punta choros

A long trip (lots of trucks and highway construction) from Serena (120 kms), including 40 kms of dirt road. Try using a 4wd vehicle. Load gas in Serena...no gas stations over there.You get to a parking lot in an ugly costal town. The only reason you are here is to visit Damas Island. Skip the food, nothing here is worth having, not even the seafood empanadas that we tried and throw away. Bring a snack.Then you pay around 20 usd per person to get on a boat. There is an extra 5 usd per person ticket IF you want to land on the Damas Island. The last boat that access the beach at Damas leaves at 2 pm. It its about a three hours tour. Lots of birds and penguins. We did not get to see dolphins. We did see a whale from very far away. If you are lucky and sight wales and dolphins it would be a WOW moment for sure.

I used to go to punta de choros many years ago, when one could camp in Isla Damas for a few nites uninterrumpted (now they allow you to disembark for an hour!!!!, useless).I went back a couple of weeks ago, and it was a dismal experience. As many people here have mentioned you have to wait for a boat to fill up (10 people) in the summer it could be fast (jan-feb) God forbids if you embark after after 12 noon, you will catch on your way back the wind and you will be totally drench. I first dont, dont ever embark after 2 pm.Secondly, if you are lucky you will get a botero (a boat driver) who is knowledgeable, and knows where to go, and how to find the dolphins, as it turns out we were not so lucky, so we saw no dolphins, and hardly a few seals. Ite seems that the dolphins have moved away anyway I will rate your chances of seeing dolphins 50/50. Punta de Choros lives on its reputation and leaves much to be desired, is hardly the place that it used to be, it is a highly commercialized enterprized (10.000 pesos plus 2.500 (conaf fee) to get into a boat), that outrun its better days. Dont go with children under five. I am not going to mention the less than appropiate road. The highly overrated and expensive accomodations. But if you need to saty here go to Marea Alta, and lodge in the boat (second floor , enamorados suite), amuzing...The only good thing about Punta de Choros, is that is on the way to Chanaral de Aceituno (27 kms) north, where you will first past a beautiful coast line, see Whales (fin and blue) tons of pinguins, colonies of sealions, birds, etc and a wonderful meal at Jhony restaurant and a quaint fishing village with a couple of good restaurants. The tours are highly professional boteros with tour guides, who actually know a lot about the wildlife at Chanaral Island (see my review of Chanaral de Aceituno).

We are a Chilean-Canadian couple in our 40-50s and spent 4 nights at Punta de Choros during Easter 2013, considered a high-season weekend. 
The place is a fishing town located approx. one hour Northeast of La Serena. The climate is semi-desert, therefore the road off the highway (mostly made of compacted earth and gravel) runs by silent cactuses combed by the wind and surrounded by costal hills (very beautiful in its own way). We were lucky and saw several “guanacos” (a camelid) grazing at certain distance from the road. The temperature range was 10-18 C (50-64 F). Most days were completely cloudy, except for two days when it partially cleared at noon (typical of this region). For this time of the year, take UV convertible pants and shirt, T-shirt, sweater, windbreaker/parka, sun hat, wool cap and socks, thin gloves, sunglasses, trekking boots, camera and sunscreen. If you are sensitive to cold winds, take shell pants too. The town is a poorly designed group of houses that lack any esthetic appeal, except for a few cases. Water is scarce in the area, but is this an excuse for not having cactuses or hydroponic gardens? The town surroundings were full of non-recyclable large and small garbage scattered on the floor by winds and/or empty shells of “locos”, the local shellfish, on the shore. There were no garbage cans on sight or signs asking tourists (and locals) not to throw waste or even better, to take it back home. The coastline is rocky with small white sandy beaches of beautiful turquoise water. The North side is most protected from the wind. The population generally does not speak English, but probably you can get by if you deal with tourist-catering business. There are many alternatives for basic accommodation (camping and simple cottages), but most are very close to each other, and you could end up listening to a late BBQ party if you run out of luck. If you must, choose a cottage far away from one for 6 persons or more. We stayed 3 nights at Marea Alta (simple, expensive, cottages close to each other, noisy neighbors one night, good restaurant though) and 1 night at Punta de Domos. 

Punta de Domos has a unique concept of sleeping in a modern futuristic large tent structure that stands against the semi desert, like in a hypothetic moon landscape. There are 5 white domes, quite far from each other, lying on white sand right in front of the ocean, each one surrounded by a nice deck. They have 2 levels; the living room, bathroom (with large Jacuzzi), kitchen, large window, and one single bed are on the first level, and the master bedroom is on the loft (with a plastic window on the roof). They have microwave, water boiler and mini fridge. There is an outside BBQ common area. The thermal insulation was good enough. Since there was little acoustic insulation, we heard the ocean all the time. Also, saw the moon and the stars at night, and the birds in the morning, all while lying in bed (we loved it). Luis, the owner, was easy-going and very friendly. Their rate was a bit higher than the others, but you get much more too. We thought it was worth it, considering the average offer. The only suggestion we would make is to offer means for preparing simple things like fried/boiled eggs, toasts, noodles, etc. but we do not know if this is safe in a dome. 

