perhaps more remarkable than the sheer number of beaches in rio, is how dramatically different these beaches can be from one another - somehow reflecting the city's complexity, rio's beaches can be extremely diverse, both in terms of natural formations, and in terms of the crowds frequenting them. while some beaches are hip social meeting points to see and to be seen, other beaches are so remote and preserved to resemble undiscovered tropical islands.   

shot in 2007, a wonderful documentary spanning across many of the most important beaches in rio de janeiro is 'faixa de areia' (stretch of sand), by daniela kallmann and flávia lins e silva, analyzes the diversity of rio's beaches seen through the eyes of many cariocas from different walks of life - a preview of the documentary can bee seen on this page.