Laje de Santos

Laje de Santos is a granite rock shaped like a whale, 550 m long, 33 m high and up to 185 m wide. The lighthouse at the highest point of the Laje was made in the United States in 1908, acquired by the Brazilian Navy and brought to the country around April 1908 aboard the steamship Hanseat, and its installation came from a lighthouse plan proposed in 1907. On a night dive, you can see the solitary lighthouse working at the top of the island. The Laje is part of the Parque Estadual Marinho da Laje de Santos, created on 27 September 1993 by State Decree 37.537, the first marine park among the conservation units of São Paulo.

The island has almost no vegetation and hosts many seabirds, such as the brown booby and terns, which use it for breeding and resting. It is the only island in Brazil that is a frequent breeding site for three species of terns, and the brown booby nests there all year round.

Underwater you can see colorful shoals, turtles, grouper and even dolphins and, depending on the time of year and luck, sharks and whales. The park is home to more than 196 species of reef fish, including elasmobranchs, and is a feeding area for Bryde's whales, manta rays and turtles. The manta ray is the park's symbol animal. In the region, manta rays, with a wingspan of up to 5 m, tend to be most frequent between May and August and gather in the park during winter, probably for reproductive activities.