Itapema is a beach town first and everything else after. Most days fold into a pattern of beach, lunch, beach, sunset, dinner, and bar — and you can do worse than that in January with the South Atlantic at the door. The town stretches along Meia Praia for several kilometres and adds a couple of smaller coves at the southern end where the fishing colony at Canto da Praia still works the boats at dawn.
Above the beach, the Morro do Cabeço and Morro da Sentinela both reward a short, steep walk with a view over the whole bay. The historic centre is small but worth a wander for the Azorean stone church and the few surviving colonial houses. For a more demanding outing, the trails into the Serra do Mar behind the town climb to waterfalls and forest viewpoints — best in cooler months when the mosquitoes and humidity are tolerable.