Punta del Este, Uruguay
PUNTA DEL ESTE, THE “St. Tropez of Uruguay”
Endless beaches, scenic coastal landscapes, luxurious yachts, coastal villas, seaside boulevards and sunny climate….
This is what makes Punta del Este one of the top beach resorts of South America, and the place to be if you want to
spot the rich and famous enjoying the friendly touch of the Uruguay sun. For decades Punta del Este was an
exclusive resort for wealthy South Americans, but that is slowly changing. A new casino, more luxurious restaurants
and hotels, never ending sports activities, plenty of natural attractions, shops, nightclubs and a temperate climate
beckons to international travellers. The local pine trees scent the air and add to the sense of relaxation.
A LUXURY RESORT ON A PENINSULA
Driving from either Montevideo or the Punta del Este International airport, and carrying on along the road East, an
overhead road sign announces the end of the dual carriageway. This marks the entrance to the most prestigious
seaside resort zone in Uruguay, the one chosen for family holidays by wealthy businessmen in the region and
beyond, the most famous artists and models in South America as well as by tourists from all over the world. This is
the so-called Punta del Este zone of influence beginning with the Solanas del Mar complex and Portezuelo beach and
bay and ending, on this first stretch, in Punta Ballena, from which lookout point on the top of the ‘lomo de la ballena’
(the whale's back) one can admire a spectacular view of the bay, not to mention the sunsets. Punta del Este offers
20 miles of pristine beaches. Mansa, or gentle beach, is on the bay side, very suitable for children as it has no waves,
while the one facing the Atlantic Ocean, Brava beach can be rough. These are terrifically crowded during the
Summer season, which begins in December and ends in March. Locals use other beaches, notably to La Barra de
Maldonado, a beautiful inlet that flows from the Back Bay area of Maldonado out to the Atlantic Ocean. One of the
city landmarks is the Dedos (Fingers) monument of a huge hand sculpture with its fingers sticking out of the sand at
Brava beach.
CASAPUEBLO
The hand of Uruguayan Poet & Artist Carlos Paez Vilaró, built an uneven white cloak down one of the cliffs over the
sea making that rocky point famous and hard for the traveller to pass up on. Driving the road up the steep slope
known as the ‘lomo de la ballena’ (the whale's back) to the top, one can see the bay opening onto the sea in all its
glory. A road fork off to the right leads to the so-called "panoramic route". You then come to Casa Pueblo, the work
of Paez Vilaró, now turned into a studio museum, but whose main charm consists of admiring its whimsical and
original forms from afar. "Casa Pueblo” with ¡its walls as white as snow, its rounded corners, lying back against the
rocks and falling onto the sea, reminds one of a glacier or the Santorini homes hanging from the crater as seen from
a distance. From the lookout point at the very end of this panoramic route, and turning your eyes East, South and
West, you can get a pretty good idea of how generous Mother Nature has been with this part of Uruguay's
coastland.
ONE OF THE BEST SEASIDE RESORTS IN THE WORLD
Punta del Este is by far the most frequently visited seaside resort in the country and is regarded as one of the best in
the world. Of all tourism proceeds coming into Uruguay, over 60% derive from tourism coming from Punta del Este
and over two-thirds of its visitors pack into the Summer months, in particular the last week of December and the
first week of January, as well as continuous until March. Around 10,000 live year round in and around the city, while
in high season population grows to over half a million, most of them Argentineans who own summer homes there,
as well as Brazilians and others. Punta del Este has amassed the largest foreign capital investments in Uruguay and
has helped contribute to its remarkable development.
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF HISTORY
In fact, Punta del Este is the name of a city founded 100 years ago on the peninsula that marks the place where the
waters of the River Plate end to the West and meet the waters of the Atlantic Ocean to the East. Before a law was
passed in July 1907 making ¡t a town, the village existing here was called Balneario Ituzaingò and had @400
permanent inhabitants. The most important buildings then, were the lighthouse and the Customs building. The only
way to reach this place, was by sea, since the existing road only went as far as the departmental capital, Maldonado.
In 1905 a local shipping firm, together with an Argentinean company that made the run between Buenos Aires and
Montevideo, began to organize tourist excursions -fifty passengers per trip- and in the same year the postal service
was set up and the foundation stone for a church was laid. The first large-scale investment ¡n the new-found resort
was of 400,000 gold pesos for the construction of the Hotel Biarritz, and Punta del Este has continued to receive
major private investments ever since.
GORLERO STREET
The resort's main street is Gorlero, which splits the peninsula into two. Here you can enjoy window-shopping,
buskers, living statues and jugglers or just find a nice spot in a café or fast-food restaurant to recharge batteries after
a day on the beach. A stroll up & down this street at sundown is a must and done by many of all ages. At the start of
this street, and close to the bus Terminal, is the resort's oldest casino (Nogaró), were luck can be tried at the roulette
or slots. If gambling isn't your thing and you prefer to take a leisure walk for different entertainment, then you
should wander down Gorlero street in direction of the traffic, and on the same curb side as the Casino, go into the
Craft Market at Artigas Square. The market is set up nightly and will surprise you with the good taste and ingenuity
of Uruguayan craft workers as they fashion assorted articles from wood, bone, glass, semiprecious stones (quartz
and amethyst), metals, fabrics and wool and can discuss with their makers the techniques used in their creation. For
a very reasonable price, you can also pose for a street artist to make a caricature portrait of yourself in pencil or
charcoal. In this same square where the artisans set up their stalls, there are shows by musicians, mime artists,
jugglers and puppeteers mostly on weekends.
