Bordering the city of Sao Vicente to the west, the good waves at the Jose Menino and Pompeia beaches attract surfers and bodyboarders. Praia do Jose Menino was once a wealthy resort beach during more prosperous times, while Praia da Pompeia is home to Brazil's first surf school, Escola Radical, led by Sao Paulo surf pioneer Cisco Arana. Christopher Columbus and Brazilian surfing are also honored on Pompeia beach with large monuments.
Moving east from Pompeia, a trio of adjacent beaches -- Gonzaga, Boqueirao and Embare -- are usually the most lively spots with larger crowds. Both the tourist and municipal bus lines stop at Gonzaga, a hotel-filled neighborhood with multiple plazas, making this a major tourist area. Likewise, Boqueirao beach is known to have art fairs on the weekends, while the bars around Embare help draw party-friendly young people. The last swimmable beach, Praia da Aparecida, is one canal over and tends to attract an older crowd.
Positioned below the seawall, Ponta da Praia is the easternmost beach at the far end of the island. It is an ideal place to watch ships heading to and from the port, but the water is not for swimming. Other attractions at Ponta beach include a yacht club, several museums, the country's first public aquarium and a handful of dive shops that serve the Laje de Santos Marine Park -- about an hour off the coast.
It is impossible to discuss Santos without mentioning its enormous beachfront garden. The 3.3-mile garden stretches from Jose Menino to Aparecida beach, covering nearly 2.4 million square feet, which led Guinness World Records to declare it the largest beachfront garden in the world. The pedestrian-friendly area, which is at its widest between canals 1 and 4, has hundreds of flower beds, fountains, monuments and miles of cycling and rollerblading lanes.
