Peruíbe is a beach town on the south coast of São Paulo state, far enough from the capital to feel greener and less urban than the Santos-side resorts. The town itself is modern and busy in summer, but its real strength is the wild country just beyond it.
South of town, the coast rises into the protected forests and beaches of Juréia-Itatins and Itinguçu. Guaraú Beach is the easy introduction: a broad beach with green hills behind it and river water at one end. From there, trails, controlled-access beaches, and waterfalls lead into one of the better Atlantic Forest landscapes within reach of São Paulo.
Peruíbe also has a layer of colonial history that many beach towns lack. The Abarebebê Ruins preserve the remains of a 16th-century Jesuit church site tied to the earliest European missions on this coast.
Come for a spare day if you want beach and forest together. Come for longer if you have a car, patience with summer traffic, and interest in the caiçara fishing communities and protected coast south of Guaraú.