We had planned to start off our 10-week-trip with some beach time and Punta del Este seemed liked the place to go. Literally. The minute we landed in BA several months ago it seemed that all Argentinians told us about the magic of Punta and how it’s their absolute favorite place in the world. And so our expectations were high when we landed in Punta del Este on Dec 19, 2018 to celebrate our holidays there and kick off our nearly three-month vacation (or a journey? or an adventure? we’re not quite sure to be honest). But…without trying to offend anyone, I wouldn’t call Punta itself our favorite. Too many high rises, clubs, discos, and a disappointing wide highway separating the town from its beaches. There are two main beaches and we very much so preferred La Mansa on the river side – it was tranquil with warm white sand that stretched for miles in both directions. It wasn’t crowded the week before Christmas, and the cafes on the beach were all open allowing us to enjoy drinks and snacks while observing the waves below us. The atmosphere was charming and the actual town of Punta del Este, particularly the older part near the lighthouse was somewhat interesting, peppered with expensive cafes and boutique shops. Yet, there was a bit of Cancun in all of it, and with its ritzy store-fronts and $12 ice cream shops, the town didn’t especially impress us. And loads of very important people did not add to the charm of the place. We did like our hotel, a small place that managed to have multiple pools, served great breakfasts, and ample room for our family to sleep comfortably. To be sure, there were several highlights. The food, although expensive, was outstanding – some of the best we’ve had since landing in South America. We enjoyed fresh sea food daily and loved going out to dinners and afternoon drinks sitting on the pier overlooking the breathtaking sunsets. One day we visited the Isla de Lobos and got in the water with the sea lions – a unique experience even for us coming from the Bay Area (with an abundance of sea lions). I could do without the smell – but somehow the kids didn’t seem to mind jumping into that water!
However, if we had to do it again, we would spend more time outside of Punta del Este itself where each town going north became progressively more charming. We enjoyed a brief stop in La Barra, but without a doubt, one of our favorites was Jose Ignacio. We would go back in a heartbeat if we did not need to mortgage our house to do so. The sticker shock was jaw-dropping with prices higher than those in the Hamptons. I’m certain that we overpaid for Christmas Eve / Christmas Day, but of course, it was Christmas, so we gave up any ability to travel affordably. One of the challenges of Jose Ignacio is that most hotels are actually across the highway, while the actual charming town is on the peninsula with the lighthouse flanked by two beaches on either side. I was desperate to find a place to stay on the peninsula itself but there are only 2-3 hotels there…and it seemed that none would work (airbnbs were out of the question by the time we were booking in September). One hotel, the Vik, is stunning, but at $3,500/night for our family over Christmas, it wasn’t an option. Another one did not accept kids, but the third one, Posada Paradiso, turned out to be lovely (though still insanely expensive for two rooms). We were steps away from the beach and did not use our car while there.
Overall, our time on this little slice of heaven made our Christmas memorable. On Christmas Eve we walked along the beach to one of the best restaurants on the island, La Susana Vik, to enjoy fresh sea food and an amazing sunset. We had a great meal and walked back in the dark with the moon shining signing Christmas carols. Not home, but not bad either.
After Jose Igancio we moved to our final destination, north of La Pedrera, to Oceania del Polonio which consisted of no more than a few houses (I can’t believe there actually was a town name – as really, there was no town). Our Airbnb was remote, beautifully white inside and purple on the outside, with swings and hammocks providing ample opportunity to relax, play, and read. We went to the beach often twice a day which was secluded, wide, and absolutely stunning. We cooked at home for all the nights because there were no restaurants around. We played with water balloons (in Jose Ignacio, on Christmas morning, kids got a ‘third’ little tiny Christmas surprise from Santa who somehow knew how to find us and give a couple more small presents to the kiddos). We loved our time here and wished that it wouldn’t end, even though we had already been living the beach lifestyle for nearly two weeks.
