I live in Rio and decided to visit this place two weeks ago, which I had always heard about from some locals. And it is amazing. About one hour drive from central Rio, Barra de Guaratiba is far, and if you do not have a car you should consider renting a car to do it. The cab will be much more expensive. The Barra de Guaratiba beach itself is nice, but what makes the experience unforgetable is the walk to the wild beaches of Perigoso, Praia do Meio, Praia Funda e Praia do Inferno. These are beaches that cannot be accessed unless by walking, and are extremely wild and exclusive for those with a taste for adventure and with a good physical condition, once the trekking can be quite hard in some points. During the same walk, if you still feel good, you can still go all the way up to the Pedra do Telégrafo, a view that became famous because the stone creates a visual effect that seems that your hanging in a stone over a precipice. But if you want to do it too, make sure you go REALLY (I mean be there around 8am no later) early, because the access is quite narrow is there are loads of people queuing to take a picture. It is a great one day program, absolutely different from what you expect of Rio. The wild beaches reminded me of Noronha. But remember: there's nothing around to buy, eat, drink... unless in the beginning of the trekking, in Guaratiba. So bring a bag with food and 2 lt of water at least. And wear proper shoes.

Due to the good reviews I decided to go to Barra de Guaratiba with my family Arriving there, as it was Carnival holidays, no cars passed past the base of the restriction so we had to stop the car very far away and pay 20.00 to park on the street and continue on foot, arriving at the nearest beach via the stairs as per the photo, note that it was very crowded, no comfort and very strong smell of sewage and no clear water I imagined something and when I got there I came across this situation. I don't know if it's empty or crystal clear waters outside of a holiday There are more beautiful beaches, but they are approximately 1 hour away on foot. To go to the telegraph there was a 2/3 hour queue Not everything they say there is, look, I did a lot of research.