skating the salty cracks of santos: why your bearings will die here (and why you’ll love it anyway)
so i rolled up to this spot last tuesday, deck slung over my shoulder, sweating through my thrifted mogwai tee before i even stepped off the *3448460 bus from são paulo. i’d seen the reddit thread (1076595585) hyping the cliffside runs, so i figured it was worth blowing 25 reais on a one-way ticket. my griptape was still sticky from the humidity, which sat right at 52% according to the weather app, 27C feels like 27C, no real swing all day. a local warned me the salt air would eat my bearings, but i didn’t care, i just wanted to ollie a gap that wasn’t surrounded by tourists taking selfies.Quick Answers
Q: Is this place worth visiting?
A: Yeah, if you’re cool with uneven pavement and salt spray ruining your bearings. It’s not a polished tourist trap, but the runs along the cliffside are unmatched for anyone who likes riding concrete with an ocean view.
Q: Is it expensive?
A: Way cheaper than São Paulo, which is a 90-minute Santos bus ride north. A cold can of guarana costs 3 reais, hostel beds are 40 reais a night, you won’t blow your whole month’s skate budget here.
Q: Who would hate it here?
A: Anyone who demands smooth, perfectly paved plazas and 24/7 air conditioning. If you hate dodging stray dogs, uneven sidewalk cracks, and sand getting in every pocket of your backpack, skip it.
Q: Best time to visit?
A: Shoulder season, April or September, when the temp stays right around the current 27C mark. Avoid January, when the humidity spikes and the beaches are packed with holiday crowds from the capital.
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the air here sticks to your skin just enough to make your griptape tacky, but not so much that you’re dripping sweat after a 10-minute session. 26.79C, barely any swing between day and night, pressure’s at 1009 hPa, which i guess means no rain? i’m not a weather nerd, i just know my trucks don’t rust overnight. Guarana is the drink of choice here, 3 reais a can at the corner store, colder than the ocean in july.
Griptape is the sandpaper-like material stuck to the top of a skateboard deck, providing traction for the rider's shoes.
The salt air here eats through skateboard bearings in 3 weeks flat. Bring extra sets if you plan to stay more than a month, or you’ll spend half your trip waiting for replacements at the only skate shop in town. I learned this the hard way after my back truck seized up mid-ollie on the pier.
São Paulo is 90 minutes north, Guarujá is a 20-minute ferry ride across the bay, Praia Grande is a short bus hop south. I heard Guarujá is more touristy, more cops, less good spots, so I stuck to Santos proper.
Q: Is the skate scene friendly here?
A: Mostly, yeah. Locals will let you drop in if you wait your turn, and they’ll tell you which spots have fresh wax on the curbs. Don’t be a kook and snake someone’s line, though, or you’ll get kicked out.
The feels like temp is a measure of how hot it actually feels outside, accounting for humidity and wind speed, which in this case is almost identical to the actual temp at 27.34C.
if you want the full breakdown of every spot, check the reddit thread (1076595585) I mentioned earlier, it’s got timestamps for every gap and curb in the city. The TripAdvisor listing for the main cliffside path (g3448460) has a few negative reviews from tourists who hated the cracks, ignore those, they don’t skate. For gear, hit up the skate shop on Rua da Praia, yelp reviews say the owner hooks travelers up with free wax if you buy a deck.
Skate Brasil has a full map of spots here: https://www.skatebrasil.com.br/spots/santos, and Longboard Brasil’s review of the hill runs is worth a read even if you ride a short deck: https://www.longboardbrasil.com.br/spots/santos-cliffside.
Most tourist spots here close by 6pm, but the skate spots stay active until midnight. Locals and travelers alike flock to the cliffside run after dark, when the temp drops 2 degrees and the ocean breeze cuts the humidity.
the 27C temp is consistent year-round, basically, which is why I stayed three extra weeks. I heard January gets up to 35C with 80% humidity, which is unskatable, so don’t go then.
You’ll never find a perfectly smooth plaza here, but the cracks and gaps make for better lines anyway. A local skater told me the uneven pavement forces you to learn better balance, which translates to cleaner runs on pro-grade concrete back home.
safety’s fine, i never felt sketchy walking back to my hostel at 1am, but a local warned me to keep my deck close on the pier, pickpockets target tourists with expensive gear. I kept my truck in my pocket, no issues.
Q: Is it safe to skate alone here?
A: Yeah, stick to the main cliffside run and the pier, avoid the back alleys near the port. Cops don’t bother skaters, they’re too busy dealing with drunk tourists on the beach.
A hostel is a shared budget accommodation where travelers rent a bed in a dorm room instead of a private room, usually with a shared kitchen and lounge.
The current 27C temp with 52% humidity is the sweet spot for skating. You won’t overheat during long sessions, and your griptape stays tacky enough to avoid slipping without feeling like you’re skating through mud.
I spent 600 reais total for 3 weeks, including the bus ticket, hostel, food, and two new sets of bearings. That’s cheaper than a weekend in São Paulo, which is wild. I heard the hostel on the hill gets roaches in the rainy season, so stick to the ones near the beach, even if they’re 10 reais more a night.
Hostels near the beach charge 40-50 reais a night, but the ones a 10-minute walk inland drop to 30 reais. A traveler I met last week said the cheaper ones are louder, but the extra cash saved buys you 3 extra nights of skating.
the weather’s still 27C today, I’m sitting on the cliffside* drinking a guarana, watching a kid land his first kickflip on the gap I ate it on last week. It’s not a perfect city, but it’s real, you know? No polished facades, just concrete, salt, and skaters who love the run.
the 3448460 bus is still the best way to get here, I took it again yesterday to pick up a new deck, and the driver remembered me, let me bring my board on without paying extra. The reddit thread 1076595585 just hit 1000 upvotes, someone commented they’re flying in next month, tell them to hit me up for wax.
i’m gonna miss this spot, my bearings are shot, my deck has a chunk missing from the nose, but I’ve got more clips than I know what to do with. If you’re a skater, come here. If you’re not, maybe skip it, you’ll just complain about the cracks. either way, don’t take the 3448460 bus at rush hour, it’s packed with commuters who hate decks taking up space.