the lagoa de marapendi is a lagoon, that divides the rio de janeiro neighborhood of barra da tijuca in half. it extends for ten kilometers and is surrounded by marapendi natural municipal park, which consists mostly of flora and fauna of the mangrove variety due to its proximity to the water.

from ipanema and copacabana the journey to barra is usually less than an hour by car, or about two hours by bike - on one of the most scenic bike trails, following the coastline and  across the mountainous area containing morro dois irmãos, corcovado and pedra da gávea - with the breezes coming in from the atlantic ocean, lagoa de marapendi is a well known sailing location- the word marapendi derives from the tupi (indigenous brazilian) word meaning 'clean ocean'