reaching all the way to the
costa verde regionin the south of the state of
rio, the sand bar creates about seventy-nine square kilometers
of beach area. at the entrance of the
sepetiba bay, marambaia faces
ilha grande(the
big island). the highest peak of the sandbar is
pico
marambaia, which elevates 647 meters above the sea.
in the language of the tupi, the original
inhabitants of this region, the word 'mba-ra-mbai'
or 'mbara-mbai'
meant enclosed waters, referring to the
sepetiba bay - characterized by calm waters as opposed to
the wild waves of the rest of the coast facing the atlantic
ocean.