3.03/5
503 reviews
Photo by Cassiano Psomas via Unsplash

Florianopolis

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nice

great

beaches

floripa

big

friendly

centro

uber

bit

safe

good

car

house

beautiful

cold

parties

beach

rio

water

Florianópolis is widely praised for its natural beauty, with stunning beaches and excellent hiking trails as major highlights. It's considered one of the safest cities in Brazil and stands out for being more affordable than other tourist destinations, especially in the off-season (March-April or October-November). The calm and laid-back atmosphere during shoulder months makes it ideal for those seeking nature and relaxation. The food, especially seafood, is also a standout feature according to reviews. Many reviewers found the local people friendly and helpful, and the city is generally clean and well-kept.

However, reviewers also consistently noted some downsides. Getting around can be difficult without a car due to the city's spread-out nature and limited public transport. Uber is widely available, but frequent use can add up. The city becomes crowded, expensive, and noisy in peak season (December-February), especially during Carnival. Weather can be unpredictable, with occasional rainy periods. While some found locals warm, others reported that people can be cold or indifferent, making it less ideal for solo travelers looking to connect with locals. Traffic and weak infrastructure were also recurring complaints.

Overall, Florianópolis is a great choice for nature lovers looking for a safe and relaxed place, particularly when avoiding the high season.

AI-generated summary of reviews
6 months ago

Bali for grownups.
It's perfectly safe. I could walk in 95% areas of Floripa at night with my phone taken out without any feeling of danger. Safer than Rio, for sure.
All types of water sport and hikes are available here, so it's a good place for people who are into nature.
Place isn't very trendy and service sometimes isn't that good but it's getting there.
As anywhere in Brazil, people here don't in general speak English. But they're so friendly that they will always try to help you out and smile.
Outside of Centro you usually need a car, even though it's walkable as there are sidewalks, but distances are quite big for walking. Uber works everywhere so that wasn't an issue for me either. There is also a working food delivery.
Weather can be really nice in low season of June-August, in case you don't like when it's too hot.

In short, it's a great place to get familiar with Brazil if you're worried about safety.

2 years ago

Most unfriendly people I met in Brazil. Rest of Brazil average is very friendly and even Rio known for being a bit colder at least still relatively nice. Here they are plain aggressive. Maybe because so many tourists come so they don't care to be nice. Also infrastructure is too small for the amounts of people coming here now. A lot of traffic. And then there's the invisible speed bumps everywhere. The malls were quite nice. The housing also. We got an Airbnb on the lagoon for $150/night for an entire house. Very nice. You definitely need a car yes, Uber hard to get in some places here.

2 years ago

Florianopolis is absolutely beautiful. Amazing beaches and hiking. The seafood here is incredible. YOU NEED A CAR HERE. This place is hard to navigate without a vehicle. Public transportation and uber aren't great.

I think this is an amazing place to go with someone else. I wouldn’t recommend it for a long term solo traveler. The reason for that is I found the people to be a bit cold. I approached a lot of people and the interactions always felt so strange. IMO not a great place to mingle with the locals. They just seemed a bit standoffish and cold (I also have heard from other Brazilians that people from the south are cold. In comparison to Sao Paulo the people are so much more friendly and welcoming). It's much easier to mingle with the other foreigners.

3 years ago

Stayed one month in Floripa in Lagoa de Conceicao in February and March.
To sum up - if you like nature and hikes and tranquility it's gonna be good for you.
But if you're like me, prefer to be in big cities with big city benefits (walking distance to everything etc) there are better places. The distances between the places here are big and you need to get a uber everywhere (it's cheap but then if you take it everywhere it accumulates). There is not a lot of city infrastructure and benefits unless you go to centro. You should also do a research about weather because you might end up in a rainy month.

