Buses From Punta Del Diablo (Including Going To Brazil)

Finding bus schedules from Punta Del Diablo can involve a trip to the bus station which is a good walk from town, or a 15 pesos ride with the taxi-vans, so let’s face it, much easier to put them online right?

Here’s what Planet Vagabond has for you if you are thinking about bussing your way out of Punta Del Diablo. This is also a good how-to get a Brazilian visa without losing your hair. If the times are screwy, just write an angry comment below to let us know how you missed your bus.

Bus From Punta Del Diablo To Montevideo

With Rutas Del Sol:

• 0:05 AM (Direct and Local)
• 2:00 AM
• 5:45 AM
• 9:00 AM
• 9:20 AM (Local)
• 2:00 PM (Direct and Local)
• 7:00 PM
• 7:30 PM (Direct)

If I understood the sign right, with Rutas Del Sol you can find your way to Montevideo, Pan De Azucar, San Carlos, Rocha, La Paloma, Pedrera, Cabo Polonio, Valizas, Aguas Dulces, Castillos, La Esmeralda, Fortaleza, Coronilla, Chuy.

Bus From Punta Del Diablo to Chuy

• 5:40 AM
• 8:30 AM
• 11:45 AM
• 11:50 AM
• 1:00 PM
• 5:45 PM
• 7:15 PM
• 9:00 PM
• 9:05 PM
• 11:15 PM

Entering Brazil in Chuy

In downtown Chuy you can basically cross the street and find yourself in Brazil. The   differences are subtle: on one side the street is lined up with Airport-grade Duty Free stores from where Brazilians are hauling containers of merchandise; on the other side, the restaurants are prices in Brazilian moneys. So entering Brazil in Chuy is not a problem, the problem is to actually legally enter Brazil in Chuy. If you are a beach-bum taking a bus from say Punta del Diablo to Florianopolis, you’ll need to advise the bus driver at the border patrol just outside of Chuy so you can stamp your passport. If you have your bus tickets with TTL from Chuy to Floripa -and you should get those in advance to avoid sleeping in a duty free store- you’ll do the same leaving Chuy and have your passport stamped for entry in Brazil. As always, keep that little bit of paper too.

Americans searching for a way to get into Brazil for free (read “without the reciprocity visa that will set you back $140”) can definitely do it from Chuy as one informant told us. You may want to keep low profile though since your passport often gets checked when boarding buses. This also means returning there to reconduct your misdeed on the way out.

Although if you are a square like Jess, you probably will take care of your Brazilian Visa in Chuy.

Milking Your Brazilian Visa Out of the Consulate in Chuy

And I guess Jess is not all that square if she is tagging along with me right now and if she waited all the way until Chuy to buy her way into Brazil. Truth is, she did try to get her visa for Brazil in La Paz, Santiago, Buenos Aires and Montevideo. And at the end of the day, it pretty much sucks everywhere except perhaps La Paz and Chuy.

Forget about getting a visa from Buenos Aires, you need advance appointment and two weeks was not enough for us. Folks at the consulate in Montevideo seemed decent but they did need tickets in and out of Brazil. When it boils down to it, this is the most stringent requirement when you are vagabonding your way with no particular schedule.

Jess showed up at the Brazilian consulate in Santiago at 10am, only to find out that there were already a dozen people in line and that she would not have enough time to proceed since they were closing at noon. Yes, you read right, the people of the consulate of Brazil in Santiago work from 10am to 12pm. An excruciating two full hours! This is one of the rare instances in my life when I regret not to have done anything with my law degree. The girl in La Paz was super friendly and ready to deliver in 48 hours but so early in the game I had no patience and we bailed out of town too early.

In short, get it done in Chuy, drop your passport off one morning with a smile and two words of Portuguese (Portuguese 101: “tudo bom” works well everywhere) and retrieve it the following day. While in Chuy, buy yourself a duty free size bottle of Havana Club 7 years and kill time with such accessory.

Bus From Punta Del Diablo to Rocha

There are like 9 buses to Rocha and I don’t really feel like writing them all here right now. Just know you can go like 9 times a day.