Punta Ballena is a small peninsula (''punta'') and a resort (''balneario''), as well as an important tourist attraction on the coast of

Río de la Plata The Río de la Plata (; ), also called the River Plate or La Plata River in English, is the estuary formed by the confluence of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River at Punta Gorda, Colonia, Punta Gorda. It empties into the Atlantic Ocean and ...

in the

Maldonado Department The Maldonado Department (; ), with an area of and 212,951 inhabitants (2023), is located to the southeast of Uruguay. Its capital is Maldonado, Uruguay, Maldonado. Geography Neighbouring departments are Rocha Department, Rocha to the East, Lav ...

of southeastern

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

. It comprises an approximately long stripe of beaches and landforms and extends on both sides of Route 10.

Geography

Punta Ballena borders the resort Chihuahua to the west, it includes the

Casapueblo Casapueblo is a building constructed by the Uruguayan artist Carlos Páez Vilaró. It is located in Punta Ballena, from Punta del Este, Uruguay. Initially, it was the artist's summer home and workshop, and includes a museum, an art gallery, a ...

citadel, the promontory of Punta Ballena, and the beach Playa Las Grutas to the east of it. Further east it borders the resort Pinares - Las Delicias with the oblong lake, Laguna del Diario, as the natural limit between them. To the northeast it borders the Park and

Arboretum Lussich The Lussich Arboretum is an arboretum of located in the Maldonado Department of Uruguay near Punta del Este and Punta Ballena. History On 5 October 1896 Antonio Lussich bought a terrain of , which extend from "Arroyo el Potrero" to "Sierra d ...

and the small populated centre Las Cumbres directly north of the park, while another small populated center, Los Corchos, lies to the south of the park.

History

Established by Antonio Lussich, who purchased the land and in 1896 founded his namesake arboretum, Punta Ballena and the neighboring resort city of

Punta del Este Punta del Este () is a seaside city and peninsula on the Atlantic Coast in the Maldonado Department of southeastern Uruguay. Starting as a small town, Punta del Este grew to become a resort for the Latin and North American jet set and tourists. T ...

grew to become leading destinations for

tourism in Uruguay Tourism in Uruguay is an important part of the nation's Economy of Uruguay, economy. Uruguay's tourist destinations include: Punta del Este, Piriápolis, Montevideo, Colonia del Sacramento, Salto, Uruguay, Salto, Lavalleja, Rocha, Uruguay, Roch ...

during the summertime high season (December through February).

Population

In 2011 Punta Ballena had a population of 750 permanent inhabitants and 2,375 dwellings. Source: ''Instituto Nacional de Estadística de Uruguay''

Points of interest

The town's best-known point of interest is the ''

citadel A citadel is the most fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of ''city'', meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core. ...

, sculptor

Carlos Páez Vilaró Carlos Páez Vilaró (1 November 1923 – 24 February 2014) was a Uruguayan abstract artist, painter, potter, sculptor, muralist, writer, composer and constructor. He took an active role in the search for survivors of the 1972 crash of Uruguayan ...

's onetime residence and atelier. Páez Vilaró began his "living sculpture" in 1958, sometimes adding a new room to host a particular friend, and eventually created a lodge within Casapueblo. The surrounding promontories are also popular

hang gliding Hang gliding is an air sports, air sport or recreational activity in which a pilot flies a light, non-motorised, fixed-wing aircraft, fixed-wing heavier-than-air aircraft called a hang glider. Most modern hang gliders are made of an aluminium al ...

spots. Punta Ballena was known for whales such as breeding

southern right whale The southern right whale (''Eubalaena australis'') is a baleen whale, one of three species classified as right whales belonging to the genus ''Eubalaena''. Southern right whales inhabit oceans south of the Equator, between the latitudes of 20� ...

s hence was named. They are becoming more regular along the coast during wintering seasons and

whale watching Whale watching is the practice of observing whales and dolphins (cetaceans) in their natural habitat. Whale watching is mostly a recreational activity (cf. birdwatching), but it can also serve scientific and/or educational purposes.Hoyt, E. ...

is a popular attraction. The region is also notable for holding presences of

orca The orca (''Orcinus orca''), or killer whale, is a toothed whale and the largest member of the oceanic dolphin family. The only extant species in the genus '' Orcinus'', it is recognizable by its black-and-white-patterned body. A cosmopol ...

s that are seldom in most of Uruguayan areas.Willy E.D
Las orcas visitaron Punta del Este
/ref>

Other names

The resort northwest of the peninsula of Punta Ballena and east of Chihuahua, as well as the beach are also known as Portezuelo and Solanas, a name derived from the Hotel Solana del Mar. The name "Playa Portezuelo", is sometimes given to describe all the long stretch of the beach up to Punta Negra.

References

External links

INE map of Punta Ballena, Los Corchos and Las CumbresArticle on Solanas, Official Portal of the Uruguayan Government
{{Maldonado Department Headlands of Uruguay Populated places in the Maldonado Department Seaside resorts in Uruguay