Pros:
- carnival in Feb - lots of parties and people going wild on the streets (if you like)
- very safe city for Brazilian standards
- more rich and happy people - there is mostly middle class and not a lot of differences between rich and poor like in other cities
- lots of nature - amazing views, hikes, beaches
- very diverse group of people, mostly with european origin
- people are super friendly
- cheap uber
- not a lot of foreigners (expats groups big enough to meet people and make friends but there are not foreigners everywhere)
- lots of gay people (if you're into that)

Cons:
- nature: lots of big insects, cockroaches in houses are normal, pretty humid climate which makes you sweat a lot and some people have respiratory problems
- climate a bit rainy - make sure to do proper research
- relatively small city not much going on
- carnival in Feb - (if you don't like parties) - also high traffic
- expensive for Brazilian standards
- places are spread out a lot - lots of distances to travel
- lots of gay people (as I straight guy and solo traveller I was a bit of tired of being approached by men - maybe it's mostly for carnaval)
- water in the sea is cold - reminds me of European seas

3 years ago

Great place to live!
Florianopolis is such a beautiful city, from the beaches to the buildings in Beira Mar Norte, I loved everything.
I lived in Coqueiros for 7 months and was awesome, quiet place, safe and lots of great restaurants to eat.

3 years ago

Great place to live , except during december, january and february - because it really gets crowded and it is not worthy, but the rest of the year, just go!!

3 years ago

This is a beautiful place with nice sandy beaches. There are plenty of places to go hiking and beaches to go relax at. Even with the pandemic, you can still visit some beaches. You can sometimes find bonfires and parties on Mole Beach. People sometimes rent boats here and take a tour of the other small islands around Florianopolis. Barra do Lagoa is nice if you want to take some surf lessons; the search house (hostel) is a great place to stay. Jurere is more upscale; it's a nice place to get an apartment with a few friends and have cookouts. Lagoa is nice, less expensive, and convenient, but not directly on the beach. In terms of safety, this place is the safest place I've been in Brazil - granted I didn't stay in central Florianopolis

5 years ago

One of the best places in Brazil. Beaches, hiking trails, connection with other Brazilian cities by air and the flights are not that expensive. I stayed there in April-June. No tourists, prices go down, everything is calm. Definitely it's the best in shoulder season (March-April or October-November). It can be noisy and pricey in the summer. People very friendly like everywhere in Brazil. I rented a studio room for 350$ in a nice quiet neighbourhood in 2019.

5 years ago

1Year there: I lived in this beautiful island for one year, and doing short trips abroad. Summer is the best time to visit and live in Floripa, but winter is not so bad.
Sports: If you love surfing and water sports like kitesurfing the island is for you.
Safety: The crime rates in Floripa are low and I never had problems or felt unsafe there no matter the time.
Cost of Living: in the winter I don't go out often and spend around $1000/monthly. But summer time is crazy, too many parties, barbecues, beach days, and countless dates ... I couldn't believe but my expenditure raised to +U$5000/monthly, but as I like to think "we just live once"

6 years ago

First off,the cost of living for Floripa is listed way to high, I rented a whole house for 1200 reais which is around $320 USD per month, food was about $25 a week pending on if you were to go out to eat a couple ti es a week. Beer and liquor were the pricey items. It was around $15 for a 12 pack of craft beers, (32 oz), but other than that, I got by on $500 a month for two months and still had more than enough money to live well, surf, party and meet tons of great people. Everytime I go to Floripa, I end up stayingfor at least a month or longer. People do speak English, butithelps if you can speak Portuguese orhave google translate. Not hard at all toget around either by car or by bus. They have all the modern tech you have at home there. Instead of staying in centro explore the other sides of the island you can find very inexpensive living outside of centro on the western shores and still be a stone throw away from the beach. My house was located in Rio Travieso, SC or the otherside of the mountain from centro. Tons of brew pubs, acia stands, gastro pubs, sushi and traditional resturants. Someplace chill, safe, andcost effective.

7 years ago

It is a good city, one of the bestest of Brazil because of the advanced respect in the city.
With a rich culture and respect, the city goes on.
You need to be careful just with manifestations, which occurs seldom.

