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.