many homes on the islands have a direct water access, and small piers. this means that the location is incredibly calm, contrasting with the liveliness of the rest of barra da tijuca - and it also virtually free of any crime or robberies.

 the government has put in place a number of cleaning and revitalization measures including a requalification program and dredging of the local lagoons to address  issues related to water stagnation and pollution. despite these efforts some problems still persist and, especially after heavy rains, the pollution of the lagoa becomes apparent. nevertheless, the reflections of the mountains around it make of this neighborhood a very special place. 

in the beach section of this guide, we publish a detailed description of all the islands in the largo do banco - ilha primeira, ilha da gigóia, ilha dos pescadores, ilha do ribeiro, ilha do amílcar, ilha das garças, ilha da fantasia, ilha matilde, ilha da marina, and ilha da coroa.