Ruta 10 is the coastal road of eastern Uruguay, and its kilometre markers, which count upwards as you drive east, are the easiest way to read this area. La Juanita sits between km 181 and 183.5, the José Ignacio addresses begin at km 185 (where, according to the portal's La Juanita page, the village starts), then come Laguna Garzón and its circular bridge, and on the Rocha side the addresses start again from km 190, run through the beach settlement of El Caracol (km 193) and end, as far as the portal has published, at a glamping site at km 210. This guide follows that road in the direction most visitors drive it, from Punta del Este eastwards, using the addresses each business states in its own listing and the rules of the protected area around the lagoon.
Of the 281 business and place listings the portal publishes in Spanish, 38 mention a Ruta 10 kilometre, in their location field or in their text. Those addresses, plus the official sources linked at the end, are what this map is built from. For orientation, one reference before the stretch: La Barra, where the studio Martín Gómez Arquitectos has its office, is at km 161, and José Ignacio itself lies about 40 km from Punta del Este along Ruta 10. Just before La Juanita, between km 176 and 179, the road skirts Laguna José Ignacio, a lagoon with flamingos, black-necked swans and year-round wind for kitesurfing.
Before you set off: what a first-time visitor should know about this road
Three things make this stretch different from a coastal drive at home. First, the country is divided into departamentos, each run by an Intendencia, a departmental government; the bridge over Laguna Garzón is the border between Maldonado and Rocha, and the road on each side answers to a different one. Second, the seasons are reversed: the portal's guide to the three villages puts high season at December to February, lifeguards on the José Ignacio beaches work from November to Semana de Turismo (Holy Week) according to the beaches listing, and two restaurants on this road, Marismo and the Chiringuito, state that they open only in season. Third, distances: the portal's transport selection puts Carrasco airport in Montevideo about 180 km away, and the bridge guide notes there is no urban public transport stop at the bridge itself. Without a car there is still a bus: the CODESA Línea 14 listing gives stops on Ruta 10 in José Ignacio and at Laguna Garzón, with timetables updated by season on the company's website.
Km 181 to 183.5: La Juanita, the service corridor before the village
La Juanita is not a stop after José Ignacio on the way to the bridge but the stretch you cross before reaching the village. The addresses say so: the guesthouse Hale Lau is on the road at km 181. At km 182.5 you find the boutique Panorama, the wellness centre The Shack next to Bahía Vik, and the grocery-café La Despensa in the Casa Grande complex, at the corner of Los Lobos. At km 183.5, "on the way to the village of José Ignacio" as its listing puts it, sit the bakery chain Medialunas Calentitas and the Redpagos agency run by Varlix, a bill-payment and cash network. No other point on the road gathers as many listings as km 182.5: eleven give it as their address. Several listings on this stretch, The Shack and La Despensa among them, declare José Ignacio rather than La Juanita as their area: here they are ordered by kilometre, not by the area each one declares.
For food shopping on this stretch and in the village, the selection of grocery stores and markets sorts the options. In the directory, 26 listings name La Juanita as their area, most of them restaurants and places to stay.
Km 185 to 185.5: the village of José Ignacio and the Arenas dunes
At km 185 the scale changes. Two village listings give no kilometre but place the food shopping: at the entrance, on Camino Saiz Martínez, the minimarket Autoservice Los Amigos states that it opens all year, and inside the village is the supermarket El Mercadito. At the km 185 point of the road, calle La Farola leads to the restaurant Marismo, open only in the summer season, and to Posada Azul Marino, about 300 metres in from the road on a rise north of the village. Towards the ocean, the Laguna Escondida beach club gives its address as km 185, south side, facing the sea.
Half a kilometre on, at km 185.5, the road passes the dunes of Arenas de José Ignacio: here are Francis Mallmann's Chiringuito, a fire-cooking beach restaurant open only in season, the bed and breakfast La Atrevida, two blocks from the sea, and the guesthouse Malta Homestay in the Castellón neighbourhood. It is the last kilometre-numbered address the portal has on the Maldonado side. José Ignacio is, with 172 listings, the best-covered area in the directory, and the guide to choosing a beach explains how its three beaches (Brava, Mansa and La Juanita) differ by wind and company.
