Copacabana Beach

Four Kilometre Urban Beach On Avenida AtlâNtica With Roberto Burle Marx'S Wave Pattern Promenade; Part Of The Rio De Janeiro UNESCO World Heritage Landscape · Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro

Copacabana is the most famous city beach in the world: about four kilometres of wide sand curving from Leme in the north to the old fort in the south, lined by Avenida Atlântica and a wall of apartment blocks and hotels. The black-and-white wave pattern of its promenade, laid out by the landscape designer Roberto Burle Marx in the 1970s, is a symbol of Rio in itself. The Copacabana Palace, opened in 1923, still anchors the middle. The beach is a public living room more than a resort: footvolley and volleyball games, vendors carrying everything from grilled cheese to sarongs, kiosks serving coconuts and caipirinhas, and the fishermen's colony at Posto 6, whose boats go out at dawn. On New Year's Eve more than two million people gather here for the fireworks. The sea is open Atlantic, often with strong waves and currents, and the water is cold for the tropics. Ipanema, just around the point, is where many visitors end up preferring to spend their beach days. Copacabana is where to walk, people-watch and sit at a kiosk at night.

Avenida Atlântica, Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

A public beach, open at all hours, but it has a daily rhythm worth knowing. Lifeguard posts are staffed during daylight, and outside those hours no one is watching the water. Chair and umbrella vendors set up in the morning and pack up in the late afternoon. The kiosks along the promenade open through the day and many stay busy until late at night. On Sundays and public holidays the lanes of Avenida Atlântica nearest the sand close to cars for walkers, runners and cyclists for most of the day. New Year's Eve closes the whole seafront to traffic from the afternoon, with metro access restricted to pre-bought cards and hotel rooms booked a year ahead. Big free concerts on the sand also close sections of the avenue. The sand itself is dark and unsafe after nightfall; stay on the lit promenade. Copacabana Fort at the southern end keeps daytime hours and is closed one day a week; confirm before going.

Copacabana Beach on Spottos · Explore more places on Spottos