Santa Teresa National Park is a summer classic in Rocha, with room for thousands of tents. It covers 3,000 hectares on the Atlantic, between Punta del Diablo and La Coronilla, with 1,400 hectares of forest, 12 km of beaches, an 18th-century fortress and a botanical garden. It is run by the Army Parks Service (Servicio de Parques del Ejército, Se.Pa.E.).
This post brings together what you need to know to camp there: prices, rules, opening hours and how to get there. Where two sources disagree, we show both; the list of sources is at the end.
Photo: Servicio de Parques del Ejército.
At a glance
| What | Details |
|---|---|
| Park entry | Free |
| Campsite, standard pitch | $ 250 per person per day |
| Campsite, pitch with power and water | $ 300 per person per day |
| Minimum stay | 3 nights |
| Bookings | No: pitches are first come, first served |
| Pets | Not allowed, neither at the campsite nor on the beach |
| Wi-Fi | None |
| High season | 10 December to the last day of Tourism Week (Easter week) |
| Where | Ruta 9, km 302 (Rocha) |
Prices for the 2025–2026 season, in Uruguayan pesos. Check them before you go: the rules say the Se.Pa.E. publishes new prices before 1 December every year.
The campsite
The Se.Pa.E. lists 189 premium pitches (“jerarquizadas”) with power and drinking water, and 1,810 standard pitches without them. There are toilets with hot showers near the pitches. The rules add two more kinds of area: rustic (“agreste”), further away and with fewer services, and an area for people with reduced mobility at La Moza. There are nine toilet blocks in all.
The figures differ: another source mentions 1,600 pitches for up to 10,000 people.
Premium pitches are far fewer than standard ones. In January, Carnival and Tourism Week, arrive early if you want power and water at your pitch.
Photo: Turismo Rocha.
Checking in
- There is one entrance only: Ruta 9, km 302.
- Register at the Registration Office (“Águila 1”), at the entrance, with your name, age, nationality, ID, an emergency phone number, your vehicle details if you drive in, and how many nights you will stay. Groups name one person in charge, but everyone registers.
- Pay in advance, per day. In summer the day ends at 20:00; staying past that time counts as one more day.
- You get a receipt and a wristband. Only the original receipt is valid, not a photo of it. The wristband is required to use the showers.
- You are given a pitch, marked with a letter and a number. A place without a “No camping” sign is not necessarily a place where you can camp.
If you arrive late you can still get in: register at the entrance checkpoint and finish at Reception the next day.
Opening hours
The sources disagree:
- Tuesday to Sunday, 8:00 to 18:00.
- December to February, 8:00 to 20:00; the rest of the year, 8:00 to 18:00.
The rules mention 20:00 as the summer visiting hour. If you will arrive on a Monday or out of season, call first.
Campsite rules
The key points of the campsite rules, based on Decree 462/990:
- No pets, neither at the campsite nor on the beach.
- Quiet from 0:00 to 8:00: no loud music or noise.
- No generators, and no connecting to the power or water network on your own.
- Not allowed in: fireworks, firearms, slingshots or bows.
- Tents, caravans or vehicles may take up at most a quarter of the pitch, and a camp may not extend more than 20 metres back from the marker stakes.
- Park your vehicle at the front, ready to leave quickly in an evacuation, and keep the tent area clear of pine needles, leaves and branches.
- When you leave, tell the office, put out your fire and leave the pitch clean.
Fire
Campfires must be at least 5 metres from vehicles, tents and trees, inside a 3-metre circle cleared of anything that can burn. They must be visible from the road, as small as possible, and put out when nobody is at the camp or when everyone goes to sleep. Fires are only lit where allowed and following the Fire Brigade’s restrictions.
From 1 November to 30 April the national ban on outdoor fires also applies, with exceptions. See Fire.
Cabins
If you would rather not camp, the Se.Pa.E. rents several cabins. None has Wi-Fi; check-in is at 14:00 and check-out at 10:00. The hostel is not open.
| Cabin | People | January | Rest of the year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carpicabaña with outside bathroom (10, by La Moza) | 4 | $ 2,950 | $ 2,200 |
| Carpicabaña with bathroom and kitchenette (4, by La Moza) | 4 | $ 3,900 | $ 2,750 |
| Carpicabaña, Hostel area, with air conditioning (4) | 2 | $ 3,150 | $ 2,350 |
| Alpina, two floors (3) | 6 | $ 4,300 | $ 3,100 |
| Yatay 1, 2 and 3 | 6 | $ 4,800 | $ 3,250 |
| Yatay 4 and 5 | 10 | $ 8,000 | $ 4,950 |
| Achiras, facing the ocean (6) | 6 | $ 7,750 | $ 5,600 |
Prices per day, 2025–2026 season. December, February, Tourism Week and the July and September holidays have their own rates. Only Achiras includes bed linen and towels, and it is the only area facing the ocean. Yatay 5 has a wheelchair-accessible bathroom.
Photo: Turismo Rocha.
Getting there
- By car: Ruta 9 to km 302, between Castillos and Chuy. It is the only entrance.
- By bus: long-distance buses stop at the terminal at the park entrance, at km 302. The terminal is not always close to your pitch, but transport inside the park can be arranged at the entrance. For January, Carnival and Tourism Week, buy your ticket in advance.
What to do in the park
Photo: Turismo Rocha.
- Fortress of Santa Teresa: built by the Portuguese in 1762. You can visit the command post, the powder store, the chapel, the cannon embrasures and a museum with models of the country’s fortresses.
- Greenhouse and shade house, from 1939: tropical plants, ponds with koi, papyrus and water lilies, and a cactus garden.
- Rose garden, with more than 300 varieties.
- Laguna de Peña: a lookout over the lagoon, with the largest capybara reserve, plus axis deer, gray brocket deer, coypus and many birds.
- Pajarera: a wildlife refuge with endangered birds and boardwalks over the wetlands.
- El Chorro: a natural pool in a stone structure.
- Beaches: 12 km between Cerro Verde and Punta del Diablo. Playa Grande borders Punta del Diablo, Playa del Barco is the quietest and has a whale-watching post, Achiras has good fishing spots, and La Moza has some of the best surf in the country.
Photo: Turismo Rocha.
Photo: Turismo Rocha.
Inside the park there is a supermarket, restaurants, a bakery, a mechanic and tyre repair, and emergency medical and dental care. Feeding the animals in the refuge is not allowed.
Contact
- Santa Teresa National Park: (+598) 4477 2103 and (+598) 98 620 828. Another source lists a different landline, 4477 2203.
- Army Parks Service: (+598) 4477 2101, 4477 2102 and 92 678 631, and WhatsApp.
The campsite’s data, with the source and date of each fact, is also on the Santa Teresa National Park page.
Sources
Consulted on 28/10/2026.
- Servicio de Parques del Ejército: Lodging (2025–2026 prices).
- Servicio de Parques del Ejército: Campsite rules (PDF, 2025).
- Turismo Rocha: Santa Teresa National Park.
- Turismo Rocha: Santa Teresa National Park campsite.
- Urubus: Camping en Santa Teresa 2026: precios y cómo llegar (16/09/2026).
