Shipwrecked
Praia de Naufragados is the southernmost beach in Florianópolis, 43 km from the city center. A three-kilometer trail separates the beach from the road, where there are waterfalls and ruins of a flour mill. Access can also be done by taking a boat from Caieira da Barra do Sul beach to the point of Naufragados. Towards the south, near Ponta dos Naufragados, you can see the Island of Araçatuba, where the Fortaleza de Nossa Senhora da Conceição de Araçatuba was built in 1742, today forming part of the city of Palhoça.
The reason for the name Naufragados is not known for sure, but there are two hypotheses: One refers to the sinking of one of the vessels of Juan Díaz de Solís' expedition, which occurred there in April 1516, while seeking shelter in the South Bay. Aleixo Garcia and around ten other crew members survived this shipwreck, having lived for a few years among the Carijós Indians who inhabited that coast. Another version attributes this name to the sinking of two medium-sized vessels used by the Portuguese, right in front of the beach, in 1753. Following orders from the Portuguese Court, around 250 Azorean settlers were traveling to Rio Grande do Sul when the accident occurred there. . Only 77 settlers escaped, some of whom stayed on the Island and others went to Laguna and Rio Grande do Sul.
