Uruguay · UY

Punta del Diablo

Punta del Diablo is a small fishing village and seaside resort on Uruguay's Atlantic coast, in the Rocha Department roughly 300 kilometres east of Montevideo and 43 km from the Brazilian border at Chuy. It is a place of sandy unpaved lanes, brightly painted wooden cabins and a working waterfront that has never stopped hauling boats up the beach, all kept deliberately low-rise by building codes that ban high-rises. Around 800 people live here year-round, yet in the height of the Southern Hemisphere summer the population swells past 25,000 with Argentine, Brazilian and Uruguayan visitors. What gives the town its character is the tension between those two selves: a genuine artisan fishing settlement and a bohemian surf-and-backpacker hub. The heart of it is Playa de los Pescadores, the fishermen's beach, where small wooden boats are dragged onto the sand between trips, the day's catch is sold from stands, and an artisan market winds up at the rocky point. From there a handful of short walks take you to three more beaches and, just beyond, into the forest and colonial fort of Santa Teresa National Park.