The Two Brothers
The beach's western backdrop.
chensiyuan — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Mayra Pavanello Munerato — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Mayra Pavanello Munerato — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Mayra Pavanello Munerato — CC BY-SA 3.0
Ipanema is Rio's stylish beach, between the Arpoador rock and Leblon, made world-famous by the 1960s bossa nova song The Girl from Ipanema. At its western end the twin peaks of Dois Irmãos, the Two Brothers, rise above the sea and give the beach the finest backdrop in the city. The beach is divided into stretches by numbered lifeguard towers, each with its own crowd. The waves are bigger than at Copacabana, sometimes three metres in winter, which draws surfers to Arpoador, and water quality varies, turning murky after heavy rain. At sunset people gather on the Arpoador rock at the eastern end and applaud as the sun drops behind the Two Brothers, a favourite Rio ritual in summer. On Sundays the beachfront road closes to cars and becomes a promenade. The same advice applies here: carry little and keep an eye on your things.
The beach's western backdrop.
And the sunset applause.
The road closed to cars.
Avenida Vieira Souto, Ipanema
Copacabana is longer, livelier and closer to the big hotels; Ipanema is a little calmer with a finer backdrop, and its sunset from the Arpoador rock is one of Rio's best-known sights.