Barra da Tijuca is a southwestern borough of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, known for its natural and opulent beauty. Rio de Janeiro, commonly known as Rio, is the capital city of the Rio de Janeiro State, the second largest city of Brazil and the third largest metropolitan area in South America. Since July 2012, part of the city has been designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in the category of ''cultural landscape''.
It is an area with more than 20 malls, including the largest shopping center in South America (Barrashopping), magnificent buildings, towers and mansions of great luxury, as well as the biggest convention center in South America (Riocentro). The Rio Olympic Games in 2016 will be partially held in Barra, because of its great sports facilities that are located in the borough.
Barra’s beach starts from Morro da Joa and ends at the Recreio dos Bandeirantes neighborhood, a distance of 18 km/11 mi. It constitutes the longest beach in Rio de Janeiro and also one of the most beautiful ones with clean, green tropical waters, gold sand, plenty of seafood restaurants, kiosks and a cycling line.
The spot’s weather conditions offer you the chance to practice your favorite extreme sport, wind surfing. The water quality is excellent, the sea bottom is sandy and the current is medium (1-2 knots). There is no tide dependency and the direction of local winds is mainly east.
You can windsurf any time of the year, on condition that you first check out the weather forecast, bearing in mind that the windy season starts in August and ends in March. The beach attends to the needs of any kind of windsurfer, since it offers waves of low, intermediate and high difficulty, due to the variation of conditions.
Even if you are a beginner, with no previous experience, you will be given the chance to learn windsurfing with the help of a great number of local schools, located in the spot. As for the water and air temperature, it is usually so warm, that wet suits are not necessary.
