Any Ferry Attempts On Rio De La Plata Below Buenos Aires?

[yd_mtl]

I notice that there are ferries just between Buenos Aires or Tigre on the Argentine side and Montevideo or Colonia or Carmelo on the Uruguayan side. At some point in the past, did anyone ever try to set up a ferry between either Magdalena or Punta Indio or San Clemente del Tuyu or Villa Gesell or Mar del Plata (something like that along the BsAs Prov. coast south of Buenos Aires) and Montevideo or elsewhere in Uruguay, where the Rio de la Plata is wider and meets the Atlantic Ocean? (I'm thinking of the extensive ferry networks in Western Europe and in some parts of North America.)

 

[Rich One]

Would enough traffic exist to male it worth? Buquebus may have done some studies but perhaps would be competing against their existing route BA Montevideo. A different company ? a 10 hour crossing?
Technical reasons also, can max speed be reached in open Atlantic ocean. May not happen?

 

[mulderfox]

mar del plata and villa gesell are way past the river mouth and they don´t face uruguay.

 

[yd_mtl]

But if, let's say, you live in Villa Gesell or Mar del Plata and you want to get to Uruguay, the best option would be to first get to Buenos Aires and then take the ferry from there. Whereas if there's an Uruguay-bound ferry leaving from, say, Punta Indio, it would be a more direct journey and you wouldn't have to go through Buenos Aires.

 

[ElQueso]

I bet it has to do with ferry costs vs bus costs. All buses lead to BA. Buses frequent Colonia and other Uruguayan towns all along the coast. One or two points of ferry travel (boats are expensive to maintain and longer operating hours mean more maintenance) connected by cheaper land transportation on both sides. I'm sure the economics must look something like that.

Convenience at a low cost sometimes doesn't exist.

 

[yd_mtl]

I bet it has to do with ferry costs vs bus costs. All buses lead to BA. Buses frequent Colonia and other Uruguayan towns all along the coast. One or two points of ferry travel (boats are expensive to maintain and longer operating hours mean more maintenance) connected by cheaper land transportation on both sides. I'm sure the economics must look something like that.

Convenience at a low cost sometimes doesn't exist.

So you're saying, among other things, that in BsAs City and Province the buses are centred in Buenos Aires even more than the buses in Uruguay are centred in Montevideo?

I guess that the economics of ferry vs. land travel is different in Western Europe, where the ferries go pretty much no matter where, than in the Rio de la Plata area?

 

[Rich One]

But if, let's say, you live in Villa Gesell or Mar del Plata and you want to get to Uruguay, the best option would be to first get to Buenos Aires and then take the ferry from there. Whereas if there's an Uruguay-bound ferry leaving from, say, Punta Indio, it would be a more direct journey and you wouldn't have to go through Buenos Aires.

Would it be justified a service for the few thousands that live in Villa Gesell and surroundings in Winter?? A Major part of the traffic is the Businees travel bet. BA and Montevideo!!!

 

[ElQueso]

So you're saying, among other things, that in BsAs City and Province the buses are centred in Buenos Aires even more than the buses in Uruguay are centred in Montevideo?

I guess that the economics of ferry vs. land travel is different in Western Europe, where the ferries go pretty much no matter where, than in the Rio de la Plata area?

Well, not too much effect that the buses are centered in BA compared to Montevideo (I was just kind of making a little joke related to "all roads lead to Rome"). But the fact that BA is a huge city gives the ferry a place to concentrate on this side, Montevideo on the other. Facilities for ferries (something I didn't mention before) are not all that cheap either when we're talking about harbors, piers, etc.

I'm sure Colonia is a destination because it's so close to BA - maybe there could have been others, but I'm not sure of the exact history why they picked Colonia but once the facilities exist in a place, it makes it hard to want to build others. Montevideo because it's a big city as well and as Rich One points out, a lot of business traffic (although I have to wonder how much business traffic is actually taking planes instead - long ride to Montevideo by ferry, but many more attractions than small towns along the coast).

Any other ferry points are starting to split the economics on the ferry side to a point where it would be too expensive to justify relatively low fares. With bus travel being common on both sides (indeed all throughout SA for long hauls) it makes sense to cross the water in as few places as possible and either drive your car (if you ferried it) or take a bus to your final destination.

 

[yd_mtl]

Any other ferry points are starting to split the economics on the ferry side to a point where it would be too expensive to justify relatively low fares. With bus travel being common on both sides (indeed all throughout SA for long hauls) it makes sense to cross the water in as few places as possible and either drive your car (if you ferried it) or take a bus to your final destination.

From my research, it seems to me that Buquebus also has a summer ferry from BA to Piriapolis, and there used to be a Buquebus ferry from BA to Punta del Este. Tell me if I'm wrong!

 

[Rich One]

From my research, it seems to me that Buquebus also has a summer ferry from BA to Piriapolis, and there used to be a Buquebus ferry from BA to Punta del Este. Tell me if I'm wrong!

Can you mention your source link ???? Did you see a Buquebus Terminal in Punta Del Este ?