Olympics 2016: Arriving in Rio de Janeiro

The international Airport of Rio, Antonio Carlos Jobim / Galeão, is located 15km from the city center.

The best option is to get Premium Auto Ônibus (R$14) that departs in every 30 minutes to the main touristic neighborhoods of Rio. There’s a carrel in the lower part of the vehicle where you can store larger luggages with no additional costs. The driver will help you to load in and off the bus when you disembark.

Premium Auto Ônibus: get the 2018/Zona Sul

The blue bus departs from the arriving bay from Terminal 1 and covers Terminal 2 as well. It has the number 2018 written on the orange LED display. Make sure you’ll get the line the goes through Zona Sul (south zone). It goes to Centro (downtown), then makes a connection at the Santos Dumont Airport (domestic flights) and then goes to Glória, Catete, Flamengo, Botafogo, Copacabana, Ipanema, Leblon, São Conrado and Barra da Tijuca (until Alvorada Terminal).

Hours:
Mon-Fri, 5:30AM-Midnight;
Sat-Sun, 5:30AM-11:40PM

Regular taxi cabs are not recommended because not all drivers are trustable and many of them want to charge higher fares, mainly for tourists. Their regular amount stands between R$60 and R$90.

Radio taxis are offered inside the airport, but they are really expensive. The standard fare is around R$130 to Copacabana/Ipanema.

Unfortunately, Uber cars are not allowed to operate in the airport area yet.

Arriving at the Santos Dumont Airport

If you are coming from another brazilian city, there’s a chance you arrive at the Santos Dumont Airport. Not only the view is more pleasant during the landing time, but also you have more options to get to your final destination, since the airport is located in the city center and near by the main neighborhoods.

You can call Uber or get the Premium Auto Bus (R$14) mentioned above, or take a regular taxi cab (keep your eye on Waze) and even cross the footbridge over the street and get a regular city bus (R$3,80), if you don’t have many luggages, of course.

Check our Quick Tips about the transportation system in Rio de Janeiro.

 

Where to meet gay guys online in Brazil

One of the hardest things about traveling abroad is to find information about local gay guys online. Besides the social apps (Grindr, Scruff, Hornet and Tinder), you can also meet brazilian men on local social networks:

Sexlog
The largest adult social network in Brazil. With more than 5 million users, the site offer a myriad of services powered by real people: livecam, videos, photos and messaging. Another interesting feature is the Groups section, where you can find several types of interests: dogging, bissexuals, swingers, gym communities etc.

D4Swing
This social network is specialized in swing and also has a lot of people who just want to meet other people. It’s not exclusively gay, but there you can find a lot of guys looking for other guys. There are a lot of guys from the southern cities in Brazil.

Disponivel.com
Gay adult social network. Requires a free membership in order to view most of the content. The videos are available only for paying members. Their interface hasn’t been refreshed in a long time, that makes it look like a website from the year 2000.

International sites like Fbuds.com, Squirt.org and Uplust are also used by brazilian guys.

feXXXta: Men-only sex party in Rio

XXX is a sex party for men that happens in Rio de Janeiro. Everything is allowed as long as the people involved are willing to do so. You decide if you’ll to have sex or just have a drink, chat with other guys, cruise or be a voyeur.

The crowd is mixed: twinks, daddies, skinny, hunks, bears, everybody is welcome.

The party is organized by Felipe, a very sweet guy. He knows almost everyone in the house. Once you get to the place, he’ll show you the house and make you feel comfortable enough to do whatever comes to your mind. This makes the environment more friendly than the other sex parties in Rio de Janeiro. I havecolleagues in the party and it’s nice to see them again when I come back.

Rules:
1. The event is exclusive for men over 18 years old;
2. The entrance is paid by cash only upon arrival. Credit and debit cards are accepted only at the bar;
3. Mandatory: wear speedos or underwear;
4. Nude is optional;
5. Cameras ARE NOT ALLOWED;
6. Escort services ARE NOT ALLOWED;
7. The party has a locker room to keep your belongings. The organizers are not responsible for lost items in the party;
8. Politeness is required. There’s no need to be rude when turning down an invitation and there’s no need to be annoying when someone turns you down: “Yes” is yes and “No” is no;
9. Destructive attitudes are not allowed;
10. The organizers don’t share clients contacts.

feXXXta (Open Sex Party 18+)
Sundays, from 4pm to 11pm
Public: Mixed.
Place: Cascadura neighborhood
Average Price: R$30, R$20 or R$40 (depends on arrival time)
Features: Bar, Showers, Locker Room, Private Rooms, Darkroom
Official Website

Safety tips from Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro is not as dangerous as you see in the news, but not as safe as Iceland. Like in every major city, you don’t want to walk around with your camera hanging on your neck or leave your phone on the external pocket of your backpack. The general rule is show the less as possible and try to take only the necessary for the walk.

Be careful when you use your gadgets out in the streets. Try not to use it close to the drive ways. There are cases of kids on motorcycles/bicycles stealing people across the street. It is always better to enter a cafe or a store to check you phone or a map.

Try to be precise. If you want to take a picture, just take it and store your equipment back in your bag. Try to look casual and as if you knew exactly where you are going to. Don’t stay looking at a map in the middle of the sidewalk.

Rio de Janeiro Gay Beach Guide

Where To Go

The best beaches for people in Rio de Janeiro are Ipanema (Arpoador, Praia do Diabo, Coqueirão and Farme de Amoedo street), Copacabana (Leme, Siqueira Campos street), and Barra da Tijuca (Praia da Reserva). If you like to stay naked in the sun, you might go to Praia do Abricó, which is very far.

