Breathtaking surf haven Prainha may be only a 45-minute drive from Ipanema, but for those without a car, there's a happy alternative to be found in the Surf Bus, a Rio institution that has been whisking pros, amateurs and sun-seekers alike up the coast since 2003. Kitted out with a DVD player for the constant rotation of surf movies and room for twenty boards and their owners, you’ll be planning your tube-riding within minutes of setting off. An air horn nestled atop the roof signals the bus’s passage from Largo do Machado past Leblon and out beyond Barra da Tijuca to Macumba, before eventually stopping just shy of Prainha, leaving a fifteen minute amble down to the golden sands. Check the return times with the conductor (read: friendly local teenage surfer with a cool job), but arrive in good time anywhere en route along the city beach road and wave it down – its R$5 well spent.