Prainha - Praia da Pinheira
Prainha or as the native say Praia da Gaucha Pelada (Nude Gaucha Beach) is the only one in the region with no constructions at all.

Its waves are quite violent, which attracts surfers. Thanks to its wild look and the fact that it can only be reached by foot trails it is generally isolated. During summer it is slightly more visited, but generally it has less visitors than its neighbors beaches Praia da Pinheira and Guarda do Embaú.

It has an extension of a little more than one km. and it is extremely beautiful. It is surrounded by hills with native jungle, two wonderful point of rocks and dunes.

The ideal way to reach Prainha from Pinheira is to follow the main road of Praia de Cima, going the opposite way of Praia de Baixo. Once reached the lower part of the hill it's necessary to go up for about 200mt and take a left on the first trail. Once in the end of the trail, a path is found where left has to be taken. A brief stop in the way to Prainha is to take a left on a small trail that appear a few meters after the path has been found. This 20mt trail ends on top of a big rock above Pinheira with an amazing view of Ponta do Papagaio, south of Florianópolis and the Pinheira Bay. Back to the path to Prainha, this makes a curve to the right and goes downhill with a view of the Vale da Utopia (Utopy Valley). At the end of the path a grass field and a fence are found. At this point Prainha can already be seen to the right. Its necessary to cross the fence and follow the trail until Prainha is reached on its northern point of rocks.

A way to return to Pinheira is by following back the trail described above. The other option is to make a complete walk around the hill reaching Guarda do Embaú. In this case its a good idea to visit the natural swimming pool located between Guarda and Prainha. Guarda can be reached by going to the southern point of rocks of Prainha and following the trail that starts there. Once in Guarda a bus can be taken to return to Pinheira.

Its important to take water while doing this walk because there are no places to buy it.

See the map below for details of the trails.