For the fishermen's wives,  the art of 'Bobbin Lace' in which a bobbin (various size and shaped pieces of wood) are used to wind thread around and then applied to a pattern on a piece of cardboard. This activity was both a way to earn extra income for the family as it was to gossip with the other women in the village.

With a current population of around 25,000, the area is located a little over 100 miles east of the city of Rio and its port city of Porto do Forno is the focal point for arrivals of Carioca's and international visitors alike, looking to escape the big city and relax along the clean white beaches and partake in what some argue is the best scuba diving to be found in Brazil. 

In 1997 the Marine Extractive Reserve of Arraial do Cabo was established to protect the local ecosystem and it is also one of the best areas to watch the humpback whale migrations.