The all-year-round local restaurants are good enough for having nice meals made of fresh fish and shellfish. Try: “mariscal” (hot shellfish soup served in a clay bowl), “locos” (Chilean abalone- eat them with fresh lemon juice and mayonnaise, must be soft if well prepared) and “ostión” (scallop), “pastel de jaiba” (gratin crab cake served in a clay bowl), “congrio” fried or soup (conger) or “ceviche” (raw fish marinated in lemon juice, onion and cilantro). If you are into “empanadas” (patty food), there is a wide variety made with shellfish. A tip: bring your own preferred cold white wine (sauvignon blanc for example) from La Serena or Santiago. There is no charge at restaurants. 

But the experience that made the trip to Punta de Choros completely worth it was observing the marine biodiversity, which can be experienced by diving (best visibility in July and August and water with less plankton) and by circumnavigating two islands (Choros and Chañaral de Aceituno). We previously booked diving with Memo Ruz and navigation with Willy Barrera (at Punta de Choros) and Luis González (at Caleta Chañaral de Aceituno). They all were very professional, being Luis González from TurismosOrca the most intimate of all. Our diving experience was pleasant but limited since the water those days had lots of plankton. Conversely, we were very lucky with the navigation. We saw: bottle nose dolphins, fin and humpback whales, sea lions, sea elephant, Humboldt penguins, sea otter, and a wide variety of sea birds. It was breathtaking at times. Best months for whale watching: January to March. Navigate early in the morning when the sea is much calmer. Disembarking on Isla Damas was the lowest point of all the attractions, since there was very little marine life (men have been there for a long time). The park ranger said that there are many unique species of plants, but the one-hour visit allowed by Conaf (forestry national institution) was too short to walk around the island and read all the info signs. The info dynamics of this visit need urgent but simple improvements to make it worth. At present, it cannot be skipped since most tours disembark over there (after paying 5 dollars to Conaf) in a waste of time for tourists and resources for the State of Chile. 

In summary, go to Punta de Choros with little expectations and you will have extraordinary experiences. Lodge at Memo Ruz for good basic accommodation and at Punta de Domos for an unforgettable and cool one. Do not pay much attention to shortcomings that are at times so typical of tourism in Chile, but focus on the extraordinary landscape and the breathtaking experience of observing marine wild life in situ. A personal reflection: it is a shame that this town has to survive to some unappreciative and careless locals and tourists. Please take your garbage bag with you when leaving town, it is a small gesture that means a lot to a place that belongs to all of us. We felt happy that marine life was far in the ocean and not in town… Under these conditions, Punta de Choros is not only a destination but also a highly recommended experience.

I did the big mistake to travekl by my own to Punat Choros form La Serena, w/o bookign a full trip package to Isla DamasThe result: beign left at the small harbour at Punta Choros :(Take your time and use support form travel agencies for doing it.Finally also not so expensive!

Ok, it's like everything in Chile it's not easy to know how to proceed. We went early in the hope to get on a boat early. They are disorganised, and if you do not speak Spanish you will have hard time planning anything. We paid for a boat for the 4 of us, and got a lovely guide, who did speak some English. If you want things to be easy, do not go on your own, if you speak Spanish and want to do it yourself then I think we got the best trip ! No one else only us, we decided not to land on Damas, but just to see all the wild life and not to interfere with it. You do not have to pay CONAF if you do not land, and CONAF where very good ( in Spanish). It's a great place, which could do with some help sorting its tourism out! The reserve is a great example of how wonderful the nature can be hidden near us in Chile. Go.... The best bit was the sea lions posing for all the photos!

We enjoyed to go to Punta de los Choros with a rented car (trip from La Serena is easy, 2 hours including 41 Km of good quality trail). We made the famous tour of the islands and loved it! We talked (in spanish) with the very nice fisherman who guided the tour. He shared a bit of his life and passion for the sea.We enjoyed the place so much that we decided to stay 1 night in the small village. There is a lot of options of "cabanas", from the cheapeast CLP 25000,00 to the most expensive Dome at CLP 80000,00. Because we traveled out of summer season (we were there the 18 of december) all were available. We got the chance to go to one of the numerous beaches, wild, few people, almost no pollution (compared to the beach of La Serena full of garbage). Extremely cold water but just beautiful and wild!IMPORTANT: the boat got on sea only if the weather is OK. Check with agencies in La Serena the night before and the morning you plan to leave to Punta. Agencies called every morning to confirm with authorities if the harbour is opened or not (the 1st day we planed to go there, all the boats stayed on the ground)!We made the trip with 2 small children of 1 and 4 years-old. Take SUN BLOCK, clothes to protect against sun, wind and water (on the boat), food and drink for the trip to the islands. My children loved it!

