Spearfishing in Southern Brazil
The South is Brazil's other spearfishing: from São Francisco do Sul, in northern Santa Catarina, to Torres, in Rio Grande do Sul, the coast is granite and basalt, the water runs 15–24 °C, and what rules visibility is the wind — a northerly cleans it, a southerly dirties it.
The window is summer, with a dead south swell; winter shuts the exposed beaches and brings the southern right whale. This guide sorts out the federal licence, Santa Catarina's 50 m strip and the Rio Grande do Sul statute 15.223/2018, and links to each city's forecast.
Open the flagship — Arraial do Cabo →Season, water and visibility
Bombinhas is the visibility ceiling: 8–20 m, ~15–20 m in summer and ~8–10 m in winter. Florianópolis gives 8–18 m; Porto Belo and Governador Celso Ramos, 6–15 m; Balneário Camboriú, Garopaba, Imbituba and Laguna, 5–12 m; Torres only 3–8 m. Water drops from 18–24 °C in northern Santa Catarina to 15–21 °C at Torres. The tide is micro and meteorological: with a settled southerly the water shuts down for one to three days, and the good day tends to be a flooding tide with north wind.
Cities and spot types
- Granite rock coast with a shore entry — Bombinhas, Porto Belo, Governador Celso Ramos, Penha, Barra Velha, Itapema and the wild beaches south of Balneário Camboriú.
- Islands and lajes by boat — Ilha do Xavier and Moleques do Norte (Florianópolis), Ilhas Itacolomi (Barra Velha), the Tamboretes archipelago ~11 km off Balneário Barra do Sul, Ilha da Paz (São Francisco do Sul).
- Gaúcho basalt — Torres is the only rock coast in Rio Grande do Sul (Parque da Guarita, Praia da Cal, Molhes do Mampituba, Parcel de Torres); the rest of the state's shore is sand and murky water.
Licence and species
The amateur licence is federal and identical in both states: Portaria SAP/MAPA nº 616/2022, art. 17 makes you carry it in the water, and Decreto nº 8.425/2015, art. 3º §1º II exempts from the register only those fishing «com linha de mão ou caniço simples» — a speargun is not in that exception. Lobster cannot be taken by diving: Portaria SAP/MAPA nº 221/2021, art. 6º III bans «mergulho de qualquer natureza» — a method ban, all year. And the threatened-species list changed on 28/04/2026, when Portaria GM/MMA nº 1.667/2026 published the new national list and revoked Portaria MMA nº 445/2014: check the list in force before you shoot.
Santa Catarina: the 50 m strip and the buoy
The Santa Catarina rule is narrower than it is usually told. IN MMA nº 21/2005, as amended by IN MMA nº 41/2005, art. 4º bans spearfishing «nas áreas de praias, em uma faixa de cinqüenta metros, iniciando-se na linha de baixa-mar, incluindo as praias das ilhas, e nos primeiros cinqüenta metros dos costões rochosos contíguos às praias» — a costão with no adjoining beach (isolated laje, parcel, headland without sand) is not closed by that article. Art. 5º makes the buoy mandatory statewide, and that is not a federal requirement; art. 6º sets the Norte, Central and Sul areas, «definidas nos mapas» annexed, and only Área Norte has coordinates enough to be drawn. Decreto nº 99.142/1990, art. 4º further bans taking juveniles of any species between 27°00'S and 27°30'S, from the shore to meridian 48°18'W — the box covering Bombinhas, Porto Belo, Itapema and Governador Celso Ramos.
Rio Grande do Sul: Torres and Lei 15.223/2018
In Rio Grande do Sul spearfishing is expressly allowed by state statute, with a closed gear list. Lei estadual nº 15.223 of 05/09/2018, art. 6º §4º: «Na pesca amadora só será permitida utilização de linha de mão, puçá, caniço simples, caniço com molinete ou carretilha, anzóis simples, iscas naturais ou artificiais, bem como equipamentos de pesca subaquática, vedada a utilização de aparelhos de respiração artificial». The speargun is inside; breathing apparatus is outside — breath-hold and nothing else. The scope includes the sea (art. 1º sole paragraph), and the caveat is honest: the text was read in a third-party consolidation. At Torres, the Parque Estadual de Itapeva and the Refúgio da Ilha dos Lobos, 1–2 km away, are no-take under Lei nº 9.985/2000.
Zones: Arvoredo, Baleia Franca and ports
The zone that matters most is the REBIO Marinha do Arvoredo — the Arvoredo, Galés and Deserta islands, facing Bombinhas: no-take under Lei nº 9.985/2000. The ban ends at the polygon: the Zona de Amortecimento described as a ~50 km belt is only a proposal (Portaria ICMBio nº 91/2014, art. 3º). To the south, the APA da Baleia Franca bans amateur fishing within 500 m of ilha do Batuta and parcel do Ouvidor (norma 56) and any fishing within 100 m of the Laje do Campo Bom (norma 20). There are no-take state parks against the cities (Acaraí, Serra do Tabuleiro), and the NPCP-SC bans diving in the access channels, evolution basins and adjacent areas of the commercial ports (São Francisco do Sul, Itajaí-Açu, Imbituba); its wider «port area and shipping routes» formula is worded as a recommendation, not as a ban. Survey coverage is partial: outside the known zones the rules are not confirmed.
