Coastal Line

Guarujá

One of the busiest of São Paulo's beaches, 87 kilometres from the capital, Guarujá is a town that is devoted to tourism and has dozens of beaches that stretch along its avenues and urban zones, or are to be found in less accessible locations. In the central area, the blue waters of the beaches of Pitangueiras and Astúrias have great appeal to the tourists. Amongst the most popular spots are the beaches of Enseada and Casado. On the open sea and not good for bathing, the Tombo beach is excellent for surfers, in contrast with tranquillity of Guaiúba, Prainha Branca and Iporanga where the fertile vegetation is enhanced by a waterfall and a freshwater swimming pool. Guarujá also has relics from history such as the Barra Grande Fortress built in the 16th century, the Forte Velho just 8 km from the centre and the Armação das Baleias, the first industrial plant set up in the state for the extraction of whale oil.

Northern Coastal Region

The beaches of São Paulo's northern coast are spread around fishing villages or small towns. Going north from Guarujá, the first town is Bertioga where an ancient fort still guards the memory of Hans Staden, a German adventurer seized by the Tupinambás in the middle of the 16th century who, after escaping being eaten by the cannibal Indians, wrote an account of his adventures together with a series of drawings believed to be the first ones depicting Brazil.

The next town is São Sebastião, separated from Bertioga by dozens of beaches lapped by the intensely blue sea. Founded at the end of the 16th century, the region contained numerous sugar-cane mills and coffee plantations. Nowadays, the region's economy is largely based on tourism, fish processing and being the state's second major port, on various port activities. A historic city, the centre of São Sebastião has many ancient buildings dating from the colonial period and many are registered as historical heritage. The town has 78 km of attractive countryside and waters both to the north and the south, with beaches such as Enseada, Cigarras, Guaecá, Toque-Toque Grande, Toque-Toque Pequeno, Paúba, Maresias, Boissucanga, Camburi, Barra do Sahy and Juquehy amongst so many others.

Just off São Sebastião is Ilhabela, the largest maritime island in Brazil with an area of almost 350,000 m2. Ilhabela has become increasingly well-known as a water-sports paradise where water is the magic word. There are 400 waterfalls flowing amongst the huge variety of trees and plants in the Ilhabela State Park and the sea attracts those keen on sailing, surfing, underwater fishing or simply swimming. The island has 150 km of coastline and beaches, some of which are still wild and accessible only by boat.

Further north before reaching the border with the state of Rio de Janeiro, Caraguatatuba and Ubatuba still retain the exuberant landscape that enticed the first discoverers. There, the beauty of dozens and dozens of beaches with their blue waters is in contrast with the mountain profile covered in the greenery of the Atlantic Forest. Amongst its well-preserved areas, the region has several parks, ecological stations and beaches such as Picinguaba, an old fishing village with a large and untouched green area.

Southern Coastal Region

The Juréia-Itatins Ecological Station on the southern coast of São Paulo was one of the first natural areas to be conserved in Brazil. Some 200 km from the state capital, in a highly indented section of coastline, the ecological station contains some of the main coastal ecosystems that existed in São Paulo before it became so intensely developed, continuing a systematic effort for conservation, research and environmental education. Amongst 80,000 hectares of vegetation, mostly primitive and untouched, there are forests emerging on sandbanks, mangroves, high-level fields, ciliary forests, wetlands and algae in the coastal area, away from the Atlantic Forest. This great variety of ecosystems is responsible for the amazing diversity of fauna and flora of the ecological station, one of the last refuges for several species of mammal such as the muriqui, the painted lynx and the tapir. The station's largest river is the Una do Prelado, also known as the Comprido, which flows for around 50 km through plains and is fed by several tributaries. Navigable along its entire length, the river is used by the native fishermen who live on its banks.

The Juréia forms part of the Lagamar, a region that stretches in a straight line over a 200 km band between the towns of Iguape and Cananéia on the southern coast of São Paulo, and Antonina and Paranaguá in the north of the state of Paraná. Considered as being one of the last unpolluted regions of the South Atlantic, Lagamar is formed by the hundreds of water courses that flow down the Serra do Mar and also by tidal rivers, lakes, mangroves and an inland sea protected by islands such as Cardoso, Comprida and Peças. In addition to its environmental importance, Lagamar is one of São Paulo's historical landmarks: it was there that the Portuguese dignitary, Martim Afonso de Souza landed in 1531 to begin the process of colonizing the state.

Of the various conservation units contained within Lagamar, one of the most important is the Island of Cardoso State Park, consisting of bays, hills, estuaries and several islands that both protect it and form it, parallel with the mainland, a series of channels washed by a mixture of fresh and salt water. Located in the municipality of Cananéia, 272 km from the capital, the Island of Cardoso is recognized by the National Union for the Protection of Nature as the world's third most important conservation unit in relation to primary productivity. Its channels are lined by mangroves that act as nursery ponds for many marine species.