La Paloma, Uruguay tide times

La Paloma is the main coastal town in Rocha Department, on Uruguay's eastern Atlantic coast — the largest settlement between Punta del Este and the Brazilian border, and the commercial and services hub for a stretch of coast that otherwise consists of low-density beach communities and protected wetlands. The town has a small marina, a lighthouse at Cabo Santa María, and a quiet character outside the January–February Argentine and Uruguayan summer season.

The tidal regime is Atlantic semidiurnal with a mean spring range of approximately 1.0 to 1.5 metres — enough to produce a visible change in beach character between high and low water, with the long shallow-slope beaches of the Rocha Department exposing significant sand area on the lower half of the tidal cycle. Wind setup from the southeast and south is a major additional water-level driver on this coast: a strong Sudestada (southeasterly storm system typical of the Río de la Plata and south Atlantic coastal region) can add 0.5 to 1.0 m above the predicted astronomical level. The predicted tide on this page is the baseline; Sudestada conditions require monitoring the wind and pressure forecast in addition.

The Cabo Santa María lighthouse, on the headland at La Paloma's southwestern point, marks the most southeasterly extent of the Rocha coast before the shoreline turns northwest toward Punta del Este. The lighthouse dates to 1874 and is still operational. The rocky shelf below the headland is exposed on the lower half of the tidal cycle and is a popular fishing platform for shore anglers targeting pejerrey and corvina on the incoming tide.

Laguna de Rocha, 8 km west of La Paloma, is a RAMSAR-listed coastal lagoon connected intermittently to the Atlantic through a sandbar. When the bar opens naturally — during high water level events or manually by authorities to prevent flooding — the lagoon receives a marine influx and salinity rises; the bar closes again as water level drops and the sandbar builds back. The lagoon holds over 200 recorded bird species including flamingos (winter), black-necked swans, and a dense shorebird community. Kayaking the lagoon from the access point near the La Paloma–La Pedrera road is a half-day activity that works best on calm mornings before the afternoon sea breeze builds.

La Pedrera, 12 km northeast of La Paloma on the coast road, has a more surf-oriented character — a small headland with a point break on its north side that works on northeast Atlantic swell, typically May through September when the South Atlantic low-pressure systems generate long-period swell. The surf community is small and the wave is not consistent enough for a dedicated trip, but it adds a surf option for the La Paloma base area.

Anglers using the La Paloma area have access to several productive habitats. The Cabo Santa María rocky shelf produces corvina on the incoming tide in the morning and evening. The lagoon mouth, when the bar is open, holds snook (róbalo, Centropomus undecimalis) stacking in the current seam — the first two hours of the incoming tide flush baitfish into the lagoon and concentrate the snook. Offshore boat fishing from La Paloma's marina targets weakfish (corvina blanca) and large pejerrey (silverside) in the coastal shelf zone, with bluefish (anjova) present in the inshore zone in autumn.

Families at La Paloma find a genuinely low-key summer resort: fewer luxury hotels than Punta del Este, lower prices, quieter beaches, and a beach character determined more by the Atlantic wind and tide than by beach infrastructure. The wide, gently-sloped beach at La Paloma's main Bahía is longest and most accessible at the lower half of the tidal cycle; the 1.0 to 1.5 m range means that the 30 to 60 minutes around the predicted low gives the widest walking platform and the easiest flat-sand beach football.

Predictions on this page come from Open-Meteo Marine, a global gridded ocean model. Accuracy is ±45 minutes on timing and ±0.2 to 0.3 metres on height. The SOHMA (Servicio de Oceanografía, Hidrografía y Meteorología de la Armada, Uruguayan Navy) publishes authoritative tidal tables for the Uruguayan Atlantic coast.