rio de janeiro goes well beyond a purely beach-based travel destinations - rio is a complete city, rich with a wide variety of entertainment and cultural activities that richly complement beach life.

as a result, after sunset the attention of most beach-loving cariocas shifts away from the beaches and gravitates towards events scattered around many neighborhoods of rio, often away from the beach areas.

this said, beaches in rio do not get abandoned at night - in fact, after sunset, the sands of the main beaches of zona sul become training grounds for  practicing volley, soccer, foot-volley, and other sports.