Maintaining an even tan and tight musculature is still the principal occupation for most of Rio's beachgoers.

Joggers swarm up and down the pavements, bronzed types flex their muscles on parallel bars located at intervals along the beaches, while the tradition of beach football is as strong as legend would have it on the Copacabana - certainly, there's no problem getting a game, though playing on loose sand amidst highly skilled practitioners of Brazil's national sport has the potential for great humiliation.

There's lots of volleyball, too, as well as the ubiquitous  frescobol (maybe you can call batball), a kind of table tennis with a heavy ball, and without the table. It's extremely popular with the kind of people who wait till you've settled down on your towel, and then run past spraying sand in all directions - taking an electric cattle-prod to the beach is the only way to keep them off.

A lot of people make their living by plying food - fruit, sweets, ice cream - and beach equipment along the seashore, while dotted along the beaches are makeshift canopies, from which you can buy cold drinks. Like bars, most of these have a regular clientele and deliver a very efficient service - remember to return your bottle when you've finished. Coconut milk, côco verde, is sold everywhere, and is a brilliant hangover cure.

Beach fashion is important, too, and you'll come across some pretty snappy seaside threads. Fashions change regularly, though, so if you're really desperate to make your mark you should buy your swimming togs in Rio.

Rio de Janeiro
     hotels
Hotels in Buzios
Cruises
Car rental
Road trip

Rio pictures 1
Rio pictures 2
and see also

Pictures of Rio by
Thereza Eugenia

Pictures of Brazil by
Cecilia dos Guimaraes
Bastos
 

   Rio de Janeiro guide

  Rio de Janeiro
  Brief history
  State
  Travel details
  Warning
  Orientation: Centro,
    Zona Sul, Zona Norte
  Getting around
Nightlife
  Film
  Rio Gay
  Best of Rio
  Info
 Favelas
 Arrival
 Shopping
 Carnaval
Eating and drinking:
    Churrascarias, vegetarian
For eating in Brazil, read also:
Eating & drinking
     Street foods,
     snacks
     Restaurants
     Vegetarian/natural
     Soft drinks, hot
     drinks 

Zona Sul

 Buzios

Buzios Town and its beaches
Restaurants
Eating options
Getting there
Getting around
Climate and travel info
Buzios Beaches
  Buzios Beaches 2
Buzios Scuba Diving
  Buzios Golf
 Buzios Stones St and
    night life
Ecotourism
Hotels in Buzios