Ipanema

This Rio de Janeiro beach is so famous that it has a song named after it “The Girl from Ipanema”, or else the beach is made more famous because of the song.

The waves flatten out close to the sand here making it bad for fishing but good for pretty much everything else. Two mountains known as the 'Two Brothers' rise out of the western end of the beach which arcs away, flat and elegant with the constant ocean swells keeping the water clean. There is usually a game of beach volleyball or football taking place; the waves form barrels so there is a reasonable surfing and beer stand located at appropriate intervals.
Next to, but more up market than Copacabana, Ipanema’s streets are arranged in grids making it easy to get around and it has its own university, theatres and galleries as well as its own mini Carnival in carnival season.