THE PORT OF PUNTA DEL ESTE
During daylight hours, and all year long, the port zone has everything you need to make it a pleasant family program.
On summer nights it is one of the busiest parts of the resort, full of lovers of fine cooking and young people looking
for live music and entertainment. In the port itself, just a few yards from the jetties where cabin cruisers and fishing
boats tie up, there is an assorted choice of cuisine with excellent quality and variety. Occasionally sea lions are seen
swimming right by the dock feeding from left over from the fishing boats. The port is naturally sheltered by the
break water caused by Gorriti Island which lies just over a mile off shore.
BARRA TOWN
The small town that was established on the site were the Maldonado river meets the ocean, is called La Barra, and
an area with excellent art galleries, antique shops, restaurants, and so on. It is very picturesque and an active
meeting place with splendid beaches. In January it is the top area of Punta del Este both during day and night.
GORRITI ISLAND
Gorriti Island is in the natural wide bay at which one end is Punta del Este Peninsula and the other is Punta Ballena
Peninsula. It is 1.5 km long by 800 meters wide. The stretch of sea that separates the island from Punta del Este is
called Boca Chica (Little Mouth) and is up to 14 metres deep ¡n some places; while Boca Grande (Large Mouth), over
7 kilometres wide, and it separates ¡t from Punta Ballena. The island's original name was "Maldonado island", but in
the second half of the 18th century the military commander of Montevideo, Francisco de Gorriti, set up a gun
battery there to ward off from pirates invading the coast to slaughter cattle. That is when it took on its present
name. Its main attractions are Puerto Jardín and Playa Honda beaches. To take advantage of those, there are boat
trip crossings during the day departing from the port of Punta del Este.
LOBOS ISLAND (SEALIONS ISLAND)
Lobos island is located 8.5 kilometres off the coast in the Atlantic Ocean, facing Punta del Este's Playa Brava beach.
It is Uruguay's Southernmost territory. Before a lighthouse was raised in 1906 on this rocky, barren platform of just
over 40 hectares, its crags caused dozens of ships to sink. The island has a colony of sea lions that is unique in the
world for the quantity and variety of species and is also the second largest sea lion reserve in South America. The
only remaining are -180,000- of the species "arctoce phalus australis, commonly called lobo fino (South American fur
seal), which inhabits the rockiest part of the island. Another family species settled on the island is el peluca or león
marino (otaria flauescens) (South American sea lion). The males measure over 2 metres long and weigh 300 kilos.
Until some decades ago, the Uruguayan state itself used to kill these animals to sell their skins. Today they are a
protected species. History books tell that the Spanish navigator, Juan Díaz de Solís, the first Spaniard to reach the
River Plate in 1516), stopped at Isla de Lobos, took on water and slaughtered 66 sea lions to feed his crew.
PUNTA SHOPPING MALL
With over 100 stores offering a varied range of goods, its 8 cinema screens, its supermarkets, bars and restaurants,
Punta Shopping Mall is the place to visit for shopping and entertainment. Punta Shopping is important not just
because of what it offers, but because of the building itself. Constructed in 1997 by the internationally renowned
Uruguayan architect, Carlos Ott, it covers a total of 38,000 square metres of which 11,000 are of three floors for the
commercial area, and the parking space accommodates over 1500 vehicles. Its spectacular design, standing on
Avenida Roosevelt, goes unnoticed by none and is unanimously acknowledged to be one of the top works of
architecture to grace this resort. Carlos Ott graduated from the University of the Republic Architecture School in
1971. He won a Fulbright scholarship settling first in the United States and then in Toronto. Author of outstanding
projects around the world, his leap to fan came when he beat almost 500 celebrated architects in the competition to
construct the Bastille Opera in Paris. Besides Punta Shopping, he also designed the Communications Tower "J. Torres
García", the Laguna del Sauce airport and the Montevideo International Airport.
MUSEO RALLI
Founded in 1987 by the Italian banker, Harry Recanati, and located ¡n the heart of Punta del Este's exclusive Beverly
Hills neighbourhood, the Museo Ralli houses the largest collection of Latin American painting and sculpture in the
world. It also exhibits works by European artists like Chagall and Dali. Besides its painting galleries, it is well worth
visiting the large inner courtyard with splendid sculptures from a number of artists, among whom Cárdenas and
Botero stand out. Belonging to a not-for-profit foundation devoted to encouraging young Latin American artists,
Punta del Este's Museo Ralli has been followed by others ¡n Santiago (Chile), Caesarea (Israel) and Marbella (Spain).
Between them, over 20,000 square meters have been built to house an impressive number of works.
MUSEUM OF THE SEA
Anything and everything that comes from the ocean is exhibited in this Museum which started as a personal
collection of a prominent citizen of the area, and ended up being a public exhibit that tourists, both local and
foreign, enjoy. It is located in La Barra town there is a directional sign at the left of the road, soon after passing the
wavy bridge over the Maldonado river.