The day ended in disappointment. We travelled a long way to get here driving down little unmade roads. If you dont have a 4x4 or you aren’t a frequent driver you might not enjoy this drive from Ruta 5 on around 25 km of unmade road with the usual pot holes and no petrol stations. We arrived at 8 am in the hope we could get out early and see more wildlife. The only way to get to the island is by a local "fishing" boat. I doubt these guys have fished for a very long time as this is a commercial operation. You need to buy a ticket from the reserve which is 2500 CLP or around £3.75 in sterling or $5 in USD.The fisherman refused to take us until they had a full boat. The fisherman seemed to have some cartel like agreement whereby prices where fixed at 8000 CLP which is around £11.00 GBP and $17 USD. This price is reasonable but the lack of competition means you get a raw deal. There were an abundance of empty boats and bored under employed fisherman.We waited from 8am until 12:30pm when we finally got an agreement for places on a boat to leave at 1:45pm. We had waited so long we decided to wait the extra. A fisherman did approach us at 1pm to offer us a full boat to ourselves for 75000 CLP which is £100 or $150 USD. A little bit late after waiting for 4 hours!!! We decided to wait for the 1:45 boat.At 1:30 hundreds of 15-17 year old school children arrived joking, laughing and screaming. We quickly realised our boat trip to Isla Damas to see the wildlife would be invaded by more than a hundred unruly children. Needless to say we declined to take our seat on a boat with 10 school children and 3 hours on an island with the hundreds, All in all I don’t know what to advise, there were unfortunate souls ferried in from La Serena who were dumped on this school excursion. Maybe get there early and pay up with the fisherman until somebody agrees to get his boat in the water. Ultimately the Chilean government who manage the reserve should manage the locals better and promote competition. Experiences like this leave a bad taste in the mouth and give a bad image of Chile.

We love wildlife, photography and I'm a volunteer at Island Conservation office in Santiago that has a project of rabbit eradication in the Reserva Nacional Pinguino de Humboldt. So we were pretty excited to go to La Serena and visit the reserve.But as almost everything else in Chile, it's not easy to know how to proceed. We didn't take a tour and got there in 1h30 from La Serena. We arrived in Punto Choros, looked for the CONAF office, didn't find it and ended up at the marina. There, a fisherman came to us before we even had the time to leave the car. He explained that we would pay 75.000 pesos (about US$ 150) for the boat, that the tour was about 2h ish and we would pay CONAF on our way back. Hmmmm we weren't used to that kind of situation and wanted to check with CONAF first. So the fisherman, who didn't want to loose his 2 clients of the day, came with us in our car. The entrance fee to the reserve is 2.500 pesos per adult.On our way to isla Damas, the fisherman offered to share a sea urchin with the 2 of us (we had the boat for ourselves). Obviously fresh but obviously raw... We had 1 hour to hike Damas with the Turkey Vultures and Kelp Gulls. There was a couple of oystercatcher, whimbrels and cinclodes. Fantastic! The beaches are gorgeous! We spotted 2 "lagartos negros" (lizards). Then we headed to Choros for some wildlife. Bottlenose Dolphins were swimming right by the boat at some point. Then we saw penguins, sea lions, boobies, pelicans 3 different species of cormorants. Back to Punta Choros, birds were flying around us. The 2 fishermen gave us some info about the animals, it was more than what I expected without a guide.We decided to have lunch on the beach. The only open booth was Mama Tila. The waiter, the nicest guy ever, was friendly as well as eager to talk with us. The empanadas were the best, hubby had the crab empanada which was extremely fresh. As a matter of fact, the waiter showed up with a real crab... alive. The side salad was also fresh and good. Since I'm vegetarian and the cheese empanada was my only choice, he offered me a salad as well. Very nice touch. The wine was nice. We had the beach for ourselves. The bill was 3 times cheaper than what we paid to the less than average Tololo Beach the day before. Before leaving our new friend, he told us to go up by the lighthouse (not really a lighthouse but it has the same purpose) where the view was beautiful.That half day was simply amazing.

This is a wonderful place to visit, you can see dolphins, whales and seals and different kind of marine birds in the trip to Isla Damas and Isla Choros.

A boat trip along the island shows of the many different birds, penguins and sea-lions hanging about

Penguins, sea otters, cranes, boating tours, friendly locals. As yet undiscovered by tourists, with beautiful uncrowded beaches.

Take the boat at Punta Choros to see all the magnificent wildlife at Isla Choros and Isla Damas. Around Isla Choros admire penguins, cormorants, sea lions, while schools of bottlenose dolphins play around the boat. It's only possible to land at Isla Damas, and pay atention there to little passerine birds and all cactus vegetation, absolutely gorgeous. And please, do not throw garbage, help protect this still pristine environment.

This location is about one and half hours drive from La Serena. 3 hours boat trip from the Punta was visiting Islas Gaviota, Choros, and Damas. There are lots of seals, Humboldt penguins, and birds. The rocks and cliffs at Isla Choros are very interesting too. Walk on Isla Damas was also pleasant.

I would go there only in order to visit Isla Damas. A very quiet place 120 km from La serena, it's the harbour (peer) for all the boats offering day-trips to the National Park

Llegar antes de que oscurezca porque el camino es díficil. La playa es muy bonita. REcomiendo el camping La Torre