Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The
visitor center
( 0223-469-1288; saladeinterpretacion@hotmail.com; cnr Belgrano & Rivera
del Sol; 9am-8pm Dec-Easter, 9am-4pm Mon-Fri & 10am-6pm Sat & Sun rest of year)
is beside the
lagoon, a few blocks inland from the beach. Between December and March it or-
ganizes four-hour tours around the lagoon (per person AR$80, reserve ahead, min-
imum group size 10). Bring money - the closest ATM is 4km away in Mar de Cabo.
Mar Chiquita is 34km north of Mar del Plata.
Rápido del Sud
( 0223-494-2507;
www.el-rapido.com.ar
)
runs frequent buses that can drop you at the highway round-
about 2.5km outside Mar Chiquita (AR$21, 45 minutes). For transport into town
your best bet is local bus 221 from Mar del Plata (AR$7.50, 1½ hours, every two
hours in summer, every four hours rest of year); it goes all the way to the beach and
the lagoon's edge.
TOP OF CHAPTER
Mar del Plata
0223 / POP 593,000
Four hundred kilometers from Buenos Aires lies Mar del Plata ('Mardel'), the premier
Argentine beach destination for
porteños
. If you end up here on a summer weekend,
you'll be guaranteed to say 'Wow, this beach is crowded.' There might be a couple of
places where you could get in a few swimming strokes without taking somebody's eye
out, but mostly it's shoulder-to-shoulder sun-frazzled bodies. After spending a few days
on its comically packed sands, watching street performers on the beachside Plaza Colón
or exploring the wonders of the port, however, you might get the sense of adoration that
the country feels for this place.
During the week, and especially outside of summer, the crowds disperse, hotel prices
drop and the place takes on a more relaxed feel. Out-of-season visitors will find that
Mardel is a large city with plenty of attractions other than its beach.
Rivadavia becomes a pedestrian street only during the summer months; San Martín is
always pedestrian.
History
Europeans were slow to occupy this stretch of the coast, so Mardel was a late bloomer.
Not until 1747 did Jesuit missionaries try to evangelize the southern pampas' indigenous
people; the only reminder of their efforts is a chapel replica near Laguna de los Padres.
More than a century later Portuguese investors established El Puerto de Laguna de los
Padres. Beset by economic problems in the 1860s, the investors sold out to Patricio Per-
