Porto Belo, Brazil

Porto Belo is located south of Rio de Janeiro on the Atlantic Ocean in the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina. The small town is famous for its good beaches, emerald-green waters, and great diving opportunities. The weather in Porto Belo is ideal year-round, with temperatures averaging about 80 degrees and a trade wind bringing in a cool breeze.

I visited Porto Belo on a South America cruise on the Celebrity Infinity that embarked in Buenos Aires, cruised up the coast of Brazil to Buzios and to Rio de Janeiro for Carnaval and the famous Samba Parade, and then returned to Buenos Aires.

The Infinity offered shore excursions to the towns of Florianopolis or Blumenau, an ecological tour of Camboriu, and a beach tour. Although these sounded interesting, we decided to just take the tender into town and do a little souvenir shopping. As these photos show, there's not much in the small village of Porto Belo, but we enjoyed strolling the main streets and doing some people watching on the beach.