What To Wear

Brazilian men often wear swim briefs and board shorts at the beach. The speedos are a little taller on the sides than the usual speedos. Check the following brands to have an idea: Redley, Foxton, Reserva, Osklen.

Women usually wear bikinis which tend to be narrower in the back. If you have a larger one, don’t mind: you should feel comfortable with your own bikini.

Both men and women take cangas (beach towels) to lay while in the beach. They are actually lighter than the regular beach towels. You can rent a beach chair and sunshade at the beach, but the prices are high, specially on the holiday/event times.

If you plan to spend a lot of time under the sun, you might want to buy your own set at stores like Casa & Video, Walmart and Lojas Americanas. At these stores, the average price for a sunshade is R$30 and a beach chair costs around R$40.

Vocabulary
Speedos: Sunga
Large Swim Brief: Sungão
Board Shorts: Bermuda (Praia/Surfe)
Bikini: Biquíni
Beach Towel: Canga

What to Eat

You’ll see a lot of people selling all kinds of products at the beaches, from fried shrimps to  grilled cheese and Empadas. You may try any of them at your own risk. The classic (and safer) combo is to buy Biscoito O Globo, a snack made of tapioca starch, and Matte, an iced tea made of mate herb. It is served from a gallon and you can mix a little bit of lime juice with it.

Vocabulary
Water: Água
Coconut Water: Água de Coco
Ice Tea: Matte
Lime: Limão
Beer: Cerveja
Caipirinha

Quick Tips: Bus, Subway, VLT and Bike system in Rio de Janeiro

The transportation services in Rio are not good if compared to other large cities. The subway system have only two lines and, although it doesn’t take you near Pão de Açúcar or Christ The Redeemer, it covers most of the touristic neighborhoods. (The blue lines on the maps are ‘surface metro’, a.k.a. buses).

There is Bilhete Único Carioca/RioCard (Carioca Single Ticket) which is accepted on bus, subway and VLT. They are sold and recharged only in few stations: Botafogo, Carioca (Downtown), Alvorada Terminal (Barra da Tijuca). See a complete list here.

If you don’t intend to ride the bus system, you can buy a Metro Permanent Pass (the first charge is R$5) so that you can recharge it by yourself. The advantage is that they can be recharged in every metro station. The trains have air conditioner and audio tips in English, which are useful for foreigners.

The bus system is being restructured without proper notification and visual updates, so don’t be surprised if you ask for information and someone can’t help you: even the cariocas are confused about the bus lines. Many bus drivers have to change the passenger’s bills while driving, so they are usually stressful people.

We have a bike system sponsored by a bank. It has stations all over the city. Take a look at the Rio de Janeiro’s Bike Map, which includes both exclusive and shared ways (cars) and sidewalks (pedestrians) for bikes.

Avoid getting taxis on the street because you can’t trust all drivers. If you have to do so, research the best way to your destination once you get in the cab and keep tracking the path along the way. Waze is very precise in Rio de Janeiro.

It’s better to use apps like 99 Taxis because their drivers tend to be more polite and trustable. The best solution is to use Uber. It’s cheaper and the drivers are better too.

Metro: R$4,10. Hours: Weekdays from 5:00 am to 12 pm. Weekends from 7 am to 11 pm.
Bus: R$3,80. Hours: depends on the line.
VLT (TRAM): Hours: 24 hours/day.
Bike Rio: Monthly Pass: R$10. Daily Pass: R$5

Carioca’s Lifestyle: tips from Rio de Janeiro

This is a quick start for you to get along with the carioca’s way of life.

Relax and take a shower

Cariocas tend to be friendly, warm and direct people. Some people tend to touch others while having a conversation. This is not a general rule and we can’t even say that everyone approve this, but just don’t be offended if it happens to you.

A lot of people like to make jokes about everything, sometimes about facts of your life. So save yourself some humor, relax and understand that the person is only trying to be nice making fun of a situation.

Make sure you shower at least once a day, preferentially twice – one after you wake up and another one before going to bed. We usually freak out when we hear about someone who doesn’t do that – it usually happens with people from really cold countries. We live under a hot and moist weather, so keep you shower and deodorant use up to date.

Noite Transex – Transex Party in Rio de Janeiro

Transvestites, crossdressers and transgenders also have their own party in Rio de Janeiro. The night begins at the first floor with T Girls and artists doing some lip-sync and dance presentations. It’s the time for men to get some drink relax and chat with the girls.

Then the male stripper comes in an tease the girls around. They also perform live sex shows behind a curtain. Around 2am, the DJ begins to play funk sounds and the other floors are opened to the public. You can loose yourself in a maze, have a surprise in the dark room or enjoy your night in one of the private booties.

Noite Transex – Transexual Party
Opening Hours: Wed, 11:30 pm-5am
Venue: Club Mix Bar
Address: Rua do Mercado, 25 – Centro (Praça XV)
Transport: Subway (Carioca), Bus (1º de Março Street)
Price:
R$40 + R$10 (couvert), (from 11:30 pm to 12: 30 am), R$15 = bar consumption
R$60 (after 12:30 am), R$20 = bar consumption
Crowd: Transexuals, Cross-Dressers and their lovers.
Features: Bar, Private Rooms, Darkroom
Sample Photos
Official Website