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Uruguay
Photo: Casaseneleste, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
The Atlantic Coast of Uruguay consists of two departments, Maldonado and Rocha, both full of beaches.
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The two most popular surf destinations are La Pedrera and Punta del Diablo, including the nearby Santa Teresa. While in Punta del Diablo you can find Uruguay's longest right break, La Moza, the waves in La Pedrera are said to be bigger. Besides these two hotspots surfing schools offering lessons and renting boards can be found pretty much everywhere along the coast.
Between Barra de Valizas and Cabo Polonio. The whole way: 7 km/2 h across, 12 km/3 h along the beach. Or you just hike up and back. Walking along the beach, right after Barra de Valizas you will have to cross a river, which you can either do by boat (U$80 return), or you just walk through the waist-high water, best at the frontier between the river and the sea.
The large dune is an excellent opportunity to surf down a steep sandy slope. Boards can be rented in Barra de Valizas.
Barra de Valizas has live music every evening in the summer from performing artists that travel the region.
By bus
Frequent buses are available from Montevideo; see the Tres Cruces Bus Terminal website for schedules. A few buses are also available from other parts of Uruguay.
By car
The most important highways are the Interbalnearia, which connects Montevideo to Punta del Este; Route 10, which hugs the coast; and Route 9, which is a little further inland.
By boat
Cruise ships and yachts can dock at Punta del Este.
Depending on where you're trying to go, you might have direct buses multiple times a day or you might find yourself having to transfer on a route that does not run frequently.
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Punta del Este · Regional · PDP
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Barra de Valizas is on the Atlantic Coast of Uruguay. The town with its large beach is particularly popular with hippies and other alternative types.
Cabo Polonio is an off-grid beach village in the Atlantic Coast region of Uruguay.
La Paloma is a city in the Atlantic Coast region of Uruguay.
Piriápolis is a small beach town between Montevideo and Punta del Este in Uruguay.
Punta del Este is a beach resort town in Uruguay complete with casinos, beaches, yachts and lots of tourists from all over the world. Many of these tourists come from the other side of the Rio de la Plata from Argentina to get some nice fun in the sun on a beach away from the brown waters of the Rio de la Plata.
Punta del Diablo is a small seaside village in the Department of Rocha on the Atlantic Coast of Uruguay. Amid the notable development which houses summer crowds, the town maintains its rustic charm, with only a handful of colorful shops, a seasonal outcropping of bohemian cafes, a school and a beach full of fishing boats.
Chuy is a town in the Atlantic Coast region of Uruguay, with its twin town of Chuí right across the street in Brazil. The main street in Chuy is the actual border between Uruguay and Brazil.
Maldonado is a city on the Atlantic coast of Uruguay, just north of the beach town of Punta del Este.
Rocha is the capital of the department of the same name in the Atlantic coast region of Uruguay. While the department of Rocha is a popular area full of great beach towns, the city of Rocha is a fairly boring administrative capital, not any kind of tourist destination.
Santa Teresa National Park is a protected natural coastal area and national monument in the Rocha Department along the Atlantic Coast of Uruguay. The park features an historic 18th century fortress as well as beaches, forests and natural attractions.
San Miguel National Park (Parque nacional San Miguel) is a protected natural area in the Atlantic Coast region in eastern Uruguay. It is the site of the Fuerte de San Miguel, an historic stone coastal defense fortress established by the Spanish in 1734.
Laguna de Rocha is a protected natural area in the Atlantic Coast region of Uruguay. It is part of the Uruguayan national parks system and is an important breeding ground for aquatic bird species in South America.
Articles and travel topics about Atlantic Coast (Uruguay) and Uruguay.
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