Rio is a place to enjoy on the long term as a kiteboarder. You might go there on a 10 days trip like me and not have the luck to find much wind. In fact, it is not the same wind fabric as you might find up North of Brazil, where all the most famous spots are (Cumbuco, Paracuru …), but it offers plenty of different activities to do and there is so much to see that you won’t have time in such a short time.
I indeed had only one day of proper wind while they had a full week of wind before I came, and it kicked back as soon as I left… What a luck. However the waves were coming in nicely every single day and we had some nice surf sessions with Reno and could also do a bit of tow in surfing to hit the kickers and try some airs. All you need is a nice friend with a jetski. But Reno has plenty of these friends!
So Rio is more for someone who wants to discover the other Brazil, a Brazil of  islands, tropical forest and mountains just next to the huge city, favelas all around and definitely a cool night life.
We did a bit of tourism which we didn’t like so much. Being in the middle of smelly tourists all over the place was not fun. But being in Rio, I had at least to go and see the amazing view up at the Christ statue… It is actually worth once you are up there. It was also the first time we both went to a football game, it was quite crazy to see the crowd cheering loudly when there was some action from Ronaldinho who actually played very badly.

The main spot for kiting and even great surfing is Barra. You got kilometers of white stunning beaches with the finest sand, waves all along to surf or use as kickers, good water and air temperature… definitely a city I could be living in for water sports.

Thanks a lot to Andre Magarao and Gago for the pics!