Hear the name “Rio de Janeiro” and among the first words to come to mind will be Ipanema, the famous neighborhood in the heart of the Wonderful City — and its equally famous beach. Having cultivated iconic status throughout Rio de Janeiro’s modern history, Ipanema Beach is one of the most celebrated strips of sand in all of Brazil.
To commemorate the release of its latest book, Best Beaches: 100 of the World’s Most Incredible Beaches, global travel guide Lonely Planet released a list of its top 20 beaches on the planet, putting Ipanema Beach all the way up in second place, referencing the “astonishing sunsets that locals frequently applaud.”
Indeed, its privileged position nestled in between Leblon and Copacabana, backing on to the Rodrigo de Freitas lagoon, and east of the striking twin hills of Morro Dois Irmãos, gives it some of the most striking sunset views in an already visually arresting city.
“It makes a lot of sense that Ipanema Beach is among the best in the world,” says Marcelo Freixo, head of Brazil’s tourist board Embratur, speaking to The Brazilian Report. “It’s a charming urban beach with unbelievable natural beauty, white sands, pleasant waters, thrilling sunsets, and a breathtaking landscape with mountains all around. That alone would make the beach a popular spot for tourists, but it’s also known for its lively atmosphere and great respect for diversity, making it a pleasant and safe place for people of all ages.”
The posto system
From Leme all the way to the very end of Leblon, Rio de Janeiro’s famous south-zone beaches are divided into postos, which literally refer to the municipal first-aid stations dotted along the sand. In practice, these postos serve as points of reference for meet-ups and car drop-offs, but in Ipanema they also divide the beach up into different vibes, crowds, and activities.
The stretch of sand begins at Posto 7, in the neighboring surfing spot of Praia do Arpoador. Posto 8 marks the official start of Ipanema Beach and, being just a block away from the subway station, is the preferred gathering spot for groups of young kids arriving from elsewhere in the city.
Posto 9, meanwhile, is the most famous portion of Ipanema, always frequented by a mainly hip young crowd, but also families and an overall mixture of groups and cultures. Its location, right in the middle of the beach, gives it the best views of the surrounding landscape.
In the middle of 8 and 9 (sometimes called Posto 8.5) is arguably the most famous LGBT beach hangout in Brazil, perpendicular with Rua Farme de Amoêdo.
But if you’re looking to encounter those famous scenes of Brazilians playing beach tennis, volleyball, or football (or futvôlei, a mix of the two), Posto 10 of Ipanema is where you need to be.
From sand to chic
For most of Rio de Janeiro’s history, Ipanema and its neighbors Copacabana and Leblon were overlooked as deserted, sand-covered plots of land. Indeed, it was only really at the start of the 20th century that Brazil’s then-capital city began expanding into what today is known as its South Zone.
At that time, the owner of what was then the village of Ipanema was José Antônio Moreira Filho, a businessman from the interior of São Paulo state who had become the Baron of Ipanema in the mid-19th century.
Ipanema, in its Tupi-Guarani indigenous linguistic roots, could be interpreted and translated as “useless water,” or “smelly river.” That water in question, however, refers to the Ipanema River in the countryside of São Paulo and not the world-famous beach.
The growth of Ipanema and Rio de Janeiro’s South Zone as a whole began with the 1892 opening of the Túnel Real Grandeza (now commonly known as Túnel Velho, or the Old Tunnel) which burrowed through the hills to link the traditional neighborhood of Botafogo to what was then the nascent region of Copacabana.
Thanks to Rio de Janeiro’s improbable and unique topography, boring a tunnel through the hills would be the only way to expand the city’s famous tram system to the underexplored south. The first tram line reached Ipanema in 1902, beginning an unstoppable process of real estate speculation and population growth.
The birth of bossa nova
Ipanema continued to grow and become one of the wealthiest parts of Brazil’s capital, replacing its low-rise houses with apartment blocks to accommodate the affluent middle class wanting to make the neighborhood their home. But Ipanema would only make its way into the national consciousness in the late 1950s and early 1960s, thanks to the birth of the quintessential 20th-century Brazilian musical style, bossa nova.
Frequently described as a fusion of samba and jazz, bossa nova came about as the result of the upper-middle-class social scene in Rio de Janeiro’s south, particularly in Copacabana and Ipanema. Young musicians and students got together and developed this “new beat” of samba, stripping back all the instruments until they were left with only nylon-string classical guitars and soft-spoken vocalists.
And the reason for Ipanema’s global fame has everything to do with bossa nova. In 1962, composing duo Antônio Carlos “Tom” Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes sat on the sidewalk outside Bar Veloso one afternoon, just one block from the sands of Ipanema. They saw a tall, tanned teenage girl, Helô Pinheiro, walk past on her way to the beach and composed what would become one of the most famous songs of all time.
The Girl From Ipanema (originally Garota de Ipanema) became a global hit, being recorded in Portuguese and English by countless artists since its original release.
As the story goes, American songwriter Normal Gimbel, who translated the lyrics to English, wanted to remove any reference to Ipanema from the song, believing its mention would be meaningless to a U.S. audience. Tom Jobim, however, insisted that they remain — which is potentially why the neighborhood and its eponymous beach are known today the world over.
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