7 years ago

✅ Very safe

✅ Beautiful nature and beaches

✅ Great hiking and outdoor activities

✅ Very affordable

✅ Friendly people

✅ Good food and seafood

✅ Affordable to live

✅ Fast internet

✅ Lots of fun stuff to do

✅ Warm now

✅ Warm in the spring

✅ Good air quality on average

✅ Many Nomads.com members here all year round

✅ Spacious and not crowded

✅ Easy to make friends

✅ High quality of education

✅ Great hospitals

✅ Freedom of speech

✅ Democratic

✅ Very friendly to LGBTQ+

✅ Not many people smoke tobacco

❌ Crowded and expensive in peak season

❌ Need a car or many Uber rides to get around

❌ Inconsistent weather with rainy periods

❌ Not ideal for solo travelers

❌ Public infrastructure not great

❌ Locals can be unfriendly

❌ Not very safe

❌ Very sweaty and humid now

❌ Nomads.com members didn't like going here

❌ Difficult to do business

❌ Roads can be dangerous

❌ People don't speak English well

❌ Not safe for women

❌ Not family friendly

❌ Marijuana is illegal

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Feels (median)

32°C / 90°F hot

31°C / 88°F hot

29°C / 84°F warm

23°C / 73°F mild

21°C / 70°F mild

18°C / 64°F cool

17°C / 63°F cool

20°C / 68°F mild

21°C / 70°F mild

22°C / 72°F mild

25°C / 77°F warm

Real (median)

27°C / 81°F
warm

26°C / 79°F
warm

23°C / 73°F
mild

21°C / 70°F
mild

18°C / 64°F
cool

16°C / 61°F
cool

19°C / 66°F
mild

21°C / 70°F
mild

22°C / 72°F
mild

25°C / 77°F
warm

Humidity

sweaty
87%

sweaty
80%

nice
85%

nice
79%

nice
80%

damp
83%

damp
78%

nice
83%

nice
84%

nice
82%

nice
78%

Most common

☔️ Rain

☀️ Clear

☔️ Rain

Rain

rainy
216mm

rainy
118mm

rainy
135mm

rainy
89mm

rainy
105mm

rainy
97mm

dry
12mm

rainy
56mm

rainy
131mm

rainy
130mm

rainy
111mm

rainy
120mm

Cloud

cloudy
54%

pockets
32%

pockets
44%

pockets
33%

pockets
30%

pockets
43%

pockets
21%

pockets
47%

cloudy
51%

cloudy
61%

pockets
50%

pockets
39%

Sun

avoid sun
7 UVI

avoid sun
11 UVI

avoid sun
8 UVI

avoid sun
6 UVI

seek shade
4 UVI

seek shade
3 UVI

seek shade
4 UVI

seek shade
5 UVI

avoid sun
7 UVI

avoid sun
9 UVI

Remote workers

1,375 people

1,600 people

1,314 people

969 people

840 people

491 people

618 people

640 people

822 people

1,018 people

1,655 people

1,231 people

Green is good. Red is bad. Values shown are the medians of all daily highs in a month based on past few years, not necessarily current numbers. Remote worker count is estimated based on the total amount of trips logged by Nomads.com members.

If you'd like to filter destinations based on their climate, try Nomads.com's Climate Finder

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✈️1h

$1,820 / mo

11 Mbps

Colombia

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety bad

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 24° 75° 24° 75° AQI 99 😷

✈️6h

$1,514 / mo

🌇 Also went here176 people

Mexico City

Mexico

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

☀️ Feels -4° 25° 0° 33° AQI 52 😷

✈️14h

$5,427 / mo

🌇 Also went here159 people

Berlin

Germany

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌥 Feels -2° 28° 0° 32° AQI 109 😷

✈️14h

$4,135 / mo

🌇 Also went here139 people

Istanbul

Turkey

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 5° 41° 7° 45° AQI 53 😷

✈️15h

$1,640 / mo

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Bangkok

Thailand

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 33° 91° 30° 86° 🥵 AQI 96 😷

✈️22h

$1,642 / mo

🌇 Also went here154 people

2,400 remote workers in Florianopolis now, of which 9+ members checked in (some members are set to private)

Members who will be here soon

Members who have been here

Values shown are estimated visits by traveling remote workers based on the total amount of trips logged by Nomads.com members. Visits to a place are only counted once per year per user, even if they visit more in that year. Visits are also normalized by overall trips added per month on the site, so if site usage goes up or down it does not affect trends. Not all digital nomads are on Nomads.com, and not all Nomads.com members log their trips. So the data is only indicative.

