Americans Flock to Uruguay’s Best Beaches
Today's Financial News - Posted March 11, 2009
The most beautiful beaches in Uruguay lie between the famous resort of Punta del Este and Uruguay’s border with Brazil. And thanks to its natural beauty and reasonable prices, an ever-increasing number of Americans are deciding to buy on this part of the coast.
By Lee Harrison, Roving Latin America Editor, International Living
The most beautiful beaches in Uruguay lie between the famous resort of Punta del Este and Uruguay’s border with Brazil. And thanks to its natural beauty and reasonable prices, an ever-increasing number of Americans are deciding to buy on this part of the coast.
In this Uruguayan department of Rocha, and the beaches here are wide, natural, and mostly-empty. The sand is powder-fine, and the water is a deep blue, topped with sparkling white-capped breakers. Gentle dunes with sea grass lend a feeling of isolation and privacy. (Take a look at this photo and see for yourself.)
Rocha is home to the town of La Paloma, which is the last seaside town equipped to support a tourist trade of any size as you approach Brazil. Lying about 50 miles from Punta del Este on Bahía Grande, this little beachfront town of 5,000 people was a small, charming outpost when I first went there. But recently it has come into its own. The first low-rise condos have arrived, and the tourist infrastructure is growing each time I visit.
La Paloma is a “walkable” town, with a few hotels, markets, and a number of shops selling everything from cell phones to souvenirs. There are several nice restaurants providing diverse menu offerings. It’s not big, but La Paloma is just what many readers I meet are looking for. The beaches are great, relatively uncrowded, and there’s enough to do to keep most people busy in the summer.
I looked at a number of homes in the area, and found them to be a real steal when compared with much of the Uruguayan coast.
For example, there is a 2,044-square-foot, three-bedroom, three-bathroom home directly on a beautiful, sandy beach. It has a panoramic sea view, and a view to the port at La Paloma. The asking price is just $95,000. The best price I found for a two-bedroom beachfront home in town was $160,000, while a small, attractive thatched home in a wooded neighborhood outside of town is going for $76,000.
This was a sleepy little area. But now, international developers and property buyers are realizing the potential here, and it’s attracting people from elsewhere in Uruguay, as well as Argentina, Brazil, and North America.
Just last Sunday, I was at a barbeque at a planned residential community (near one of the nicest beaches I’ve seen) where 17 of the properties were bought by International Living readers.
On your exploratory trip to Uruguay, make sure you have the department of Rocha on your itinerary. You’ll be visiting an area that’s on the move, with great natural beauty, an appreciating market, and plenty of room to grow.
Editor’s note: Lee Harrison is a regular contributor to the International Living newsletter. Find out more about International Living here.
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