Bertioga



Bertioga is a sea side town in São Paulo State. It is a former district of Santos and considered to be part of the Baixada Santista metro area, although it has no conurbation with other cities.

Although mainly a local tourism destination, Bertioga is an attractive day/weekend trip for international visitors to São Paulo, as it offers excellent beaches and has much less crime problems than the neighboring Guarujá.

Understand
Bertioga was initially populated by Native Brazilians of the Tupinambá and Tupiniquim tribes. The region is the scenario of the controversial book True Story and Description of a Country of Wild, Naked, Grim, Man-eating People in the New World written by the German mariner Hans Staden.

In 1532, Portuguese settlers founded there the oldest fortress of Brazil - Forte São João de Bertioga, which has been definitively completed only in 1702, and is until nowadays the most important landmark of the town.

Bertioga remained as a suburb and later as a district of Santos until 1991, when it became a separate municipality. Bertioga is obviously less famous than its neighboring coastal towns - Guarujá and São Sebastião, and despite being now a "city on its own", it retains the feel of a collection of coastal suburbs (even downtown looks like an ordinary suburb). However, Bertioga is still an important local tourism destination of the São Paulo state, with many Paulistas keeping summer vacation houses in the town.

By bus
From São Paulo, there are three buses that go to Bertioga. One, operated by Viação Ultra goes to Downtown (Enseada beach), takes 1:30 hour, and departs from the Jabaquara intercity bus terminal. The other one, operated by Litorânea, goes to Riviera (São Lourenço beach), takes 3:05 hours, and departs from the Tietê intercity bus terminal. Both cost about the same price. There are also direct buses from the Sao Paulo Guarulhos airport.

By car
Coming from São Paulo, there are two routes of access.
 * Take SP-150 (Anchieta) or SP-160 (Imigrantes). At Cubatão, follow the signs to go to Bertioga, north via BR-101 (Rio-Santos).
 * Take SP-070 (Trabalhadores/Ayrton Senna) and go to Mogi das Cruzes, then take SP-098 (Mogi-Bertioga) to Bertioga. This path is somewhat more complicated as you need to find your way through Mogi das Cruzes.

By bus
You can find your bus connection in the apps of Google Maps or Moovit. For Moovit you need to choose the metro area "Santos e Região". Both apps show also regional buses for example to Guarujá. Just tell (or show) the bus driver where you'd like to go and he calculates the fare.

Public buses are operated by Viação Bertioga and connect downtown (where the intercity bus terminal is located) with the Indaía, Riviera and Boracéia neighborhoods. Note that the Enseada beach is located at downtown and Indaiá, and the São Lourenço beach at Riviera. Since public buses are intended for locals, not for tourists, they are less frequent on weekends.

By car
A car is the most convenient way to access quieter beaches like Guaratuba and Itaguaré. It is easy to get around Bertioga by taking the Rio-Santos road (BR-101).

By bicycle
Av. Anchieta, that runs in parallel with the Enseada beach, has a cycleway on most of its extension, making it easy to go by bicycle from downtown to Indaiá, and even reach the west side of the São Lourenço beach.

See




Beaches
The beaches of Bertioga are similar to each other, differing only by their surroundings. They are mostly long in extension and broad in width. They have flat and somewhat hard sands.



Do

 * The flat sands of Bertioga's beaches make them perfect for jogging, playing football, and bringing small children to play close to the water
 * For surfing, Bertioga isn't on par with São Sebastião or Ubatuba, but it sometimes hosts regional competitions. The best waves can be found at Itaguaré and São Lourenço (close to the pier and on the left corner). For beginners, a number of surf schools can also be found in the town.

Buy
In Saturday morning street market (in the broad inland avenue) apart from local small farmers, you may see a couple of Guarani Indians selling hand made goods. Just up the channel from the ferry jetty, local fishermen sell their shrimps and fresh fish.

Eat
Apart from very fresh shrimps and fish everywhere, several Spanish owned simple restaurants serve quite good paellas

Sleep
Bertioga has a relatively small range of lodging options, as most of its visitors have vacation houses in the town. If you plan to stay more than one weekend, it is definitely worth considering renting a house or apartment instead of staying in a hotel or B&B. Renting a house with a swimming pool in Bertioga may be cheaper than staying at a 4- or 5-star hotel in Guarujá!

Stay safe
Bertioga has one of the lowest crime rates of the São Paulo coast, making it an excellent option for tourists.

Stay healthy
As elsewhere in Brazil, some beaches in Bertioga are not suitable for bathing, and conditions can change from day to day. On the day of your visit, check the map of the latest weekly beach quality bulletin (in Portuguese, boletim de qualidade das praias) of the state's Environment Department (CETESB).

Go next
All these places have hostels and private rooms:

To the east

 * Camburi and Boicucanga – 50 km. It is considered by Paulistas as one of the best beaches on their coastline. There are also quite a few small restaurants and bars along the road going through Camburi. Camburizinho beach is right next door.
 * Ilhabela – 80 km. The island is considered one of the natural paradises of the São Paulo coast. (Ilhabela means literally "beautiful island" in Portuguese). It is known for its forest-covered mountains, its amazing beaches and its savage trails.
 * São Sebastião – 80 km. The beaches of São Sebastião are a mixture of rustic paradisiac nature with first class night life. Contains one of the most famous beaches of the São Paulo coast, Maresias.
 * Ubatuba – 160 km. Beautiful beaches are the main attraction of this place, as well as its well-preserved nature. You can do mountain biking and trekking. One of the best places in Brazil to practice surf, nautical sports, diving and birdwatching.

To the west and south-west

 * Guarujá – 50 km. Popular beach destination and devoted to tourism. The city has the biggest aquarium in South America, it has more than 700 species of aquatic animals. A nickname for the city is "The Pearl of the Atlantic".
 * Santos – 60 km. The biggest city on the São Paulo coast. Santos is known for its historical center and the Santos FC football team (team of the legendary Pelé). It has the longest beach garden in the world.
 * Itanhaém – 110 km. Surrounded by the Atlantic forest and with nice beaches. You can make a boat tour upstream the river. The city's nickname is "Princess of the South Seas" and "Amazônia Paulista".

To the north

 * São Paulo