Between the village and km 190: the lagoon, the bridge and the visitor centre
No listing on the portal gives a kilometre for the bridge. What is known is that between the last José Ignacio address (km 185.5) and the first on the Rocha shore (km 190, where the El Caracol ocean beaches begin) lie, subtracting one address from the other, four and a half kilometres of road with Laguna Garzón and its crossing in the middle. The circular bridge replaced a ferry that, according to Turismo Rocha, crossed the lagoon from 1995 until 21 December 2015, installed by the national hydrography directorate. The Ministry of Transport and Public Works (MTOP) describes the structure as a single-lane roundabout with entry and exit diametrically opposite each other: a central circular section 51.5 metres in radius and 323 metres long, two straight approach sections of 46 metres, a five-metre carriageway between New Jersey barriers and cantilevered pedestrian walkways outside them. Turismo Rocha adds 830 metres of galvanised steel railings running from one abutment to the other; walking them is the outing described in the listing for the bridge walkways.
One administrative detail explains something you will see in the addresses. According to the MTOP, a condition of building the bridge was that the access road, Ruta 10, pass to departmental jurisdiction on the stretch from José Ignacio to the junction with Ruta 9 in Rocha; the ministry invested 1.8 million dollars in the connections between bridge and road, while the bridge itself, close to 12 million dollars, was 80 per cent funded by the company Las Garzas Blancas S.A. It fits with that transfer that a listing on the Rocha shore such as the sailing school A Pura Vela writes its address as "Ex Ruta 10 km 190.5": from the village eastwards the road belongs to the departmental governments, not the ministry.
The water has rules of its own. Kitesurfers must register each session before starting and stay within the two authorised zones, one north and one south of the bridge; for kayaks and boats, the kayak and SUP guide summarises the navigation rules. And on reaching Rocha, next to the circular bridge, there is an information centre for the protected area, which a Presidency note from September 2019 describes as installed "at the entrance to the department of Rocha" and which the visitor centre listing says is generally staffed in season. Also in the bridge area is La Virazón, the roadside stop with a supermarket and food to take away or eat in; its listing places it "next to the bridge" and its visible text does not say on which side.
Km 190 to 198: the Rocha shore, El Caracol and the protected-area beaches
Past the bridge, the addresses change department and pace. The ocean beaches of this shore give their address as km 190 to 198; at km 190.5 are the floating hotel Laguna Garzón Lodge, twelve cabins on the water in the El Caracol area, operating according to its listing from January to April and in November, and its restaurant Garza Mora. The beach settlement of El Caracol starts right after the bridge and gives its address as km 193, inside the protected area, between native woodland, the lagoon and the sea.
In that settlement, about three kilometres after the bridge, lies La Playita de El Caracol: the lagoon beach, with calm fresh water, free and open all year, and, according to the portal's La Playita article, the best sunset on this shore. Two operators are based there: Discover Laguna Garzón, with kayaks, a boat, horse rides and birding trips, and Ecoturismo Laguna Garzón, with walks on native trails, water routes, birds and guided stargazing nights. One safety point the portal's own note on La Playita makes clear: Rocha lists no lifeguard post for El Caracol, so there the adults are the only supervision; for Costa Bonita and El Bonete the portal has no data. Across the road, on that same km 190 to 198 stretch, come the three ocean beaches of this shore, El Caracol, Costa Bonita and El Bonete, open to the public all year: open Atlantic, surf and depth, suited to long walks rather than to bathing small children. In the directory, 40 listings name Laguna Garzón as their area; more than half of them are activities.
A word about the road surface. The stretch between the bridge and the junction with Ruta 9 has been maintained by the Intendencia de Rocha since the MTOP handed over jurisdiction: in January 2016 the Intendencia described grading work with tosca, the road material the Intendencia names and asked drivers to respect the signage, with 60 km/h limits. That note is ten years old, so the current state of the road and the limits in force are read on the road itself and checked before travelling; the portal has no more recent data.
Km 204.5 to 210: Las Cárcavas, Las Garzas and the end of the published stretch
After the protected-area beaches the addresses thin out. At km 204.5, between Laguna Garzón and Las Garzas, the seaside smallholding development Las Cárcavas contains the restaurant of the same name, cooking from its garden and from the sea. At km 208, on the Rocha ocean coast, are Las Garzas Club de Mar, with beach, pools, tennis and padel, and the gated community Las Garzas, which states 240 hectares and two kilometres of beach. And at km 210, in the coastal woodland on the Rocha side, EcoGarzón Glamping closes, for now, the portal's list of kilometre-numbered addresses.
From there, Turismo Rocha describes the approach in reverse: from the city of Rocha take Ruta 9 south-west for about 20 km, then a 12 km side road to Ruta 10; on its lagoon page the same office places the turn-off at km 188 of Ruta 9 and allows about 40 minutes to the junction with Ruta 10. It is the way to reach the bridge without passing through José Ignacio, for anyone coming from the city of Rocha or already on Ruta 9.
