Ipanema & Leblon Beaches
Good for: people watching, sun tanning, oogling, beatiful photos, swimmers
Not good for: swimming, toilets, barefoot, Your straightlaced Aunt Myrna, Recent Information
- Address
- Av Delfim Moreira & Av Vieira Souto
Lonely Planet review for Ipanema & Leblon Beaches
Although the beaches of Ipanema and Leblon are one long beach, the postos (posts) along them subdivide the beach into areas as diverse as the city itself. Posto 9, right off Rua Vinícius de Moraes, is Garota de Ipanema, which is where Rio’s most lithe and tanned bodies tend to migrate. The area is also known as the Cemetério dos Elefantes because of the handful of old leftists, hippies and artists who sometimes hang out there. In front of Rua Farme de Amoedo the beach is known as Bolsa de Valores or Crystal Palace (this is the gay section), while Posto 8 further up is mostly the domain of favela kids. Arpoador, between Ipanema and Copacabana, is Rio’s most popular surf spot. Leblon attracts a broad mix of single Cariocas, as well as families from the neighborhood. Posto 10 is for sport lovers, with ongoing volleyball, soccer and frescobal (played with wooden racquets and a rubber ball) games. There’s also Baixo Bebê, between posts 11 and 12, where affluent parents with children migrate.
Whatever spot you choose, you’ll enjoy cleaner sands and sea than those in Copacabana. Keep in mind that if you go on Saturday or Sunday, the sands get crowded. Go early to stake out a spot.
Incidentally, the word ipanema is an indigenous word for ‘bad, dangerous waters’ – not so far off given the strong undertow and often oversized waves crashing on the shore. Be careful, and swim only where the locals do.
Traveller reviews for Ipanema & Leblon Beaches (3)
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Love , sex , sand , skin , heat
mongoose330 recommends this,
Ipanema beach is defiantly the place to be. When it comes down to beaches , no other place can beat the beach technology that the Brazilians seem to be so natural at. Ipanema is a feast for the eyes. Its skin , skin , skin , fitness. Take a stroll down the long beach towards the end. If you wanting to people watch , go in the evenings .Start when the sun is up and walk all the way down to Copacabana. As it gets darker you see less skin but more freaky people. Take flip flops , do NOT walk barefoot on the pavement. Brazilians have a nasty habit of snorting and spitting. The Vendors selling drinks are not that expensive. Try local things rather than coke and westernised drinks. Be aware as well that you will have to PAY for using a toilet. If you have a problem best bet is to go one block into the Built up area , Look for a Street Cafe , Buy a cold drink or some fruit and ask for "Sanitorium" or "Toilete". The free toilets in Rio are VERY VERY grim ( I feel for the ladies ).
Watch out for the MASSIVE shorebreak at times. Dont even think about it.
Ohh and it dosnt matter , how big your bum is , how skinny your legs are . All that matters is that you show it...
Good for: people watching, sun tanning, oogling, beatiful photos
Not good for: swimming, toilets, barefoot
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I'm not a good enough poet to describe how beautiful it is.
georgiatraveler recommends this,
Ipanema's is one of the most beautiful sights i've ever seen, and easily the most beautiful beach i've ever seen. You walk out from between the hotels, onto the Avenida Viera Souto, and the sight of the beach just GRABS you. It's like walking into a dream: those green mountains, that blue sky, that white sand, that foamy water, those gorgeous women -- you think to yourself, this can't be real; it's too gorgeous, it must be some kind of 3-D special effect in a movie. But no, it's all real; the proof is right there as you feel your feet sink into the sand. Take a deep breath, strip down to your bathing suit, and experience it.
Good for: swimmers, photographers, surfers, Sunbathers, Anybody with 5 or 6 senses
Not good for: Your straightlaced Aunt Myrna
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Wonderful life in Ipanema, 1947 to 1949
pauleengineer recommends this,
This is probably one of the more time-delayed reviews, and is hopelessly out of date, but it does give one a basis of comparison. I was a young boy in 1947 to 1949, living in a 4th floor apartment in Edificio Panorama, one street one block in from the beach, the first street parallel to the boulevard that bordered the beach. The back apartment faced the ocean, although the beach itself was hidden from view by a row of houses [now all high rises, I believe]. I would ride the streetcar [called Bondes] to my school that was north of Leblon. We spent a lot of time on the relatively quiet beach, which was also unknown beyond Rio in those days before the famous song. I would occasionally rent peddle boats or kayaks from an unimposing man in a houseboat on the Lagoa nearby. It turned out years later that he was a wanted Nazi hiding and on the lam from Europe, who was killed off some years later by some agents. It was pretty much an idyllic life then, barring the late discovery that I had unwittingly handed my coins to a real Nazi!
Good for: history
Not good for: Recent Information
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