripa Shopping.

On my last day in Floripa, I went to Beiramar in the city-center. This is probably the best mall of the 3 for daygame. I regretted not going there earlier. It’s a little far away though, unless you live in downtown Florianopolis.

Mercado São Jorge, in the upmarket residential area Itacorubi, is another place where women like to hang out. Not necessarily single girls, but health-conscious women, because there’s organic food, gourmet coffee, juicing, etc. However, shopping malls like Villa Romana are much larger and better in general.

The best suggestion in Floripa is to meet girls while doing fun activities in the day, of which there are plenty e.g. hiking or the beaches. If you only stay in Lagoa da Conceição, or any other neighborhood, the whole day, you won’t get great daygame. But move around, do fun stuff, and you’ll notice more cute girls around you. No guarantee they’ll speak English though.

Centro

Other neighborhoods are not that impressive. However, Centro, is a very clean, pleasant neighborhood by Brazilian downtown standards. Normally the Centro area in Brazilian cities, like Sao Paulo, Rio, Salvador, and Vitoria is filled with crime, beggars, dirty streets, etc. But not in Floripa. Thus you could do a few approaches. Here and there you’ll see a hot girl, but it’s very sparse. So I would not want to live in Centro, unless I have a job there – in which case it’s not that bad.

This actually goes for Florianopolis as a whole. Spending January and December in Floripa is great if you can get a good place to stay. But the rest of the year, when the tourists leave, it’s less cool. Especially now with the communist nightlife shutdowns.

The other areas closer to centro, like Agronomia, are very residential, offering nothing special to tourists. Itacorubi and Santa Monica are inbetween Centro and Lagoa Da Conceicao. It’s a white-ish neighborhoods, and very residential, with not much going on.

Northern Florianopolis

In the North, you have the very expensive nightlife and beach neighborhood, Jurere. During the daytime, you really don’t need that beach, as you can go to the more central Praia Mole instead. The only reason to stay in Jurere is for the nightclubs over there.

Next to Jurere is Canasvieiras. It’s a cheaper regular neighborhood, with a nice beach, but not much more (during April). Of course, it could still be great fun mid-Summer. Below is a well-edited video which makes Canasvieiras seem cool for Summer.

Going further North-East, you find Ponta Das Canas and Praia Brava. Potentially great beaches IF the weather is good. Next to this area, is Ingleses. This is seemed like a lower class neighborhood, which I don’t recommend. There are two beaches: Praia dos Ingleses and Praia do Santinho. Praia dos Ingleses was nothing special.

Barra Da Lagoa

From there, drive down to the center of the island again, and check out Barra Da Lagoa. It’s a relatively small chilled neighborhood. Not bad at all. It’s surrounded by some of the best beaches of Floripa, such as Mole and Galheta, and Praia da Barra da Lagoa. It was surprisingly busy even in low season. If the sun is shining in April, beach will be nice and full. If it’s raining, beach will be empty.

Although I would consider to stay in Barra da Lagoa, I do prefer Lagoa da Conceição as a home base, since it has the best bars and restaurants.

Lagoa da Conceição

The neighborhoods of Floripa feels like small towns in different parts of the island. So Lagoa also has that small town feel. There’s good por kilo restaurants such as Lagoa Oriental and Marques da Lagoa. Good bars e.g. Layback and Bunker Beer culture. But no nightclubs. Lagoa da Conceição is a central place to stay. You are close to beaches like Praia Mole (although not walking distance). On the other hand, also close to the city part of Floripa in Centro.

Southern Florianopolis

The South of the island, is similar to the North, but without Jurere’s cool clubbing scene. There’s some great beaches in the South as well. This includes another Surfing beach (like Praia Mole): Praia Joaquina. The other famous activity is hiking the Lagoinha do Leste trail.

Florianopolis Pros and Cons

Negatives

• There is insane traffic to and from the best beaches on week-ends. For example, getting back in the afternoon from Barra da Lagoa or Praia Mole to Lagoa Da Conceicao can be a nightmare if you get stuck in the one-lane traffic. This is bad urban planning, they should’ve built another vehicle lane or two. On a Saturday evening I ended up walking 8km from Barra da Lagoa to Lagoa Da Conceicao, because walking was faster than the congested traffic. Renting a bike weekends is potentially a great idea, to avoid miles of walking during the congested traffic.
• Floripa is seasonal. It’s great during peak season. Awesome parties, packed beaches, great weather. But in low season there is rain, colder weather, emptier beaches, tourists leave, less parties, etc.
• The Public transport bus system isn’t that great. Thus, if you want convenience, you’re very dependent on ride-sharing apps. This can be expensive if you want to explore the nightlife or beaches in the North or South of the island. Try renting a car to overcome these distances.
• Each neighborhood is like a different small town, and the only way to reach another “neighborhood” is via car or bus.
• Floripa has a relatively small population. Thus unless it’s high season, there’s a much smaller dating pool than e.g. in Curitiba, Sao Paulo or Rio de Janeiro.
• English levels aren’t that great. Many girls you approach, e.g. tourists from other parts of Brazil, will not be able to speak English. Even though they would’ve been almost guaranteed number closes if you spoke the same language.

