Routes · South America
Lagos to Rio de Janeiro's Lakes Coast: Búzios and Arraial do Cabo
Lagos → Búzios → Arraial do Cabo
A peninsula of 23 beaches & Brazil's dive capital Best season (general guide): Dec–Apr
East of Rio de Janeiro, the Lakes Coast is where the shoreline turns north, with clear water, white sand and a string of resort towns. This route spends four nights in Búzios and three in Arraial do Cabo. From Lagos you'll connect to Rio de Janeiro, then go by road along the coast. Armação dos Búzios, usually just Búzios, is a municipality in the state of Rio de Janeiro, 173 kilometres east of the city of Rio and 24 kilometres south-west of Cabo Frio.
How to pace it: Spend days one to four in Búzios: day one, road east from Rio; day two, beaches of the west coast; day three, surf beaches of the east coast; day four, Rua das Pedras and the waterfront. Then spend days five to seven in Arraial do Cabo: day five, road to Arraial via Cabo Frio; day six, boat to the island beaches; day seven, dive or snorkel.
Búzios remained almost unknown until 1964, when the French actress Brigitte Bardot visited the small village. After that, it became popular with Rio's high society and grew into an international resort. The peninsula has over 23 beaches. Its west coast beaches have calm, clear water, while those on the east coast face the open sea and draw surfers.
Cabo Frio, between the two towns, means Cold Cape, after its cape and its water, which is colder than in nearby places. Its sand stays cool in the sun because it lacks mica. At Cabo Frio, the Brazilian coast, running east from Rio, turns sharply north. Arraial do Cabo, a municipality of 30,593 people in 2020, was founded in 1503 by Amerigo Vespucci.
Its position made it an important and dangerous point in the age of sail, and many ships were wrecked off it from 1503 to the nineteenth century. Partly because of those wrecks, Arraial do Cabo is known as Brazil's Dive Capital. The municipality manages the Ilha do Cabo Frio Biological Reserve, a protected island in its south-east.
The southern summer, from December to April, is the beach season.
Safety: Canada advises a high degree of caution in Brazil because of crime (updated 5 Oct 2026), and the US rates Brazil Level 2 (31 Aug 2026).
Suggested outline
Lagos
Búzios
A resort peninsula east of Rio.
Arraial do Cabo
A fishing town famous for diving.
"Prainha Pontal do atalaia Arraial do cabo rj.jpg" by Sophydiah, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons· licence
Day by day
- Day 1 · Búzios — Arrive; road east from Rio· Lagos → Búzios (by road)
- Day 2 · Búzios — Beaches of the west coast
- Day 3 · Búzios — Surf beaches of the east coast
- Day 4 · Búzios — Rua das Pedras and the waterfront
- Day 5 · Arraial do Cabo — Road to Arraial via Cabo Frio· Búzios → Arraial do Cabo (by road)
- Day 6 · Arraial do Cabo — Boat to the island beaches
- Day 7 · Arraial do Cabo — Dive or snorkel
- Day 8 · Arraial do Cabo — Travel home from Arraial do Cabo· Arraial do Cabo → Rio de Janeiro (by road), then Rio de Janeiro → Lagos (by air)
A suggested pace only; expedition days are set by the operator.
Flights, leg by leg
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Búzios
Nearest airport: Rio de Janeiro
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