Brazil / Rio de Janeiro
Arraial do Cabo
Arraial do Cabo is a coastal resort area in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Its longest mapped beach (Praia Grande) stretches about 1.7 km and has a sand surface. The sea averages 25.1 °C in March, its warmest month, and 21.3 °C in September; it stays at 21 °C or above all year.
Average sea surface temperature by month. Current month outlined.
OpenStreetMap shows no lifeguard station within 1 km. Seasonal lifeguard posts are often unmapped, so check on site.
Services in the resort
- 154Restaurants, cafés & bars
- –Public toilets
- –Showers
- 5Car parks
- –Lifeguard stations
- 178Hotels & guesthouses
- 1Campsites
- 14Grocery shops
- 1Marinas & slipways
- 6Bus stops (1.5 km)
- 5Pharmacies & clinics
- 1Cash machines
- 1Viewpoints
Food and drink mapped within 1 km: 119 restaurants, 10 cafés, 23 bars and 2 fast-food outlets. Accommodation: 178 hotels and guesthouses.
Counted within 1 km of the beach (bus stops 1.5 km) from OpenStreetMap features and Overture Maps places, release of 2026-10. Unmapped does not mean absent.
Month by month
October at Arraial do Cabo
Beach-day index 8.0/10 · Brazil median 8.1
| Measure | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sea °C | 24.0 °C | 24.4 °C | 25.1 °C | 24.9 °C | 23.7 °C | 22.8 °C | 22.0 °C | 21.5 °C | 21.3 °C | 21.8 °C | 22.6 °C | 23.8 °C |
| High °C | 28° | 29° | 28° | 27° | 26° | 25° | 25° | 25° | 26° | 27° | 26° | 28° |
| Low °C | 23° | 23° | 23° | 22° | 20° | 19° | 18° | 18° | 19° | 20° | 21° | 22° |
| Rain mm | 173 | 99 | 130 | 70 | 67 | 37 | 39 | 35 | 54 | 97 | 176 | 198 |
| Cloud % | 69 | 60 | 64 | 55 | 55 | 47 | 45 | 44 | 57 | 69 | 78 | 73 |
| Wind m/s | 4.3 | 4.1 | 3.8 | 3.9 | 4.1 | 4.2 | 4.5 | 4.9 | 5.2 | 5.0 | 4.6 | 4.2 |
| Daylight h | 13.4 | 12.9 | 12.3 | 11.6 | 11.0 | 10.7 | 10.8 | 11.3 | 11.9 | 12.6 | 13.2 | 13.5 |
| Record high/low | 37°/20° | 36°/21° | 36°/21° | 34°/19° | 32°/17° | 32°/16° | 34°/16° | 34°/15° | 38°/15° | 36°/16° | 39°/17° | 37°/19° |
| Beach index | 7.9 | 8.6 | 8.3 | 8.9 | 8.9 | 9.1 | 8.7 | 8.6 | 8.3 | 8.0 | 7.6 | 7.7 |
Long-term monthly averages: air from NASA POWER (2001–2020), sea from NOAA OISST (1991–2020); records are the extremes of 2001–2020. How the index works.
When to go
The beach-day index peaks in February and April–August; June scores 9.1/10 with highs of 25 °C, sea at 22.8 °C and 37 mm of rain.
In June that is 1.2 points above the median of the 659 beaches in Brazil covered by this atlas.
At its warmest the water here is 1.5 °C cooler than the Brazil median for March (26.6 °C).
Across the year the sea averages 23.2 °C, warmer than 71% of the coastal beaches in the atlas.
December is the wettest month (198 mm) and August the driest (35 mm); the yearly total is about 1,180 mm.
Daylight runs from 10.7 hours in June to 13.5 hours in December; in mid-June the sun rises at 06:26 and sets at 17:10 local time.
Orientation, sun and shore
The shore faces north-north-east (15°). Open water fills about 6% of the horizon close by, which makes it a sheltered cove or bay.
At no time of year does the sun set over the sea here: sunset bearings run from 244° to 295°, behind the land.
The opposite shore is only about 500 m away to the north-north-east, which keeps the water sheltered from big waves.
About 1 km offshore the sea is roughly 19 m deep and 23 m at 3 km. Behind the beach the ground is about 8 m above sea level 500 m inland and 39 m at 1.5 km.
Within 1 km, the land is 61% built-up land, 26% tree cover and 8% grassland (satellite land-cover map, 2021): an urban beach. Water makes up 12% of that circle.
- Built 61%
- Tree 26%
- Grass 8%
- Bare 4%
Land cover: ESA WorldCover 2021 (10 m). Orientation from OpenStreetMap land polygons sampled in 36 directions; depths and heights from the GEBCO 2020 grid (about 450 m cells), indicative only.
Getting there
| Airport | Code | Distance | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santos Dumont Airport Rio de Janeiro | SDU | 117 km | west |
| Rio de Janeiro Galeão – Tom Jobim International Airport Rio De Janeiro | GIG | 127 km | west |
| Bartolomeu Lisandro Airport Campos dos Goytacazes | CAW | 159 km | north-east |
Straight-line distances from the beach; road distance is usually 20–40% longer.
Local transport: 6 bus stops within 1.5 km and 5 mapped car parks within 1 km.
2 towns and villages of 1,000+ people lie within 10 km (about 271.2K residents); within 30 km there are 5 (about 453.9K).
Around the beach
Viewpoints
- Mirante da Praia do Forno 920 m E
Attractions & museums
- Centro Cultural Manoel Camargo museum 430 m S
- Museu Oceanográfico da Marinha do Brasil museum 590 m SE
- Wave Trampolim Park attraction 740 m SW
Nature
- Tchaina cave entrance 520 m W
Islands in view
- Ilha dos Franceses 2.4 km SW
Lighthouses & piers
- Píer da Marina dos Anjos pier 880 m SE
Marinas
- Porto do Forno 700 m SE
Campsites
- Casa de Lukita 650 m E
Map and nearby beaches
Loading map…
Data on this page
- Air temperature, rain, cloud, wind, humidity: NASA POWER climatology 2001–2020, 0.5° grid.
- Sea temperature: NOAA OISST v2.1 monthly normals 1991–2020, nearest ocean cell 18.4 km away.
- Beach outline, surface, rules and public facilities: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), feature w186757518; restaurants, cafés, bars and lodging: Overture Maps places (CDLA-Permissive-2.0).
- Towns and time zone: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Airports: OurAirports (public domain). Sunrise and sunset: NOAA solar equations.
- Satellite view: Copernicus Sentinel-2 (ESA), scene S2B_23KRQ_20240315_0_L2A.
- Orientation: OpenStreetMap land polygons (ODbL). Depth and terrain: GEBCO 2020 grid.
- Settlements: GeoNames places with 1,000+ inhabitants.
- Land cover: ESA WorldCover 2021, 10 m (CC BY 4.0).
- Search popularity: about 14.8K Google searches a month for the name (KeywordTool, October 2026).
Data compiled 2026-10-13. Something wrong? Report a data error.