Looking For Cheap Coastal Desintation

[syngirl]

We´ve been to San Bernado (too busy), Mar del plata (too urban for relaxing, but great foot), Villa Gessell (OK, no more a hippie town), Necochea (too windy). We now want to explore more unknown places now that we have our own transport.

With the exception of January/Feb, San Bernardo is not busy -- it's not a town with any cachet so outside peak summer weeks there's basically no one around. In December it is dead, most of the shops don't even open until 1 Jan. My mother-in-law has an apt there, we only go off season, and there's no one around except for the 6 weeks of summer. She was there last week, most of the shops were not open, we're going this weekend to help with some of the stuff round the apartment, it will be a bit busier, but that basically means that in the building of 20 odd units 5 will be occupied. When she got there she was the only one in building apart from the portero and the one guy that live there permanently.

 

[rrptownley]

I went to Punta del Diablo once, because it was recommended to me. I didn't do any research ahead of time and rented a car with a friend to drive up from Montevideo. It's farrrrrrrrrrr, I think a 6 hour drive so in total made for a lot of traveling. It was really windy, and in November it was cold still. Pretty though, fisherman's town, nice people, the one hostel and little hotels were really cute. This was 2008 so I imagine it has built up since. Not a bad option, but not close either. I don't *think* they have an airport.

Punta del Diablo has been my getaway choice for the last 5 years. I usually go Easter time and in the first two weeks of December before the hols start.
It only takes 3-4 hours in a car from Montevideo (MultiCar consistently the cheapest). I usually break up the journey with lunch in either La Pedrera/Paloma or in Cabo Polonio (allow 3 hours for lunch here).
Accommodation consists of cabañas all listed on this site. There is also Diablo Tranquilo which has hostel/hotel style accommodation, the owner is a user on this site and is currently looking to sell his enterprise. There is one more hotel now in PdD which looks pleasant as well.
Food is very simple, some calamari, pizza and simple parillas. Last time I was there they were completing construction on a couple of French restaurants and a Chinese one.
There is one ATM machine in town which only operates in high season, otherwise make sure you get money out in Montevideo. Other towns nearby have banks, Rocha and Castillos.
The weather is always varied but when the sun shines it is HOT. It is only 40 minutes from the Brazilian border. There, the border town of Chuy has a whole street lined with duty-free malls. Here you can find some fantastic deals on imported alcohol, clothes, foods and electronics. Between PdD and Chuy there is a lovely national park with deserted beaches and the most fantastic 17th century Spanish fort. Inland there is a huge lagoon for you twitchers, it is meant to be fantastic bird watching.
As you approach Chuy the highway broadens out and turns into an emergency runway for planes. This is great fun to race down. Cue up with one of these tunes: Song 1 or Song 2.
Things are incredibly quiet outside of high season (Dec 18th - Jan 31st) and everything is half the price. Flip side is, none of the boliches are open, nor the fancier restos. Most of the bars are though.

The little town I fell in love with in 2008 has changed a lot; huge amounts of construction, lots of new restaurants and land plots being sold and being voraciously advertised everywhere. It still retains much of its charm, but I think from now on I'll pull sticks and try to move ahead of the wave of commercialism sweeping down the coast there. Unfortunately there's no more room on the Uruguayan coast, my next plan is to cross the border into Brazil and investigate a few hours drive up the coast there.

 

[Montauk_Project]

Thanks for all of the suggestions! I forgot to mention on my original post but I have been to La Paloma in Uruguay twice. Loved it, and also did a day trip to Cabo Polonio which I highly recommend. However, even though the accomodations are rustic (no electricity, basically shacks) they are not cheap at all. We would love to go back to Uruguay but the prices I saw on line are a bit high--a three star hotel is $100 USD per night for two. Not bad, and perhaps a depto would be cheaper.
For now have decided on Santa Teresita, mainly because it is close (I don´t drive, so my husband doesn´t want to drive too far) and near other cities like San Bernando so if we don´t like it we can try another place.
If anyone knows of an apartment for rent, please let me know. I´ve seen some that are $200 pesos a night in December--the cheaper the better (more to spend on food).
This is a very interesting thread, so please keep posting! Even though I´ve made up my mind this could be of help next year or to other people.
BTW, two years ago we went to "hippie central" in San Marco de la Sierra. Loved it, really good food and cheap. Personally, I would prefer this to the coast but a bit far for us to drive.

 

[lucianousa]

It's an old thread, but I decided to recommend a few nice places if you like small towns on the beach. I recommend Claromecó, Punta Desnudez (Orense) and Reta, all of them in Tres Arroyos. If you really want to stay in a quiet place Punta Desnudez is the best of the three. Potentially also the Balneario de San Cayetano, but I've never been there.

 

[PhilipDT]

many 3 star hotels in Uruguay for $50 dollars a night if you book here in pesos is less than $200 pesos (50x 4,8). Check Atlantida!!

 

[shoush]

hands down, best place ever for budget and less crowds, are camping spots by mar de las pampas and mar azul!!! of course you need to buy all the gear but camping on the coast is amazing, and we go to an amazing camping thats meters from the beach. so good!!!

 

[frio1981]

What about Pinamar? I was surprised to see that nobody mentioned it! It's really cute; it kind of reminded me of Santa Cruz or another coastal town in California; there are a few towns in the neighborhood that are great for exploring by car. It could be crowded and all booked up in December, but we went for Easter Weekend and rented a house that was a good deal. There are a lot of people that rent out their second homes for a week or just a weekend. Not sure where the listings are though...

I agree, I've been here twice the last time was Christmas Evening to New Years Eve - we stayed in the Playas hotel. Very nice indeed and easy to get to places like Carilo to explore.

 

[Dublin2BuenosAires]

Pinamar received some pretty bad press in La Nacion today. Surprised me. I can't comment as I have never been:

http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1546371-basura-y-abandono-la-cara-de-una-pinamar-que-pierde-su-esplendor

"..the face of Pinamar loses it's splendour" Problems with overcrowding and abandoned litter, it would be a shame if true.