Safety: cold, current and ressaca
The real risks here are cold and ressaca, not sharks: Torres calls for 5 mm, and the current on the tip of Cabo de Santa Marta, at Laguna, is strong. Southerly seas run the calendar — in most open-coast cities the bad sector sits between 150° and 220°; dive only in small seas. The buoy is mandatory in Santa Catarina (IN MMA 21/2005, art. 5º) and it is what separates you from the boat and schooner traffic in season. In the safra da tainha, May to July, municipal statutes keep leisure craft away from beaches and costões — an approach restriction, not a ban on taking fish; but at Florianópolis the red flag at the fishing rancho bars «a operação de mergulho amador» that day (Lei 4.601/1995, art. 5º §8º + art. 2º, as amended by Lei nº 11.142/2024).
Where to dive, by region
South Coast
Brazil's subtropical south (Santa Catarina, Rio Grande do Sul) — cooler water, rock points and islands that open in the summer calms.
- Torres — The only basalt headland coast in Rio Grande do Sul: the Parque da Guarita walls and Praia da Cal give shore entries the rest of the state's sandy, murky coast lacks.
- São Francisco do Sul — An island at the far north of Santa Catarina with granite headlands and coves at Praia da Enseada and Praia Grande.
- Balneário Camboriú — The vertical city of the Santa Catarina coast; hunting is on the headlands of the wild beaches to the south — Laranjeiras, Taquaras, Taquarinhas, Praia do Pinho — away from the murky urban front.
- Bombinhas — Santa Catarina's dive capital: a granite peninsula with crystal water, headlands and sheltered coves at Bombas, Sepultura, Mariscal and Canto Grande.
- Porto Belo — A sheltered bay north of the Bombinhas peninsula, with granite headlands and Porto Belo Island offshore.
- Governador Celso Ramos — A granite-headland peninsula north of Florianópolis, with the coves of Palmas, Ganchos and Armação da Piedade.
- Florianópolis — Santa Catarina island is the heart of southern spearfishing: headlands on the east beaches (Mole, Galheta, Lagoinha do Leste) and Ilha do Xavier off Praia Mole, one of the most-cited spots, 5–18 m.
- Garopaba — A fishing-and-surf village south of Florianópolis, with granite headlands at Silveira, Ferrugem and Praia do Ouvidor.
- Imbituba — A port and historic whaling capital south of Garopaba; hunting is on the headlands of Praia do Rosa, Ibiraquera and Vila.
- Laguna — The southernmost rocky point of Santa Catarina, at Cabo de Santa Marta and its lighthouse — the subtropical convergence edge, with a weak seasonal upwelling that occasionally clears and cools the water.
- Balneário Barra do Sul — The only launching base for northern Santa Catarina's outer islands: Ilha Feia, Ilha das Araras, Ilha do Monteiro and the Tamboretes archipelago, some 11 km out.
- Barra Velha — A real headland town: Costão dos Náufragos, Costão do Grant, Pedras Brancas e Negras — all shore entry — plus the Itacolomi islands some 6 km out.
- Penha — A peninsula full of headlands — São Roque, Praia Vermelha, Poá, Paciência — plus Ilha Feia 4 km out, the municipality's only island.
- Itapema — Itapema closes the 18 km between Balneário Camboriú and Porto Belo.
- Palhoça — The city point sits at Praia da Pinheira, the municipality's real sea front — the town centre lies deep inside the South Bay in turbid water.
- Itajaí — A port city at the mouth of the Itajaí-Açu river: the river plume and port traffic keep the northern half of the municipality turbid — divers working the Pallas wreck inside the channel reported strong current and zero visibility.
Paraná Coast
The Paraná coast (Paranaguá, Pontal, Guaratuba, Matinhos) — estuaries turbid all year and clear water only on the outer Itacolomi rocks, to 16 m; the Ilhas dos Currais park is on the same boat run and is closed to fishing.
- Paranaguá — A port city at the head of the estuary, ~30 km from open sea: brackish, sediment-loaded water, heavy ship traffic and strong tidal currents — inside the bay visibility runs 0.
- Pontal do Paraná — A beach-resort municipality of unbroken sand from Pontal do Sul to Praia de Leste: straight coast, no rock at all, constant shorebreak and the turbid plume of the Paranaguá estuary sitting on top.
- Guaratuba — A town on the south bank of the Guaratuba Bay mouth: long sand beach, one real rocky headland (Morro do Cristo) and a scatter of rock at the north end of the seafront.
- Matinhos — A Paraná-coast resort town between the Guaratuba Bay mouth (Caiobá) and the Pico de Matinhos: sand beach with two small rocky points and one bigger mass, the Morro do Boi.
Frequently asked questions
Rules current as of 2026 — always confirm with ICMBio/IBAMA and the local authority before you go. Recreational spearfishing on breath-hold only (no scuba); protected species such as the goliath grouper (mero) are fully banned, and the marine APAs and national parks set their own no-take zones.
Do I need a licence in Santa Catarina or Rio Grande do Sul?
Yes, always, shore entry included: the federal licence (Portaria SAP/MAPA nº 616/2022, art. 17) must be with you, and Decreto nº 8.425/2015, art. 3º §1º II exempts only those fishing «com linha de mão ou caniço simples». Desembarcada R$ 20/yr, embarcada R$ 60/yr — amounts from the MPA pages, not from Portaria 616/2022.
Can you hunt at Arvoredo?
No: the REBIO Marinha do Arvoredo is no-take under Lei nº 9.985/2000 and the Federal Police enforce it. But the ban ends at the polygon — the Zona de Amortecimento is only a proposal (Portaria ICMBio nº 91/2014, art. 3º). Hunt the mainland costões.