Colonised by the Portuguese, São Francisco do Sul is the third oldest city in Brazil. Its charm is due to the Portuguese-style colonial houses that frame the narrow alleyways of the historic center, listed by the National Historic and Artistic Heritage (IPHAN). Besides history, traditions and the port, São Francisco do Sul has beautiful beaches, sought after by thousands of tourists every summer.

São Francisco do Sul has 500 years of history, which marks its streets, houses, churches, sambaquis, alleys and alleyways. Meet the Mother Church Nossa Senhora da Graça, built in 1699, by slaves, militiamen and local people, with mortar made of a mixture of lime, shell, sand and whale oil. Get to know cariocas (water spouts), the Historical Museum, the National Museum of the Sea, unique in Brazil and that houses copies and regional replicas of Brazilian coastal vessels, as well as instruments, documents, naval guidance equipment, maps, thumbnails, models.

At the time of discovery, the Carijó Indians gave the island the name of Babitonga, whose translation means land in the form of a bat. Today, this denomination identifies the great bay of calm waters that advances towards the West, until Rio Cachoeira, in Joinville.

Babitonga is the largest navigable bay in the state of Santa Catarina. Extending in the Northeast/Southwest direction, it is sheltered from the South wind, making its waters largely democratic; you can navigate the bay in powerful boats, in quiet sailboats and in small canoes. The harbour and the center of the city, with its historic house, are just at the entrance after the bar has passed. At the bottom of the bay, after passing by 24 islands, one arrives to Lagoa de Saguaçu and Rio Cachoeira, a path traveled by the immigrants who founded Joinville.