Punta del Este

Posted on April 14, 2007
Filed Under Culture, Places | 11 Comments

I must start by warning that in one post one cannot possibly capture more than a fraction of what Punta del Este is. Punta del Este is the primary summer vacation destination of the jet set, wealthy people and wanna bes from Argentina, Brazil, and to a lesser extent, Europe and North America. The steady winter population of about 10,000 swells to 250,000 in January and February when the tourists take over. The transformation from a ghost town to a lively place is so sudden and so dramatic that it is hard to recognize it as the same place. If you were to arrive in early December and stay through Jan 5th, you would witness an amazing transformation. Shops, restaurants and night clubs that seemed closed for good, open for business and become busy in a few days. You begin to see throngs of people at all hours of day or night, supermarkets become crowded, parking at beaches becomes difficult and car minders appear out of the woodwork. Late February, the cycle reverts itself and the place begins to empty again. The rest of the year, Punta looks like a well-kept, deserted metropolis.

In the summer Punta del Este has a complex and active night life. The hot spots and the fashionable places change from year to year, as one beach or another is heavily promoted as where the famous people go. Revista Caras (Brazilian and Argentinian editions) for example shamelessly promote the Bikini beach as the “in” place, by bringing Argentinian and Brazilian soap opera stars for photo shoots.

Since the beach development in Punta now stretches tens of kilometers, a car is absolutely needed to enjoy it. Interesting places are far apart and the popular beaches may change from one day to the next depending on the wind direction (yes, it is quite windy in Punta). Young people often drive from beach to beach to connect with different groups of friends. Cell phones and texting are important tools for finding your buddies.

The hours in Punta are shifted ahead compared to other places. Since most people want to be up most of the night, few get up before 11 am. Lunch is in the middle of the afternoon and dinner late into the evening. The night life does not start until after 1 am. So you need to take a nap or to load up at a bar until it is time. Many people go the lavishly decorated Casino for a few hours of gambling until it is time to go out.

Punta is quite fashionable. Fashionable clothing is de rigueur or you will stick out like a dork. Even the afternoon stroll on the Rambla requires the latest brand name sports gear. To go out at night, you are expected to look nice, very nice. And you will look definitely “out” without a fancy car.

Night clubs are heavily marketed at the beaches during the day to attract the hip young crowd. Popular night spots usually have a crowd of people hanging out in front. People who cannot afford the exorbitant prices required to get in (and much less the price of the drinks) hang out outside in a party atmosphere. After midnight, the Barra, a popular spot for the very young, is so crowded that it can take you a long time to cross it in a car.

Many years ago most of the activity in Punta was confined to the peninsula. Nowadays, the whole coast from Punta Ballena to the Barra is quite developed. Jose Ignacio, further to the east, is currently the preferred location of the monied middle aged crowd that like simple, yet stylish surroundings. There are outstanding restaurants there, but with European prices. Houses are simple and charming and expensive. The 15 km gap between the Barra and Jose Ignacio is now attracting land developers and those that do not want to be left out of whatever it becomes.

I’ve been to Punta many times (most recently in February) and must admit that it is not for me. I find it to be too pretentious, too glitzy, too expensive in the summer and too desolate and depressing in the winter. I don’t like that it is often windy and that the water is always too cold for my taste. However I do know a number of people that think the place is heaven.

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11 Responses to “Punta del Este”

JP on April 14th, 2007 10:06 pm

Good point. Punta del Este is not for everyone. You need a good bunch of glamour to survive.
Flavia on April 25th, 2007 10:34 am

I think you missed what’s most important for me in Punta del Este, it’s the amazing nature, the beautiful sunsets, the never ending beaches.

You focused too much on the “circus”(people) you can try to be a part of it or you can ignore it and do your own thing. Punta gives you that option.
ApartmentsBA on April 25th, 2007 6:51 pm

I agree with Flavia. Although I’m fairly young (i’m my early 30’s) I don’t like Punta del Este for all the glitz and glamour that you talk about. I bought a house there last year and getting ready to buy another bigger one near the beach. I didn’t buy it for the glitz and glamour and fashion and the other things you mentioned.

I bought it for the reasons that Flavia mentioned. It’s an incredibly beautiful city. I actually prefer it not in the busiest season but I enjoy mid December February and March when it’s not so busy. The city is clean, safe and there is a great mix of nature there with the beautiful ocean and the piney woods. The sunsets here are amazing as Flavia mentioned.

I try to go there monthly since I live in Buenos Aires full-time. It’s amazingly nice to escape the loud city and enjoy a peaceful relaxing time in Punta. Even when I go during the high season it’s nice to meet with friends and have dinners in private houses, walk along the beach with your friends, have a nice drink watching the sunset in the numerous places along the beach or overlooking the ocean.

