WorldBrazil › Santa Catarina › Praia da Vila

Praia da Vila 54.2

#3688 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇧🇷 Brazil · Santa Catarina · near Imbituba

Works almost every day, wind is the enemy here, no off season.

Works all yearIntermediate
Praia da Vila, Brazil
Photo: User:Laerte Lima · CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Surf score54.2 /100
Surfable days100% of the year
Clean days8% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell14% period 11 s+
Typical size1.2 m 4.1 ft median
Water21°C a 2 mm shorty

Best time to surf Praia da Vila

The best time to surf Praia da Vila is May, June, July. It rarely works. In May the water sits around 21°C, so pack a 2 mm shorty, and the typical wave is 1.3 m. The nearest airport is FLN (65 km) and the nearest town is Imbituba (1 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan100%2%1.2 m25°Cboardies
Feb100%5%1.1 m26°Cboardies
Mar100%12%1.2 m25°Cvest
Apr100%11%1.3 m23°Cvest
May99%22%1.3 m21°C2mm
Jun100%18%1.2 m18°C3/2
Jul100%16%1.3 m16°C3/2
Aug100%7%1.3 m17°C3/2
Sep100%5%1.4 m18°C3/2
Oct100%3%1.4 m19°C3/2
Nov100%4%1.3 m20°C2mm
Dec100%3%1.2 m23°Cvest

What is under Praia da Vila

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor falls away into open ocean, 1,121 m, deep right up to the door, so swell arrives with its energy intact. Alongside the bank the survey finds a channel, 1660 m against 1121 m, deep enough to bend swell onto one peak instead of spreading it along the beach.

Depth 8 km out1121 m
Depth 4 km out413 m
Channel beside it1660 m

Measured, not estimated: NOAA ETOPO 2022 global relief at 15 arc-seconds, about 460 m per cell, sampled along this spot’s own swell window. At that scale the survey sees passes and channels; it cannot see a reef ledge, so nothing here is said about how the wave breaks.

Why 54.2

Seven parts, each normalised 0 to 1 and multiplied by its weight; the sum is scaled so the best spot in the world scores 100. Wave quality and what the spot does on its best days carry more than half of it, which is what separates this from a ranking of where the water is warm.

Wave quality 34.7%
12.3
Best days 22.4%
9.4
Clean days 18.4%
3.5
Consistency 10.2%
10.2
Season spread 4.1%
4.1
Water comfort 6.1%
3.4
Access 4.1%
3.9

The detail

Faces 100° with 56% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 60% of days. Mean peak period 8.9 s. Days over 3 m: 0%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 1.9 m, with a peak period of 11 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 43%. Months that work: 12 of 12. Coordinates -28.241, -48.654 (OpenStreetMap).

What it costs to be here

Living here
€1,090/ month
typically €959 – €1,220
Rent, one bedroom€570
Groceries€230
Eating out€130
Getting around€75
Phone + internet€80
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€2,120/ month
typically €1,870 – €2,370
Somewhere to stay€1,250
Eating out€445
Car, transfers, fuel€290
Data + extras€135
Short stays, eating out, a car or transfers.
49% cheaper if you live here instead of visiting

Estimate: World Bank PPP price level for Brazil (2025, United States = 1.00) applied to a fixed surfer basket, then adjusted for how remote the spot is. Your own number moves with the season and how you live.

Our own project · Sumba, Indonesia
Own a cabin on a surf coast in Sumba

Sumba has eight spots in this ranking, the best of them inside the world top 50. A cabin is €11,500. The land it sits on is separate, from €6,500 (€9,950 oceanfront), on an 80-year lease that extends at the end. Water, septic and electricity are another €6,500, and furniture is on top, so a finished cabin lands around €28,000 plus the land, payable in instalments.

Eco Beach City is run by the same people as SurfRanking, so treat this as our own advert, not a recommendation. It is an off-plan property in Indonesia: take your own legal and financial advice before paying anything.

Spots nearby

Bronze Beach🇿🇦 South Africa · score 64.4Angras Juntas left🇳🇦 Namibia · score 65.0Garbanzo🇧🇸 The Bahamas · score 65.6Big Eds🇺🇸 United States of America · score 64.6
Compare Praia da Vila with 5,700 other spots
Filters by month, level and water, map, side by side comparison and a trip planner.
Open the interactive profileMore spots good in May