Charming and chic, Ipanema Beach (Praia de Ipanema) is the richer and ritzier sister of the also infamous Copacabana beach. Ipanema backs onto a fancy neighbourhood and there are plenty of high-end hotels.
The stunning beach gets divided up depending on the interests of the beachgoers. There is the family section, the gay section, the ageing-intellectual section and so on; you’ll soon find where you feel comfortable.
At night the beach is lit up and families come to the beach with their barbeques and cook dinner while others come down to watch the sunset.
Ipanema means “bad, dangerous waters” in Indian and it is indeed a good idea to only swim in the designated areas where the locals are swimming as the waves can be big and the undertow strong.
To get to Ipanema beach catch the metro to Ipanema/General Osorio, otherwise any of the buses marked Ipanema from Centro.