The protected-area rules
Laguna Garzón entered Uruguay's National System of Protected Areas (SNAP) in November 2014, and a Presidency note of 14 September 2019 recalls that this coincided with the opening of the bridge: the area received visitors all year and above all in summer, and at that time it was looked after by three rangers and a director. The Ministry of the Environment adds that ministerial resolution 07/2013, of 8 January 2013, which authorised construction of the bridge, was granted subject to a use plan consistent with the area's conservation objectives. According to Turismo Rocha the area covers 9,596 hectares of land and 27,332 at sea, and the lagoon itself accounts for 1,750 hectares.
The area takes in both shores of the lagoon, and the rules for anyone passing through it are few and concrete. Turismo Rocha lists them: motorised water sports, cutting native woodland, camping, hunting, lighting fires and driving vehicles on the dunes are all prohibited. Sport fishing is allowed, but the same office advises against it on the sandbar near the ocean. The same 2019 Presidency note reported that since the area joined the system there had been a fall in hunting, camping, fires and vehicles entering forbidden zones such as the dunes. To watch the birds the tourism office highlights (Olrog's gull, buff-breasted sandpiper, black-necked swan and Chilean flamingo), the beginner's birding guide explains how to do it at a distance.
Practical data: the stretch in one table
| Ruta 10 km | What is there, according to the listings |
|---|---|
| 161 | La Barra (reference point before the stretch) |
| 176–179 | Laguna José Ignacio, kite and windsurf all year |
| 181 | Hale Lau, first La Juanita address |
| 182.5 | Panorama, The Shack, La Despensa (Casa Grande): the point with most listings on the road |
| 183.5 | Medialunas Calentitas and Redpagos Varlix, on the way to the village |
| 185 | First José Ignacio addresses: calle La Farola (Marismo, Posada Azul Marino), Laguna Escondida beach club |
| 185.5 | Arenas dunes: Chiringuito Mallmann, La Atrevida, Malta Homestay |
| no km | Laguna Garzón and the circular bridge; La Virazón "next to the bridge"; information centre at the entrance to Rocha |
| 190–198 | Ocean beaches of El Caracol, Costa Bonita and El Bonete, open all year |
| 190.5 | Laguna Garzón Lodge and Garza Mora; A Pura Vela ("Ex Ruta 10") |
| 193 | El Caracol, beach settlement and La Playita, with the lagoon operators; no lifeguard post in the Rocha listings |
| 204.5 | Las Cárcavas: seaside smallholdings and restaurant |
| 208 | Las Garzas: beach club and gated community |
| 210 | EcoGarzón Glamping, last published address |
- Fuel: the ANCAP service station in José Ignacio states 24-hour service and coverage of José Ignacio and La Juanita, and describes itself as the last service station before the city of Rocha; its listing gives no kilometre
- Without a car: the CODESA Línea 14 bus lists stops on Ruta 10 in José Ignacio and at Laguna Garzón, timetables by season on the company's website; at the bridge itself, per the bridge guide, there is no urban transport stop. Taxi and pre-booked transfers are in the portal's transport selection
- In the protected area: no engines on the water, no tents, no open fires, and vehicles stay off the dunes
- On the Rocha side: the road between the bridge and Ruta 9 is maintained by the Intendencia de Rocha
How we checked this. Kilometres and seasons come from the portal listings cited in each stretch, counted across the directory on September 19, 2026 (281 Spanish-language listings; 38 mentioning a Ruta 10 kilometre, in the location field or in the text; 172 in José Ignacio, 26 in La Juanita, 40 at Laguna Garzón). The facts about the bridge, the road's jurisdiction and the protected area were read that same day on the MTOP, Turismo Rocha, Intendencia de Rocha, Presidency and Ministry of the Environment pages linked below. The portal gives no kilometre for the bridge because none of the sources consulted publishes one.
Sources: Ministry of Transport and Public Works (MTOP), "Está habilitado al tránsito el puente sobre Laguna Garzón" (dimensions, investment and transfer of jurisdiction of Ruta 10); Turismo Rocha, Puente Laguna Garzón (ferry 1995–2015, railings, access from Rocha) and Turismo Rocha, Laguna Garzón (surface areas, birds, prohibited activities, access from Ruta 9 km 188); Intendencia de Rocha, "Mejoramiento de la Ruta 10 desde el puente de Garzón" (January 27, 2016); Presidency of Uruguay, note on the protected area (September 14, 2019: entry into the SNAP, information centre, rangers); Ministry of the Environment, Área de Manejo de Hábitats y/o Especies Laguna Garzón (resolution 07/2013). All in Spanish, verified on September 19, 2026. Listings and pages already published on Portal Garzón are linked in each stretch. Opening times, seasons and road conditions are indicative: confirm them before travelling.
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