Cerro Verde: protected coastal-marine area
Cerro Verde belongs to the protected coastal-marine area Cerro Verde and Islas de La Coronilla, located between Santa Teresa and La Coronilla. It is one of the most beautiful and paradisiacal areas of Uruguay. With 15 meters of elevation it offers a panoramic view from where you can see the nearby beaches and a complex of oceanic islands that includes Isla Verde and Isla de La Coronilla.
In the Coronilla Islands colonies of sea lions and marine elephant specimens have been identified. Isla Verde is the only breeding site in Uruguay of a mixed colony of yellow-billed, royal and South American terns.
In the marine area, the presence of cetaceans such as the bottle nose dolphin, the Franciscan dolphin and the southern right whale stands out.
In addition, the area forms a refuge where the green turtle is fed and developed, which is considered in danger of extinction worldwide. Other species of sea turtles such as the lute and the loggerhead, also in critical danger or threatened, can be seen.
In the hill numerous species of insects survive, beetles in particular, which are free to develop without the intervention of civilization.
Panoramic viewpoint
On the hill two wooden lookouts have been built, where posters with images detail the terrestrial and marine fauna of the place (more than 500 species). Two ideal spots to take a break, contemplate the immensity of the Atlantic Ocean and nature from its most virgin and wild perspective and watch sea lions resting on the rocks. During the whale season in Uruguay, they are an ideal spot for the sighting of these cetaceans emerging to take a breath on their way to colder waters.
The forests that most stand out in the area are the coastal ones such as the psamophil forest and the gallery forest, a relictual area of thorny coastal scrub, grasslands, psammophilous and floodplain meadows and mobile dunes.
