Mediterranean from Itajai

Next stop: Brazil! An MSC cruise will have you discovery this colorful Country, by docking in its second port located between Porto Alegre and Sao Paulo: Itajaí, in the state of Santa Catarina.
Founded by the Portuguese coming from Madeira and the Azores, the city is located on the banks of the rio Itajaí-Açú and, being an important export trade point, it is a strategic hub of Brazilian economy. Itajai is also a city full of history, as you will see by walking through its historic center, rich in traditions thanks to the old fish market, and visiting the imposing church of the Santissimo Sacramento.

Brazil is renown above all for its beaches. An excursion will take you to Praia Brava, between Itajaí and Balneário Camboriú. Known for its natural beauty and the clear sea, this beach is the ideal destination for relaxation, whether you just want to sunbathe or swim between the calm waves. A little further south is Balneário Camboriú. This is one of the capitals of tourism of Santa Caterina that during summer can reach even 1 million inhabitants. Av. Brazil is a vibrant shopping street, while Atlantic Avenue runs along the beach with its sidewalk in pavê like the one in Copacabana. Here, you can stop in a bar or restaurant to admire the sea and the island of Cabras, just offshore.

For nature lovers, the area around Itajai offers the Parque Unipraias Camboriu. An excursion will take you to the Barra Sul Station, where you can take the cable car to Morro de Aguada at 240 meters of height and to the Mata Atlântica station. There are various paths to take to immerse yourself in this forest and come in contact with the Brazilian flora and fauna or the youngest visitors can cross it on board a sledge. Downhill the destination is the beach of Praia das Laranjeiras, the ideal place to enjoy some free time.

Santos, one of Portugal’s first New World settlements, was founded in 1535.

Today your MSC ship will be docking in Latin America’s largest port, through which passes a large proportion of the world’s coffee, sugar and oranges.
The city stands partly on São Vicente island, its docking facilities and old town facing landwards, with ships approaching by a narrow, but deep, channel. Its compact centre retains a certain charm that’s massively popular with local tourists, and there is a good deal of historical and maritime interest around the city. On an MSC South America cruise excursion to the city centre you’ll find the ruins of some of Santos’s most distinguished buildings along Rua do Comércio.
Although sometimes only the facades remain, some of the nineteenth-century former merchants’ houses that line the street are gradually being restored, the elaborate tiling and wrought-iron balconies offering a hint of the old town’s lost grandeur. MSC South America cruises also offer excursions to the local Santos Futebol Clube. It’s best known as the club for which the great Pelé
played for most of his professional life (from 1956 to 1974); their stadium, the Vila Belmiro, is open to the public when there’s no game on.
In addition to honouring Pelé at the club’s small museum, you can take an hour-long guided tour including the players’ bar and dressing rooms. Santos’s beaches are across town from Centro on the south side of the island. The beaches are huge, stretching around the Atlantic-facing Baía de Santos, and popular in summer.