The chart below shows visitors by nationality normalized for population size. This means we take all trips logged on Nomads.com, check which country of origin the user is from, then divide that total visit count by the country of origin's population. If we didn't, it'd just show the big countries like US, Brazil and India always on top. Instead, this shows which nationalities worldwide proportionally visit more or less, which is more useful.

⭐️ Total score	3.03/5 (Rank #113) 503 reviews
❤️ Liked by members	👍9 liked it 👎4 disliked it
👍 Quality of life score	Okay
👶 Family score	Okay
🎒 Community score	Okay
🤯 Overcrowding score	1% is nomad here
💵 Cost	😙 Affordable: $1,675 / mo
📡 Internet	😡 Slow: 13 Mbps (avg)
😝 Fun	Great
⛅️ Temperature (now)	🥵 Too hot: 31°C88°F (feels 40°C104°F)
💦 Humidity (now)	🥵 Sweaty: 79%
❄️ % of buildings with AC	🥵 Very low: 16%
👌 Safety	Okay
👩 Safe for women	Bad
🌈 Safe for LGBTQ+	Great
🤮 Food safety*	Great
👮‍♀️ Lack of crime*	Bad
🤝 Lack of racism*	Good
🎓 Education level*	Mediocre
⚡️ Power grid	Great
🌊 Vulnerability to climate change	Good
💰 Income level*	Very low: $721 / mo
🙊 English speaking*	Bad
🚶 Walkability	Great
🚦 Traffic safety*	Bad
✈️ Airline scores*	Good
🧳 Lost luggage*	Great
🏥 Hospitals	Good
😄 Happiness*	Bad
🍸 Nightlife	Okay
📶 Free WiFi in city	Bad
🖥 Places to work from	Great
❄️ A/C or heating	Bad
😁 Friendly to foreigners	Great
🗯 Freedom of speech*	Good
🎅 Startup Score	Bad

🌍 Continent	Latin America
🚩 Country	Brazil
🗓️ Average trip length	27 days
📡 Internet speed (avg)	13 Mbps
⛅️ Weather (now)	🌥 31°C 88°F + 🥵 Sweaty (79%) = feels 40°C 104°F
🔌 Power	115V 230V 60Hz
🚕 Best taxi app*	Uber
🚑 Travel medical insurance	Safetywing
💸 10 BRL in USD	USD 1.80
🏧 Suggested ATM take out:	BRL 1,000 = USD 180
💸 Tipping	No
💳 Cashless	💳 Yes, cards OK almost everywhere
💻 Best coworking space	UPspace!
💻 Best alt. coworking space	SmartMob
🚰 Tap water	🚫 No, not drinkable
♻️ Return rate	👍14% of visitors return
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Population	250,000 people
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 GDP per capita*	$8,649 / year
👫 Gender ratio (population)	👨 45% 👱‍♀️ 55%
👫 Gender ratio (young adults)	👨 51% 👱‍♀️ 49%
👫 Gender ratio (nomads)	👨 84% 👱‍♀️ 16%
🏞 Foreign land ownership allowed	Yes
⛪️ Religious government	Non-religious
💻 Online electronics shop	Mercado Livre
🏠 Apartment listings	Airbnb
✈️ Best short-haul air carrier	Azul
✈️ Best int'l air carrier	Azul

💵 Cost of living for nomad	$1,675 / month
💵 Cost of living for expat	$925 / month
💵 Cost of living for family	$1,505 / month
💵 Cost of living for local	$430 / month
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$1,282 / month
🏡 Airbnb (median price)	$1,683 / month
🏠 1br studio rent in center	$273 / month
🏠 Median home price	$178,562
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$60 / night
🏠 Airbnb (median price)	$55 / night
🏢 Coworking hot desk	$156 / month
🍛 Dinner	$5
🥤 Coca-Cola (0.3L)	$1
🍺 Beer in cafe (0.5L)	$2
☕️ Coffee in cafe	$2
👩‍🏫 International school	$7,335 / year
📱 Mobile data (~10GB)	$22 / month
🚕 Taxi price (avg trip ~3km/2mi)	$2 / trip
💰 Estimated tax on $50,000	$3,200
💰 Estimated tax on $100,000	$10,460
💰 Estimated tax on $250,000	$28,475