Best Beaches / Closest?

[cheerfull]

I was in mar del plata several weeks ago for the long holiday weekend. I had a great time. the town is alot less expensive than ba, cleaner, and i think safer. lots of nitelife on weekend if u are into the club scene. mar del plata is off the tourist (foreign) track, which i think is a good thing. interesting to see how Args spend their holiday. As for the beach scene, being an old calif beach guy, went to UCI, I can say the beaches compare quite fav to calif beaches, in some ways better. weather is subtropical, water not so cold, lots of sun. you want to check out the beaches away from the town center, around the lighthouse are where the young hip crowds go (eg balneario mariano) and a few ks further south the beaches become more sparesly populated and picturesque.

 

[RichardP]

I'm not sure how much safer it is than BA, especially in summer. I know someone who was robbed twice in 4 days recently and in one of the more exclusive residential areas of MDP.

 

[Girino]

take a combi -- a 6-12 passenger van that will pick you up at your doorstep and drop you off at your hotel on the other end -- the smaller the combi the better as it will mean less travel time since they will have less stops on either end. You can see prices here: http://www.lomasexpr...mos-a-la-costa/

We took a combi to come to Mar del Plata since they are the only ones allowing to take pets on board. Our combi had around 18 passengers, plus 4 dogs and 2 cats, but the trip was quiet.
The only downside is that you know when you leave but you don't know when you will arrive. It took us 9.5 hours to get from San Isidro to Mar del Plata (normally, a 5.30 hours drive) because we spent 2 hours picking up the other passengers in Buenos Aires, then the combi delivered all the other passengers before us, going to their very doorstep in Mar de Tuyu, Villa Gesel, Mar de Las Pampas, Mar del Plata and finally Miramar, stopped twice to put gas in the van, etc.
Of course, had we been 18 people going to Mar del Plata, it would have been a steal. But having a 9.5 hours trip with a combi on Argentinian badly-paved/unpaved roads with a pet is not what I'd call a smart choice.

 

[Markgeezer]

If you're tired and bored of all the places mentioned so far, and you've been dragged to umpteen tedious boring beaches to see the same scene year after year, or you've heard it all before regards the usual spots that you predict that people will mention then here are two OFF THE MAP places that are two of my favourite beach options in Buenos Aires, although actually it's the same beach... haha

1. Think back to the Mad Max movie.... a community of nutters driving mad looking off road contraptions. Now where do you think the Argie mad max crew do their beach holidaying, where local rules apply, and most of these dudes are hauled up on the beach doing their own all night partying. name of that place is Nueva Atlantis. You enter the beach from the west end of town, and then be careful driving with the sands and the tides. There are a few places to rent in town, and shops to buy food and shit. This is probably what Villa Gessel was like 50 years ago. You can camp on the beach and party.

2. Want a remote exclusive house or mansion on or close to the beach, sunken bath, white linnen, breakfast served in the morning. No people. Name of that place is Rincon del Cobo. Better make sure you've got a fat wallet though. Funnily enuff RDC and NA are just a short drive apart. I prefer the beach drive !

 

[scotttswan]

Perhaps we shall call it the Blackpool of the South?
All it needs is some donkey rides for the children

If it had Blackpool's rollercoasters i'd be heading back asap! I liked Mar Del Plata, but its beaches weren't anything to write home about. It might have been the fact i never went during the peak season that i liked it though.

 

[Matt84]

Hi, I see this been discussed before but we're heading to a friend's house in Mar Azul, right next (South of) Mar de Las Pampas, and we'd like to know what is there to see/do/dine.

I've only been once to the Argentine coast, to Pinamar and also for 2 days to Mar de Las Pampas.
Is Villa Gesell worth visiting?
Any good restaurants to recommend in Mdl Pampas or Mar Azul or close by?
Any Aerodromos to rent (with an instructor) a Cessna for an hour? Mainly to take pictures and practice without recording the hours?
Have any of you been to Faro Querandi and that sand dune reserve just south of Mar de las Pampas and North (East) of Mar Chiquita?
We have some days left after we leave the house in Mar Azul, any recommendable spot to rent an extra week (cabin or small hotel room) near Mar Chiquita/ Villa Gesell (far from downtown VG), Pinamar?
Thank you
I know the waters are not perfect there but if anyone knows of a someone iwth a kayak in the vicinity of mar de las pampas, villa gesell, PLEASE tell me

PS ANY GOOD WIFI SPOT IN MAR DE LAS PAMPAS? there's no internet in the house for some reason and i'll need to access fast wifi at least once a week, is there any hotel with good wifi in the lobby/restaurant? I only know of Havanna in the nice wooden strip mall

 

[Matt84]

If it had Blackpool's rollercoasters i'd be heading back asap! I liked Mar Del Plata, but its beaches weren't anything to write home about. It might have been the fact i never went during the peak season that i liked it though.

I've never even been to Parque de la Costa. My relatives told me horror stories of Ital Park (now Parke Thays) for me to trust an Argentine maintained rolllercoaster!

 

[Matt84]

2. Want a remote exclusive house or mansion on or close to the beach, sunken bath, white linnen, breakfast served in the morning. No people. Name of that place is Rincon del Cobo. Better make sure you've got a fat wallet though. Funnily enuff RDC and NA are just a short drive apart. I prefer the beach drive !

A few years back after spending some time in Pinamar I went camping in Nueva Atlantis, south of Mar de Ajo, North of Cobo, and it's pretty nice and undervalued IMO.
The district is partido de la costa, the closest to Buenos Airesa and the most populated one in the Argentine "riviera" apart from Mar del Plata, but that area south of Nueva Atlantis is pretty much deserted, and without sand dunes, just the grassy pampas next to the beach and ocean. Inexpensive. I could ride horses on the beach and buy my vegetables in farms that sell directly to the public. And very close to Buenos Aires. If I dared to drive in Argentina I'd love to buy some cheap beachfront land, lit 1st row, and build a shack in Nueva Atlantis. I have no idea how unsafe that'd be int he winters, I'd have to make a bunker of it. Same problem I faced in Uruguay but I doubt Nueva Atlantis/Mar de Ajo/Partido de la Costa is any safer at all.... pretty laid back though

 

[RichardP]

We took a combi to come to Mar del Plata since they are the only ones allowing to take pets on board. Our combi had around 18 passengers, plus 4 dogs and 2 cats, but the trip was quiet.
The only downside is that you know when you leave but you don't know when you will arrive. It took us 9.5 hours to get from San Isidro to Mar del Plata (normally, a 5.30 hours drive) because we spent 2 hours picking up the other passengers in Buenos Aires, then the combi delivered all the other passengers before us, going to their very doorstep in Mar de Tuyu, Villa Gesel, Mar de Las Pampas, Mar del Plata and finally Miramar, stopped twice to put gas in the van, etc.
Of course, had we been 18 people going to Mar del Plata, it would have been a steal. But having a 9.5 hours trip with a combi on Argentinian badly-paved/unpaved roads with a pet is not what I'd call a smart choice.

I have heard that these combis are not regulated or legal. Is there any truth to that, or could it be a rumor created by the big busing companies to stifle competition?

 

[Girino]

To be honest, the ones I used seemed pretty legit to me. They had a website, a Facebook page, a bank account in their company name and accepted credit card to book online.
They are more expensive than normal coaches, and they take longer.