part of a group of beaches locally known as adventure or wild beaches, praia do inferno (hell's beach) is one of rio's last remaining untouched beaches, almost always deserted, and still feeling like a lost tropical island in the middle of the ocean.

also known as the praia do penedo (small rock/island), none of the local residents could tell us why the beach is named this way, considering that it is more a paradise then anything else - perhaps, we were told, someone wanted to keep people away by giving it a scary name.

amazingly, this beach is actually located within rio's city boundaries, in rio's south-west zone within the grumari natural reserve park (reserva ecológica de grumari), home to the more famous beaches of grumari and prainha.