Circuito Mares — Ubatuba (Praia da Enseada)

The curving bay of Praia da Enseada opens like a natural amphitheater of fine sand along the northern coast of São Paulo. Here, Circuito Mares — Ubatuba (Praia da Enseada) takes place as an open water swimming event staged in the sheltered maritime bay of Ubatuba. Organized by Circuito Mares, the meeting serves as one of five stages in the circuit's competitive season. Swimmers head down to the shoreline in late November, with the program featuring preparations that get underway in the evening. The swimming schedule provides distances tailored to every background, ranging from introductory 50, 100, and 200-meter sprints to endurance challenges of 1,000, 2,500, and 5,000 meters. The individual event is contested right off the beach of Praia da Enseada, with a classic course of 750 meters alongside the half-kilometer swim.

Beyond open water swimming, the festival embraces ocean sports with disciplines that include running, aquathlon, stand up paddle, and paddleboard. Those planning a longer swimming trip along the coast can also link this stop with the Circuito Paulista de Maratonas Aquáticas — Ilhabela (novembro), held just forty-two kilometers away in the same week. In past editions, Praia da Enseada has welcomed around three thousand competitors and nine thousand spectators to its broad shoreline. The wide bay provides exceptionally stable sea conditions, offering an ideal beach structure where competitors can find their rhythm safely in calm water. Organizers have consistently highlighted how the geography of Enseada guarantees unique safety and swimming conditions across all competitive divisions. Once the racing concludes, the shoreline shifts into a festive gathering, marked in previous seasons by a traditional beach luau held directly on the sand.

Praia da Enseada and the sheltered bay of Ubatuba

Set smoothly between Perequê Mirim beach and Toninhas beach, Praia da Enseada extends along a broad stretch of soft sand ideal for long walks between heats. The headlands buffer the ocean swell, keeping the bay serene and making it a renowned haven for windsurfing, sailing, kayaking, and stand-up paddleboarding. Looking outward across the water, athletes enjoy open views toward the Ilha de Toque-Toque. At one end of the bay, an elevated viewpoint looks across the maritime horizon toward the prominent profile of Pico do Corcovado. Praia das Toninhas is an expansive 1.2-kilometer strand of fine white sand framed on its left corner by a rocky headland and a scenic viewpoint known as Rock Point.

The right side of Toninhas offers calmer waves well-suited for swimming. At Praia do Lázaro, swimmers find clear sand, transparent shallows, and wooded rocky shores, with a sheltered flat strip of native low vegetation separating it from Praia da Sununga. Down the coast, Praia da Maranduba joins neighboring Lagoinha to create one of the longest continuous beaches in the municipality.

Ilha Anchieta: from penal colony to protected island park

About five to six kilometers offshore from the race area rests an island originally inhabited by the indigenous Tupinambá people, who lived along its shores before European arrival in the sixteenth century. Known for centuries as Ilha dos Porcos, the island entered a dark chapter in 1908 when the government established the Colônia Correcional da Ilha dos Porcos, building cellblocks, military barracks, and a settlement at Porto das Palmas. The landmass was later renamed Ilha Anchieta in 1934 to commemorate the fourth centenary of the birth of José de Anchieta, functioning as a penal institution for common convicts. Although only six hundred meters of water separate Ilha Anchieta from the mainland, the crossing proved treacherous.

Following a major prison rebellion, authorities deactivated the penal settlement permanently in 1955, closing down the facilities for good. The island was reborn on March 29, 1977, when the government created the Ilha Anchieta State Park to safeguard coastal flora and fauna and foster mariculture research. Today, the ominous prison history has yielded to peaceful conservation, and the weathered ruins of the colonial compound are accessible through informative guided walking tours. Visitors arrive easily via schooner excursions that depart regularly from coastal harbors at Saco da Ribeira and Itaguá.

Marine life and Atlantic forest along the Ubatuba coast

Ubatuba is a vast coastal wilderness boasting more than one hundred beaches. Geographic landmarks mark Ubatuba's coastline as well, with the Tropic of Capricorn crossing the terrain right in front of the municipal airport runway. Farther north along the coast, beaches like Itamambuca lie ensconced within an ecological reserve between Vermelha do Norte and Félix, flanked by dense native rainforest. Coastal islands within the municipality receive federal protection under the Tupinambás Ecological Station. Offshore, the protected waters of Ilha Anchieta State Park provide shelter for remarkable oceanic life, harboring giant Atlantic goliath groupers, southern right whales, Bryde's whales, and schools of dolphins. On the mainland, scientific stewardship thrives through the University of São Paulo's Clarimundo de Jesus oceanographic base, alongside a dedicated marine park run by the TAMAR Project to conserve sea turtles.

Waterfront kiosks and coastal trails around Praia da Enseada

Back on the sand at Praia da Enseada, the shoreline is lively and welcoming, lined by summer houses, kiosks, and casual restaurants. Swimmers can step straight to the tables for a post-race meal. For those looking to explore on foot, a coastal trail known as the Ponta da Espiã sets off from the left end of the beach, leading through leafy woodland to remote coves. Along this path, you reach Prainha da Enseada with its rocky shoreline and natural freshwater spring, before the route winds on toward Praia de Fora and the quiet sand of Praia do Godói. For an offshore recovery swim, schooners and motorboats depart straight from the sands of Praia da Enseada toward the surrounding islands.

Many trips cross to Ilha Anchieta, where an overland trail leads across to Praia do Sul. With crystal-clear waters, Praia do Sul offers exceptional diving conditions, letting you slip back into the sea to float above quiet marine shallows before your weekend in Ubatuba draws to a close.