Puerto Mar del Plata

Top choice in Mar del Plata


Mar del Plata is one of Argentina’s most important fishing centers. Its port area, 8km south of the city center, is worth a visit, though public access to the jetty – and its graveyard of ruined ships, half-sunken and rusting in the sun – is now restricted. You can still watch the fishing boats come and go from the Banquina de Pescadores, the port’s scenic, rather aromatic and slightly touristy wharf.

Grab some calamari and a beer here and watch the massive, shaggy sea lions who snooze, flirt and fight on the dock. Forget the aquarium, this is the real show!

To get to the port from downtown, you have two options. You can take local bus 581 or 533 (which stop at various points downtown and along the oceanfront road) all the way to the wharf (AR$10). You’ll need a magnetic card to board. A taxi from downtown costs between AR$120 and AR$160. If you're going by taxi, consider arranging your return, as it's not easy to flag a taxi heading the other way. Note that the wharf mentioned here is not to be confused with the Centro Comercial de Mar del Plata, a cluster of high-end restaurants located near the entrance to the larger port complex.

Transportation

  • bus: 533, 581

Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Mar del Plata attractions

1. Centro Cultural Villa Victoria

2.25 MILES

Victoria Ocampo, founder of the literary journal Sur, hosted literary salons with prominent intellectuals from around the world – Borges, Le Corbusier,…

2. Torre Tanque

2.58 MILES

This interesting medieval-style water-storage tower, atop Stella Maris hill, was finished in 1943 and is still functioning. It's 88m high (that's 194…

4. Torreón del Monje

2.93 MILES

Grand and castle-like, positioned on a cliff over the ocean, Torreón del Monje is hard to miss – look for the red domes and the stone footbridge…

5. Catedral de los Santos Pedro y Cecilia

3.6 MILES

Facing the leafy Plaza San Martín, this neo-Gothic building features gorgeous stained glass, an impressive central chandelier from France, English tiled…

6. Playa Escondida

15.9 MILES

For the adventurous, there’s Playa Escondida, some 25km south of Mardel, which claims to be Argentina’s only legal nude beach.

  • placement: superzone
  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
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