Cabo Polonio

Cabo Polonio, on the wild eastern Atlantic coast of Uruguay, is a magical, off-grid bohemian idyll unlike anywhere else in the country, a remote and rustic village of colourful, ramshackle wooden shacks scattered amid rolling sand dunes on a windswept cape. With no roads in, no mains electricity and no running water in much of it, reached only by a bumpy truck ride over the dunes, it is a place of candlelight, brilliant starry skies, a lonely lighthouse, and one of the largest sea lion colonies in South America barking on the rocks.

What you actually see

• The sea lion colony - the huge colony barking on the rocks by the lighthouse.
• The rustic village - the off-grid shacks amid the dunes.
• The dunes and beaches - the rolling sand dunes and wild beaches.
• The starry skies - the brilliant stars with no light pollution.

When to go

December to March, the southern summer, when the village is at its liveliest and the weather warmest, though even then it retains its rustic, off-grid character; outside summer it is very quiet, wild and windswept. It is reached only by the official truck over the dunes.

Honest expectations

It is genuinely rustic and off-grid, with little or no electricity, basic facilities and simple hostel and shack accommodation, reached only by a bumpy park truck over the dunes, so it is for those seeking a wild, back-to-basics escape, not comfort. It is remote. Its bohemian, off-grid magic, the dunes, the sea lions and the star-filled skies, though, are utterly unique and unforgettable.

Nearby

The beach towns of La Paloma and Punta del Diablo and the Santa Teresa park are along the coast.