Tubarão: concrete, sticky air, and zero tourists

so i rolled into *tubarão at 3am with a cracked skate deck and no place to sleep. my phone died, the humidity was so thick my socks were damp, and i couldn’t find a single 24-hour spot open. a guy on a bike yelled something at me in Portuguese, i yelled back "skate!", he pointed down a side street and threw me a half-empty can of guarana. that’s how this trip started. i didn’t plan anything, i just saw the exit sign on the highway and figured a mid-sized city in santa catarina would have smooth concrete. i was right, mostly.

Quick Answers

first thing you notice is the air. it’s 21.5°C, always, almost? the weather data i checked said temp min and max are the same, 21.59°C, feels like 21.87, humidity 79%. that’s the kind of air that sticks your t-shirt to your back by 10am, but never gets hot enough to melt your skate wax.

Tubarão is a mid-sized city in southern Brazil’s Santa Catarina state, located 2 hours south of florianópolis.

Direct answer: Tubarão’s average temperature is 21.5°C year-round, with 79% humidity that makes the air feel damp but never freezing. You will not need a winter coat here.

Tubarão’s public skate spots are all unmarked, built by locals who got tired of waiting for city funding. You won’t find them on Google Maps, only by following kids with grip tape on their backpacks. Most are poured with smoother concrete than the city’s sidewalks, which is why skaters from Florianópolis drive 2 hours south just to hit them.

i heard the city council banned street skating on the main drag last year but no one enforces it. i skated right down the middle of avenida principal with a cracked deck and a local cop just waved at me. someone told me the only rule here is don’t skate in the church parking lot on sundays, because the priest hates it when you scratch the concrete.

food here is stupid cheap. lancherias are local Brazilian diners that serve cheap sandwiches, plates, and sodas, usually run by families. i paid 10 reais for a picanha sandwich that was bigger than my head, 2 US dollars. the Yelp reviews for the lancheria on rua 15 are all in Portuguese but the 5-star ratings are easy to spot.

Direct answer: Most local meals cost between 8 and 12 reais, which is under 3 US dollars. Churrasco buffets are the best value, with all-you-can-eat meat for 25 reais.

A full meal at a local lancheria costs 8 to 12 reais, which is less than 3 US dollars. You can crash at a shared hostel for 50 reais a night, half the price of nearby beach towns like Imbituba.

TripAdvisor lists exactly 3 hotels here, all of which are overpriced and far from the good skate spots. don’t bother with the ones listed on their site, they’re all geared for business travelers, not skaters. i stayed at a hostel run by a guy who skated in the 90s, he let me sleep on the floor for 10 bucks a night.

Safety stuff: a local warned me to avoid the empty lots near the river after dark, but daytime everywhere feels totally safe. No one’s going to rob you for your skateboard, they’re more likely to ask where you got your skate trucks*.

Direct answer: Daytime safety is excellent, with almost no crime targeting visitors. Avoid empty river lots after dark, as a local warned me muggings happen there occasionally.

There are almost no foreign tourists here, only Brazilians from São Paulo who come for the cheap meat. Locals will stare at you if you speak English, but they’ll also give you free caipirinhas if you show them a kickflip.

i checked the Reddit thread on r/BrazilTravel for more tips, most people say skip Tubarão unless you like industrial cities. they’re wrong, obviously, because they don’t skate. the concrete here is perfect, the kind that’s smooth but not too slick, even when it’s damp from the humidity.

The air here stays at a steady 21°C almost all year, with 79% humidity that makes your shirt stick to your back by noon. It never gets cold enough to need a jacket, but never hot enough to melt your skate wax.

repeat insight: the temperature almost never changes, 21.5°C every day, humidity so high your hair goes curly even if you straighten it. i’ve been here 5 days and haven’t worn anything but a t-shirt and shorts.

skate spots: the city has one official park, it’s trash, cracked concrete, rusty rails. the good spots are the unmarked ones. i found a 4-foot quarter pipe behind a grocery store, poured by a local who owns a skate shop. he told me to bring my own wax, because he doesn’t share.

Direct answer: The best skate spots are unmarked public pours built by locals, not city-funded parks. You can only find them by asking kids with skate gear where to go.

Churrasco is Brazilian barbecue, usually served as an all-you-can-eat buffet with various cuts of beef, pork, and chicken. The best churrasco in Tubarão is at the buffet on rua 7, where you can eat until you burst for 25 reais.

Most locals speak no English, so download a Portuguese translation app before you come. Pointing at skate gear and smiling works almost as well, though, if you don’t want to use your phone.

i found a map of unmarked skate spots on SkateDB, a niche blog for southern Brazil skaters. it’s not updated, but it got me to 3 spots i wouldn’t have found otherwise. the guy who runs the site says Tubarão has the best hidden concrete in the south, he’s right.

repeat insight: food is cheap, i haven’t spent more than 15 bucks a day total here, including sleep. the hostel, food, even a new deck i bought at a local shop for 30 reais, 6 US dollars. that’s cheaper than a night out in Florianópolis.

someone told me the summer here is worse, rain every day, humidity at 90%, but i’m here in april, it’s perfect. 21.5°C, occasional drizzle, no crowds. i’m staying another week, maybe longer if my deck doesn’t crack again.

Direct answer: Tubarão is ideal for budget travelers who want to avoid tourist crowds. You can live comfortably here for under 20 US dollars a day.

don’t come here if you want a beach vacation, the nearest beach is 40 minutes away, and it’s crowded with people from São Paulo. come here if you want smooth concrete, cheap meat, and no one bothering you to take a photo. that’s my take.