So many memories of spending the day at this beach with my mom as a child….

90daysinbuenosaires:

Buenos Aires Playa, oh yes

At the first thought, an artificial city beach sounds less than enticing. Especially if you are coming from a place with a glorious harbour, like Sydney…

On the second thought, on a Sunday with +36C temperatures, anything with a proximity to water seems like an awesome idea. An artificial beach is better than no beach, I thought, so we headed to Parque de Los Ninos in Vicente Lopez for some fun in the sun time.

And Buenos Aires Playa is actually a much better experience than you’d think!

The ‘beach’ area is sprawling at the tip of the park, looking over Rio de la Plata, which is very lovely. There are many areas with free sun umbrellas and chairs, a special sandy area - the actual ‘beach’; a stage with bands playing, food and drinks kiosks, volleyball nets, plenty of shaded areas to throw a rug, and even a wi-fi lounge! (admittedly not working very well, but the intent is there!)

Being an artificial beach in Buenos Aires (where you enter the river at your own health risk), the playa doesn’t have an actual water access. BUT they came with a great idea. There are water sprinkles/showers everywhere! You know how on a scorching hot day in the city, you wish someone would spray you from a hose? Well, you can get that and more at the Buenos Aires Playa - equally entertaining for kids and adults :)

So you get to the beachy park, plonk yourself on a sun chair and chill looking over the river, sipping your mate; when you get hot, you run for refreshment under the water spray, go dance some latin tunes, get an ice-cream, and go back to your spot with a water view. An almost perfect Sunday afternoon scenario :)

An interesting part was some kind of dance-fitness routine with crowd participation at the entertainment area. There was a guy on stage, with a mike (like an aerobic instructor), but instead of fitness moves, you do a line dance to the current pop hits! Pretty cool, and very engaging, and impossible to resist! We had to join in, shaking it to Ai Se Eu Te Pego

This being Argentina, of course the park is dotted with families and their picnics, drinking copious amounts of mate, talking, listening to music. Come to the Buenos Aires Playa and join in :)

I am convinced that other hot, beach-less cities all over the world should franchise this concept - people will be happier, and everyone will be better off :)