I saw a photo from a bodyboard contest at Itacoatiara yesterday.   Checked, turned out it's east of Rio.  Street View.  Think I'd like to visit, if the water isn't filthy.  

East of Itacoatiara, there's long, straight sandy beaches, lots of residential real estate with tidy layouts and big yards. Then there was this messy, crowded looking area.  A slum?  If it is, it's a pretty one.  Google Street View.  Another street view.

You might know some/all of this...I am not an expert but I have been to both of those beaches because my wife is from Arpoador - the point between Ipanema and Copacabana.   

Itacoatiara is one of the beaches of city of Niteroi.  I have only seen it really heavy or small - obviously there is an inbetween but I dont live there!  It is good for surf body surf, or body board - dumps pretty hard.  Gets crowded.  Copacabana is actually a good beach for body board/surf too.  Not as much for surf but can be really good when it is.

That other beach, the area east of Saquarema and west of Arraial do Cabo is really nice...hot, not a lot of shade along there, but with pretty white sand dunes and little sprinklins of homes/towns all along there, not tooo much going on along that strip.  My wife and I thought a house there would be nice.  We would always detour off main hwy along the oceanside route when heading back to Rio from Buzios - stop in Arraial.  That lagoa is pretty big...most people on the main highway north are either heading to Buzios from Rio and Niteroi for weekend get-a-ways or people heading west to the big city.  So this area has 'grown' some but kinda gets ignored.  It was practically empty 15 yrs ago.  The water gets colder more often as you go more east because of currents. Hence the town Cabo Frio - which used to be pretty nice lots of white dunes too but seems a little too busy to me now.  

I love Arraial do Cabo - sleepy little town but beautiful water and view looking west.  Just a cool spot(havent been that way the last few trips to Rio) Some swells make that beach work point-like but no hard bottom - all sand.  Saquarema has the best waves in the area - Itauna.  But Saquarema is 'the spot' and everyone knows about it, when it is good etc.  I either surf right in Rio or go exploring to not 'main' spots if we drive.  The drive to Niteroi beaches from Rio is a trek through Rio city traffic - over bridge - then through Nit town traffic.   Almost makes it not worth it because there are other places that will be good too when it is good there...unless you are staying near Niteroi.

I have never seen the water dirty in these areas but havent spent extended time there(more than couple of days).

Not sure if/what you were asking.  Just chiming info in.  But one of my wife's best friends, her husband grew up there(Niteroi) and his family still lives there. So if you did have something really specific about the area I could try to get an answer for you.  

It was just curiosity about what looked like an impressive wave, and  a bit of interest in the Rio area as an apparent hotbed of bodysurfing and bodyboarding.  

Fron another perspective, the Rio area had incredible Atlantic rain forest and is home to a lot of the cultivated bromeliads, like this Alcantarea imperialis, which apparently grows on the famous rock outcrops.

Cool Kirby! I have not surfed in Rio in some years now because my fiance now lives way up north in Fortaleza. Used to surf Rio a lot. My friends live in Copacabana and Leme. Surfed Diabo and Arpoador a lot along with Posto 5 in Copacabana. Also surfed down into Prainha and some other beaches as well.

It gets a load of swell. I need to pop in again and catch a few.

bodyboard contest. live.

Pretty gnarly, heavy conditions. Doesn't look fun to me.

And what looks like a drilling rig offshore.

itacoatiara copy.jpg  (132 KB)

Google Street View.  

	itacoatiara street copy.jpg  (233 KB)
	Itacoatiara board copy.jpg  (222 KB)

Steve...WW, I have never made it to NE area of country.  Would love to, but man that country is big...Like the US you could spend a lifetime exploring.  I would really like to somehow go to Fernando de Noronha one day.  Always wanted to go there.  Further south is nice too, like Ubatuba and Florianopolis. 

The whole area from a few hrs east and west of Rio is cool.  The city is giant, of course, but has nice energy, good food etc.  There are miles of beaches to explore and it is nice to have the condos not right on the beach... they are close! but are across the street on almost all beaches down there.  I wish FL would have done that.  Also the mountains/geography is a nice change to FLatsville.  The Sugar Loaf and Christ - tourist spots? I guess, but I love going to them, they are amazing and worth a look when not crowded.  The Sugar loaf has a mid-point stop and there is a way to hike down from there.  You can take the cable car up to top, then on way down at mid-point get off and walk - you can see monkeys etc, local plants and we have seen toucans and other cool things.  The Christ is amazing but even better is that it is located in Floresta Tijuca, which I believe is the largest urban contained rainforest.  You can explore in there and it is super cool.  Some locals never even go there...we go every time, it is a treasure.

WW...If you are checking out things on google...try to find the flat rock in the water on the SW point of Copacabana - right out from the military fort.  A lot of the locals body board that slab when it is working...the thing sucks dry at times.  Just S of there as Steve mentioned is Diablo - all the local kids foam that spot.  I love surfing it cause it almost always has something.  Then I go to the little outdoor gym at diablo where the weights are just bars stuck in different sizes of concrete...it is cool.  As far as plant life goes - I read it is more diverse because the meteor that hit in the SW Gulf of Mexcio - its plum went north and east and wiped out the plants in that direction.  So south America has more seemingly 'ancient' looking ferns, etc.  May not be true.

One correction - I was talking about beaches east of this area - Saquarema to Buzios when I said "I have never seen the water dirty there and only been a couple of days at a time to these places".  I have spent extended time in Rio area and of course I have seen the water there (RIO &  Nit) very dirty at times because of proximity to bay.  I sucked a little sip of water down one day at Arpoador on a bigger not very clean day and was sick about a day later...coulda been something else because a flu was going around but the timing was interesting!

Looks like a smooth rock dome with a wave.

Praia do diabo, Google maps photo

Google street view

At itacoatiara, day 4, mar pesado.  

Thats it!  There is the little right.  Which isnt so little sometimes.  I've seen 15+ people out there when working.  Dont go left!  Tide is pretty low in that shot I believe.  It is covered on higher tide, but not by a lot.

I'll stick to other spots:)

A really distinctive feature.  Thanks for the suggestion.  It made for some good Street View sightseeing.