from zona sul, bus number 332 (taquara x castelo via barra da tijuca) rides along copacabana, ipanema, and leblon and then covers the entire length of barra beach.   exiting the bus at the beginning of barra beach, praia dos amores can be reached by walking about 900 meters, and turning left at the pier.

this link shows the quebra mar da barra on a wikimapia - the link as we present it is best seen using google chrome, as the zoom levels might not open correctly with other browsers.