Great area in Barra. It is at the beginning of the Barra area with nice resturants and also near…read morethe surf and kite schools. Also, you can enjoy from the bars at the beach, really cool places, with music and drinks. There is a road only for bikes and runners that is great and is everyone use it, as well as the metal structures in the streets for people to work out. Very recommendable if you came to Rio. Is it more residential zone and have a bigger beach place than the rest.

The most beautiful beach I went to in Rio. It's a bit if a trek to get there and it disappears with…read morethe tide so go early! You have to walk through a housing complex to reach the beach and then climb down a few rocks (not recommended if you have a broken leg). It's secluded and beautiful.

Most beautiful beach I went to in Rio de Janeiro. Way less touristic than Cobacabana or Ipanema,…read moreand no chance of getting robbed. It's paradise.

This is a beautiful beach if you're in the area and want to check it out. There a lot of things to…read moredo here besides just walking in the sand. There also some food places on the top. Crossing the street to get here would be the biggest challenge unless you go in the early morning like I did. The weather was nice and it was after it rained a bit so the whole view was clear and beautiful. I'm staying at the Windsor Barra so it's across the street from this beach that also as a rooftop view. So I went up to the 17th floor to take a look at the beautiful beach.

When in Rio de Janeiro, you ought to visit both Copacabana and Ipanema. You hear so much about…read morethese districts and their beaches years before you ever set foot in Rio. However, once you head south of here and further out from their density and population, the major beachfront thoroughfare changes names with each different neighborhood like people change their underwear, and it finally sort of makes a straight shot for a long time, you are probably on Avenida das Americas and in Barra da Tijuca. Parallel to this major artery is Barra's long and uninterrupted praia, or beach. It doesn't have the fanfare that Copacabana and Ipanema do but, in terms of natural features, this long strand is much the same, though comparatively quieter. You can get here on public transportation. Certain bus lines continue in front of Rio's beaches down into Barra da Tijuca, all the way down to where the area ends, as does Rio de Janeiro, more or less, at Recreio dos Bandeirantes. People diss on Barra da Tijuca. They say it's Rio's attempt to be like the suburban sprawl that is Broward County, Florida. It has an almost tacky mega mall along Avenida das Americas as well as newer condo towers and housing. I'd say the comparison has some validity. After all, isn't Broward County, and the beaches along it, newer and more tranquil than the areas of and beaches in Miami-Dade? I think so. There are a couple of funky things about the Barra da Tijuca area. First, while it is newer and upscale, being 11 miles long means there are some favelas in this westernmost part of Rio. They are or have been marked on Google maps and the more "proper" residents of Barra are not at all happy about that. The favelas appear to be smaller and more inland than the long beach strand. Second, Barra is long and narrow and the back end of it has marshes, lagoons, and other waterways. In them live these smaller to medium sized caimans (jacares) which are a more yellowish color and indigenous to the area. I found this interesting and more fodder for comparing Rio to Miami. For that matter, their "kin folk" can be found in waterways within the city limits of South Florida municipalities, New Orleans, and Houston, just to name a few North American locales. Third, the very end of Barra is known as Recreio dos Bandeirantes. It is not as upscale and flashy as the part of Barra first encountered upon coming around the promontory containing the Dois Irmaos monolith. Your reward for going this far south and west from Rio's more popular beaches is this - the "morro:" http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GH29uXeSJIw/TVWU9bWwO8I/AAAAAAAAAJ8/QbiJjr1xG8I/s1600/recreio_dos_bandeirantes%255B1%255D.jpg http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5035/6953462316_f39345e4cf_z.jpg Either way, if doing the beach thing, you probably won't be in Barra da Tijuca to shop in mega malls, spot large reptiles, or tour favelas. You're here to enjoy its 11 mile long beach strand. Overlook the comparisons to Broward County FL and other digs on Barra and enjoy yourselves at this wonderful beach.

This is the perfect area to watch the sunset along the Rio de Janeiro shore line. You can sit up on…read morethe rocks and watch the sun go down while admiring the waves and sounds of the ocean. You can find this area right in the middle of Ipanema and copacabana beach. Honestly if you're a sunset person Ipanema and Praia so Arpoador is where you need to be because the buildings on copacabana beach will disappoint you. Don't worry about bringing a cooler filled with drinks because you can find sellers up along the rocks. Although, I would recommend bringing a towel to sit on for sure and maybe a radio with tunes of your choice. This could legit be a perfect area to take your date and guess what? It's free! So definitely add this to your itinerary whenever you're in Rio de Janeiro .

This is actually a small beach that is nestled between Copacabana and Ipanema. The people hanging…read moreout there were mostly locals when I was there. As a beach, this spot is nothing special. However, the Arpoador rock formation is the reason to stop by. Climb to the edge of this rock and you will get amazing views of the sunset or sunrise. It's a great place to just sit and relax.

We stayed at the hotel across the street (Rio Othon) which was nice since we had a designated area…read moreof the beach to use, this was helpful because the beach gets crowded very quickly. The most annoying thing here is all the vendors constantly coming around a little hard to relax U can grab anything from drinks, we tried one not terrible just too sweet for my taste. Food & snacks to bathing suits, bags & shirts helpful for the vendors. If you don't get anything from the vendors there are plenty of places to eat & drink along the beach. My only complain for the beach was that the water it is very rough, crazy strong current u can feel the pull just standing in the sand. We got to see beautiful sunsets, sunrise & were even lucky enough to be here when Lady Gaga played, crazy crowd by her hotel, rehearsal was a mini concert definitely a very cool experience. Nice stretch of beach, scenery is lovely & it's a great way to spend any time during your visit in Brazil.

Copacabana is a bairro (neighborhood) in Rio de Janeiro: in the South Zone of the city. Its 4 km…read more(2.5 miles) beach is the most famous. I'm impressed by how clean the beach is when we get there in the morning! ... evening is another story. Of course, there is this statue of their famed son Ayrton Senna (1960-94), who died on the race track ...our first stop in Rio is to visit him.