It’s a great place to relax, unwind and enjoy a peaceful environment. I’ve been all over the world. I’ve been to almost every country in South America and it’s one of my favorite spots. Yes, there are many other places in Brazil with better beaches but there are few places like Punta del Este.

I agree that it can be a sort of ghost town in the winter or off season months but the City is still incredibly beautiful and those months I enjoy just as much.

People like Punta for different reasons. Many for the fashion and culture and the things you mentioned. But you will see many families and young kids as well during the high season and they are going to enjoy a beautiful city and relax and unwind and be with friends and family and I think that is what Punta is all about.

Cheers.

Mike
Brazzie on April 25th, 2007 7:25 pm

Hey Mike, I envy you. No, not for the house (ok, for the house too), but for the ease with which you wrote all these nice, well written, long comments. Did you ever consider blogging about Uruguay? Seriously, I think you have it in you. Here are a few possible titles: WaterTortureInUy, BuqueBussing, DrainedInUruguay, LaBarraBoy
ApartmentsBA on April 26th, 2007 12:24 pm

Ha, ha. Well…i just type what I feel. I can almost type as fast as I can talk. I type about 175 words a minute so it’s fairly easy for me to type a long diatribe fairly quickly and easily.

I’m very passionate about few things, people or places but Punta del Este is one of them. There is something special about the city that I think a lot of people miss. My fondest moments in Punta are not wild parties, gorgeous models I met (ok…those weren’t bad moments either..ha,ha), or beautiful properties I have purchased for myself or my clients.

I think the best moments are things like walking down the beach with my girlfriend on a nice morning with no one on the beach, having a nice picnic near Punta Ballena watching the sun set, meeting some friends and having a nice dinner, cooking a nice BBQ (even though I’m not the world best chef), taking a nice bicycle ride down the Route and watching the ocean while I was riding. To me, THOSE are the things that really distinguish why I love the city so much.

Punta may be known as a “Jet set playground”. I don’t consider myself “Jet set” although I do travel around the world a lot on many trips. I think a lot of people will agree with me on why they love Punta.

Are there better oceanside resort cities? Absolultey! Are there cities with more to do? Yep. But I can safely say that I could live in any City in the world that I wanted. That is not an exaggeration. I’m not tied down by anything. I chose to live in Buenos Aires and Punta del Este because of the life, culture, vibrant energy, safety and beauty of each city.

I could start my own blog, a few people have asked me to write a book, one a screen play for Hollywood. Maybe in the future. For now too busy enjoying life.

Best to all.
swissaussi on May 9th, 2007 7:35 pm

Punta del Este is part of the city of Maldonado and has a big population all year round. Decided to retire here - many things remind me of Tasmania but the water temperatures are more like Malaga and not cold from Nov.to April
see fotos www.stonek.com - the best I know of
Brazzie on May 9th, 2007 8:08 pm

Hi SwissAussie, I guess I am a wimp, because water below 23-25C is too cold for my taste.
swissaussi on May 13th, 2007 5:44 pm

Jan. Feb. Mär. Apr. Mai. Jun. Jul. Aug. Sep. Okt. Nov. Dez.
11—10—-9—–8—-06—-5—-5—-6—-7—–8—10—-10 ! hrs daily sunshine
Hi, then Panama is better.. here more like this:
21—22—21—19—15—13–12—11–12—15—18—-19 ! Watertemperatur Celsius
just a statistic - I felt it warmer - link of Maldonado and where to cyle, jogging - near Casa Pueblo http://www.maldonado.gub.uy/suelo.php
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arboretum_Lussich
Brazzie on May 13th, 2007 5:59 pm

Thanks for the data. I was surprised when you said that the water temperature was warm enough in Punta, because in my experience the water always seemed cool-cold as shown by this animated map.
http://www.nodc.noaa.gov/dsdt/sst_ani.htm
swissaussi on May 14th, 2007 12:50 pm

Hi Brazzie, chapeau - your work and collection of data is outstanding, I could not resist to put the link into the ILiving forum Uruguay just to help other people. THANK YOU SO MUCH..
The water temperatures I have from a Montevideo travel site and the ocean differ - you are right. http://www.wamo.ch/reisepl/uruguay.htm

Interested? song & slides UY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7IHG8WTUow
dictatur,ARTIGAS & change 4th part: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iZXZeutZAM
Brazzie on May 14th, 2007 1:16 pm

Thanks swissaussie and thanks for the video link. The song (mi pais) by Ruben Rada is great and the lyrics very moving. If I were a Uruguayan living abroad and heard this song, I am sure I would get choked up.

Punta del Este

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