Las Grutas is a beach resort town located in the
Argentine province
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...
of
Río Negro, in the
department of
San Antonio
("Cradle of Freedom")
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, map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = United States
, subdivision_type1= State
, subdivision_name1 = Texas
, subdivision_t ...
, with a stable population of 8,000 inhabitants.
It's located 15 kilometers south of
San Antonio Oeste
San Antonio Oeste is a port city in the Argentine province of Río Negro, and head of the department of San Antonio.
The town is bordered by its sister communities of San Antonio Este, to the east, and Las Grutas, to the southwest. Discovere ...
, and is visited by over 400,000 tourists every summer. Its beaches are known for having relatively warm waters in spite of their location in the
Patagonia
Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and g ...
, due to the wide
tidal
Tidal is the adjectival form of tide.
Tidal may also refer to:
* ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple
* Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim
* TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music
* Tidal (servic ...
amplitude, and the protection of the
San Matías Gulf
The San Matias Gulf is an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Patagonia, Argentina. It is bordered by the Río Negro Province to the north and west, and the Valdes Peninsula of the Chubut Province to the south. It is "one of the largest ...
. The town was founded in 1964, mainly as a group of campings, and soon began growing. But it was not until the 1980s that tourism industry finally exploded, with the construction of numerous apartment and a casino.
southern right whales are seasonal residents and visit here.
Las Grutas', meaning "The Caves" in
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
, comes from the caves created by the erosion of the sea on the cliffs that separate the city from the beach. The access to the beaches is therefore restricted to the existing 12 ''descends'' or "bajadas".
Their names, from north to south, are "3 de febrero", "Los acantilados", "A.C.A.", "La rueda", "Cero", "Primera", "Segunda", "Tercera", "Cuarta", "Quinta", "Sexta" y "Séptima", the last seven named from ''first'' to ''seventh''.
The first accesses where the ones named "Primera", "Segunda", and "Tercera" (''first, second'' and ''third''), to which new ones were added as the town, and the number of visitors grew.
Near the "Cero" access there are pools artificially carved in the stone that change their water in every tidal cycle. When the tide is low, the water in the pools is quickly warmed by the sun. In colder days, old people and children sometimes prefer to make use of the pools instead of the sea.
Climate
References
External links
Populated places in Río Negro Province
Seaside resorts in Argentina
Populated places established in 1964
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