Cliff caves
Carved by the sea.
Bnitezkar — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Diegazo2000 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Silozu — CC BY-SA 4.0 · María Belén Sica — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Florenciafinetti — CC BY-SA 4.0
Las Grutas is a beach town on the San Matías gulf in Río Negro, northeast Patagonia, known for having some of the warmest sea water on Argentina's entire coast, despite its southern latitude. The secret is the tide: twice a day the sea pulls back to bare the gulf's flat floor, the sun heats it, and the returning water carries that warmth. Its name means «the caves», after the hollows the sea has carved into its clay cliffs, some up to about eight metres high, which you can walk to and through when the water is out. At low tide warm natural pools form on the rocks, loved by children, and the sandy beach runs for kilometres. The best swimming is December to March. Check the tide tables before walking to the caves; the sea comes back quickly.
Carved by the sea.
Warm water for kids.
Kilometres of sand.
Las Grutas, San Antonio Oeste, Río Negro
The sea pulls back twice a day, the sun heats the bare gulf floor, and the returning water carries that heat.