Positives

• Good surfing
• Meet hot women outside
• Adventure
• Beaches
• It’s a city where you can get any supplies. For example, I got my Camera fixed in the Centro part of Florianopolis, after it broke in Buzios.
• There are many cute girls on the dating apps
• Inexpensive food buffets
• Nice bars and clubs. I spent a night clubbing in Jurere in 2015, and it was great fun. There was no clubbing in 2021, but the bars were fun.

Things to do in Florianopolis

There’s a wide range of adventurous activities in Floripa. Thus boredom is unlikely, especially around Summer.

• Go hiking e.g. at Lagoinha Do Leste
• Rent a car and explore the island
• Clubbing in the north at Jurere
• Walk through Centro (e.g. go to the Central Market)
• Go swimming or tanning at Praia Mole while meeting a few hot girls
• Explore Lagoa da Conceicao: In high season, there’s some girls tanning next to the lagoon. But otherwise this is not really a swimming beach. It’s more for watersports, like kitesurfing.
• Explore all the other beaches, e.g. Praia da Galheta is walking distance right next to Praia Mole. It’s clothing-optional and quite scenic (the nature part).
• Do Sand Dune Surfing
• Barcrawl at Lagoa da Conceicao
• Take the best full island city tour – by bus (which I would’ve done if I didn’t already know the city).
• Surfing (at Praia Mole, Joaquina, Barra Da Lagoa, etc)
• Kayaking and SUP’ing in nature (on the island)

 

Florianopolis Nightlife

The North of Floripa – Jurere – is most famous for nightlife and clubbing. In Summer, some parties even extend into the daytime, as you can see in this video:

Lagoa da Conceicao has great bars for dates and social circle game. During Summer peak months, there were plenty of people standing in the streets and drinking in front of bars, as well. There are also bars next to the narrow street connecting Lagoa da Conceição with Barra da Lagoa.

Due to the scamdemic, I can’t judge the non-peak season nightlife. For peak season, I give a thumbs up. Below are some suggestions for nightlife action. However, due to these unusual circumstances, I could not visit all these places myself. In Lagoa, you’ll notice many other good bars next to the ones mentioned below.

Nightclubs and Bars

• Milk Club @ Jurere. Meet some local girls.
• Cafe de la Musique @ Jurere. Very expensive famous place to drink.
• Layback Park. Central drinking and streetfood hub @ Lagoa da Conceição.
• Bunker Beer Culture. Cool small bar to hang out and meet people @ Lagoa da Conceição.
• John Bull Brewpub. There wasn’t much going on in April 2021, but looks decent. @ Lagoa.
• Santa Club Lagoa. Another option close to John Bull.
• Tarsila – Bar de coquetéis. Haven’t been here myself, but they get impeccable reviews for their drinks / cocktails.
• P12 (“Parador 12”) – another good upmarket beach club @ Jurere
• O Araçá bar. At the back-end of Lagoa. A little isolated away from the rest of the bars.

The following video begins with landscapes, then transitions into the nightlife scenes of Jurere:

 

Where to stay in Floripa

I stayed in Gecko Hostel both in 2015 and 2021. It’s a fun place during high season. Because they help their guests attend parties by hooking you up with transport services which picks you up at the hostel, and takes you to a nightclub at Jurere.

I next went to stay in a private townhouse for a week. There were some great, cheap options available in April (low-season), but I suspect that in high season it will be very hard to find great private accommodation. Hostels also get 100% full in mid-Summer.

Another hostel I’d seriously consider is Selina Hostel. They are right across Praia Mole – one of the best beaches in Florianopolis. Selina is not close to the supermarkets and restaurants, but they do have their own bar and restaurant on the premises, which is also open to outsiders.

For a workout in Lagoa da Conceicao, there’s Access Academia (R$20) and Form Fitness Gym (R$30).

Online Dating In Floripa

Phone apps to use in Floripa include Tinder and Bumble. It depends where you swipe, but in the tourist area at Lagoa da Conceicao, women are quite hot. You’ll swipe right most of the time. This is like Rio de Janeiro‘s Ipanema, or Belo Horizonte‘s Savassi. Girls are more conservative, thus less eager to date tourists, unless you make a strong impression with a great profile. Even then, it’ll be more difficult than in Northern or central Brazil.

This problem can be overcome by registering a free profile on Victoria Milan. These girls specifically want to meet handsome Gringos. While Tinder girls in Floripa prefer local guys. It’s no secret that some Tinder girls would simply unmatch you if you say upfront: I’m a tourist only passing through Floripa during the next week or week-end. But, this won’t happen on VictoriaMilan.

This app is not necessarily as much for Floripa, as its a smaller city. But rather for the entire Brazil plus the rest of the world. These girls can be even more DTF than the plain jane’s of Tinder and Bumble.

 

Florianopolis Conclusion

Floripa is very busy and congested during the Summer peak season. You can barely walk outside due to the side-walk congestion. But during off-season, e.g. currently in April, it’s empty in these same streets. Weather starts deteriorating in April, with a chilly breeze and rain. Of course, this means May, June and July, will be even worse weather, and Floripa should best be avoided during Winter.

However, in spite of above, Floripa looks as much as a paradise as Rio de Janeiro. But Rio is better for foreign tourists who don’t speak Portuguese. In Floripa, you’ll stumble upon a few very hot Brazilian girls – whether they’ll speak English or not, that’s another question altogether.

Have you been to the South of Brazil, and do you like Florianopolis women? Comment below with your tips, or questions. Plus, share a link to this post wherever you can.