Cabo Polonio tide times

Predictions: Open-Meteo Marine (MeteoFrance SMOC, 0.08° grid) — heights relative to MSL (not chart datum / LAT). Model-derived.

Model-derived from a global ocean grid. Useful indication; expect about ±45 minutes on average vs. a local harmonic gauge, individual stations vary widely. See /methodology for per-region detail. Not for navigation.

Conditions as of 01:00 local time. Refreshes daily.

Predictions: Open-Meteo Marine (MeteoFrance SMOC, 0.08° grid) — heights relative to MSL (not chart datum / LAT). Model-derived. · Not for navigation.

The angler tradition for major/minor fishing windows: major ≈3-hour windows around moon transit and opposition; minor ≈2-hour windows around moonrise and moonset. Times are America/Montevideo local. Folk tradition, not a scientific forecast.

Next spring tide on Thu 21 May (range 1.0m). Last neap on Fri 15 May.

Spring tides cluster around new and full moons (biggest swings). Neap tides land on quarter moons (smallest swings). See the spring tide and neap tide glossary entries for the why.

Cabo Polonio is the most remote settled point on the Uruguayan coast — accessible only by 4WD shuttle across a 10 km dune field or on foot, with no grid electricity, no piped water, and a lighthouse that has operated on this rocky headland since 1881. The Southern sea lion colony (Otaria flavescens) on the rocks below the lighthouse numbers around 3,000 animals and is the largest on the Uruguayan coast. The headland rises to 20 m above sea level; below it, the basalt ledges drop directly into the Atlantic. The tidal regime at Cabo Polonio is semidiurnal, spring range approximately 1.2–1.6 m above Chart Datum — slightly larger than Punta del Este, reflecting the increasing range as the coast approaches the deeper Atlantic and moves away from the Plata estuary geometry. There is no permanent tide gauge at Cabo Polonio; SOHMA interprets this stretch from the La Paloma reference station, 60 km to the south. The sea lion colony uses the rock ledges below the lighthouse according to a clear tidal and seasonal logic. At low water the full extent of the basalt platform is exposed; the colony spreads across the ledges in the sun, the males patrolling territorial boundaries, females nursing pups, and juveniles playing in the surge channels. As the tide rises, the lower sections of the platform are progressively submerged and the animals concentrate on the higher ledges. During the breeding season (December–February) the colony is most active and the competition for high-tide dry ground is most visible. The park management path from the lighthouse gives views down to the colony without entering the restricted beach area; the minimum approach to the colony is enforced by park rangers. The beach north of the headland — Playa Norte at Cabo Polonio — is an excellent surf beach; a consistent beach break receives South Atlantic swell from the SE and delivers waves from 0.5 m to overhead on the right days. The break is most reliable from May through September when the South Atlantic storm track is active and swell is consistent. At mid-tide the sandbars are at their most defined; at low water the break is more powerful and the shore dump increases. Fishing from the beach and rocks at Cabo Polonio targets corvina, pejerrey, and bacalao (Genypterus brasiliensis, a southern cusk eel), on the incoming tide. The dune ecosystem between Cabo Polonio and the paved road is one of the largest active dune systems in Uruguay, part of the Cabo Polonio National Park declared in 2009. The dunes are not tidal but they are dynamic — storm events regularly shift the access track and change the topography. 4WD shuttle services operate from the Route 10 parking area; confirm departure and return times, particularly in the afternoon when wind can limit operations. Tide predictions here come from Open-Meteo Marine: accuracy ±45 min / ±0.2–0.3 m. For official reference, SOHMA publishes tide tables for the Uruguayan Atlantic coast. The lighthouse at Cabo Polonio has operated continuously since 1881 and is still active as an operational navigational light; the light is visible 16 nautical miles at sea. The lightkeeper's cottage below the tower serves as accommodation for the lighthouse keeper during rotation. The headland drops 20 m to the basalt shelf where the sea lions haul out; the ledges are below the lighthouse path and there is no safe descent to the ledge level — the colony must be observed from above. At night the light sweeps every few seconds, illuminating the sea lion silhouettes on the ledges below. The Cabo Polonio lighthouse keeper's rotation and the absence of grid infrastructure give the settlement a genuine edge-of-the-world character that is increasingly rare on the South American Atlantic coast. There are a few surf-oriented hostels and food stalls that operate in the summer season (December–February) and close from March onward. The sea lion colony is year-round, the lighthouse is year-round, and the dune field is year-round; the summer infrastructure is a seasonal overlay on a permanent coastal ecosystem.