The day before we left Uruguay, we visited another small town on the beach, just 15 mins north from where we were staying and close to the Brazilian border, called Cabo Polonio. We spent the day deliberating whether we could handle actually staying there for multiple nights. It’s not possible to get there by car – you have to leave it at the entrance and take a 30 mins ride on one of those big trucks with huge wheels because the entire time you’re driving on sand towards the ocean. At the end of the journey you finally arrive in a small town that supposedly does not have electricity (and everything runs on generators, solar and wind), and appears to be stuck in time with tiny sea-food restaurants on sand pathways, Bob Marley playing in every direction, and throngs of backpackers everywhere. Still, we hung out forever eating sea-food empanadas, playing cards, and enjoying the beach. It often seemed like I had successfully turned back time to my younger self hanging out on the remote beaches of Thailand, not having a worry in the world. This time I was here with Rob and three kiddos, yet, the surroundings made it nearly impossible not to relax, watch time go by and enjoy the simple things in life.
It was a great end to our beach excursion. Even though it had been already warm in BA and had felt like summer for weeks, it was sweet to begin our trip at a beach destination. It gave us time to think, relax, and pretend that we’re on vacation, not necessarily a nearly three-month journey to explore this corner of the world. We basked in the sunsets, played a ton of games, did a bit of sight-seeing, ate great food, and mostly just enjoyed being together. Even though the year sometimes feels like a vacation, our day-to-day still has a routine attached to it based on the kids’ school, our Spanish lessons, hobbies, and just life. We’ve taken many trips so far but this has been our first longer vacation to date and it was much needed.
Some pics from our beach adventures below. After the pics you can find some more details including restaurants that we particularly enjoyed (there are hundreds and google reviews seemed to do a pretty good job of weeding out the poor ones).
Where to stay:
Punta del Este: I tried to find an Airbnb here, one with a pool and on a beach, but there was nothing even remotely close to this option. I moved on to hotels in my search and many, if not most, were located in high rises which is not where I wanted to stay. In the end we settled on a small hotel Barradas which was cute, four blocks from the beach, and had everything we needed, especially nice pools. Still – if we were to do it again, we wouldn’t stay in Punta, as I mention above.
Jose Igancio: Here again I would have loved to stay at an Airbnb, but by September when we were starting to book things, there were none left that were small enough. It does appear that there are plenty that have the right location, vs further north where the beaches are not actually swimmable. So in the meantime we stayed at a simple Posada which was very well located and provided a lovely setting to celebrate Christmas.
Oceania del Polonio: we loved our Airbnb (although it did have some issues with water – though we managed) and would highly recommend it.
Restaurants: This is one of the highlights of the region. I don’t think we ever had a bad meal, but you’ve got to be ready to pay up. The seafood was excellent and it seemed like the produce served with it was also remarkable, particularly comparing its freshness and variety to BA’s produce. I was excited and thought that this would translate into better produce at the grocery store which unfortunately was not the case. We did not stay long enough to spend too much time investigating how one acquires great produce, but I know it must be there because I saw it on my plate multiple times. So besides the crazy prices, the food provided a nice respite from constant beef and red meat in BA.Below are some of our favorites:
Punta: Lo de Tere is amazing in both food and price. Be prepared to easily blow $200 for a dinner for five. Yet, I doubt you can find better seafood in the region. There are multiple other restaurants which we tried and enjoyed – I think it’s pretty difficult to go wrong.
Jose Ignacio: everyone loves Parador La Huella – I’m not sure that the hype lives up to the actual food served, but it’s certainly a scene. One could summarize it as LA meets the Hamptons of who’s who in BA (as many people in the region appear to be from BA). Location is hard to beat though and the fresh fish of the day was quite good. We did enjoy the La Susana at the Vik and both its spectacular location and even better food made the evening very unique. To be sure, it is also a scene with the DJ spinning music and beautiful people everyone, but I didn’t care. Getting a table closer to the beach (on the sand) would likely be even more fun. There are several other cute restaurants right in town including Il Faro next the to lighthouse where we shared a great Italian meal with a traveler we met earlier in the day on Christmas Evening. We had lunch at multiple restaurants and our favorite included Popei and Mostrador Santa Teresita (no website) .
Building a Flying House 