The visit to both Islands was the highlight of our trip to Chile. Seeing the penguins and the other marine animals in their natural habitat was an unforgettable experience.
Our trip to Isla Damas was wonderful - we saw loads of dolphins, sea lions, penguins, and even a pair of sea otters.
When you see those little guys waddling down the cliffs, it will take your breath away. This is a fabulous gift that Chili is sharing with the lucky few who visit.Whatever you do, book with South Excursions for this and all the surrounding attractions around La Serena. Try to get Rene as your driver (a character who knows everyone within 500 miles) and Felipe, the (handsome) English-speaking guide. He is not only extremely knowledgeable, he is an accomplished photographer who does all the picture taking (for no extra fee!) leaving you free to gawk and have fun. Highly recommended!
An incredible place to visit, dont miss that out if you are nearby... I mean, near from what???Yes, believe or not this is far away.Considering La Serena as your base, you will spent around 1:30 ~ 2:00 hours to get there.We went by car and it was an amazing trip, beautiful view and when you notice you are just in the middle of nowhere, seems to be driving in a desert (vegetagion and the mountains combined very well)...... But, what about if you car crash?Note that cell phone signal is very unstable so, if you are driving to Punta Choros, take care of all details of your car.You will pass thru a small village and you will feel like being inside a movie.You will then arrive to a harbor where you have to buy a ticket to jump on the small boat. The tour lasts a few hours passing thru an island where you can see several different animals such as penguins, pelicans, birds of all kinds, sea lions and we saw even an sea elephant... they looked like rocks.After that you stop at Isla Damas and you can enjoy spend a few minutes on this small island... although water looks nice, it is really cold... dont risk to get you cold :)Some advices:1- Not always you will be able to see the whales or dolphins (there is a right season to visit the place if you want to check this out)2- If you want, you can camp on the 1st island the boat pass around (also, there is a right season)3- Wheather is cloudy most of the times, wind is cold (bring your coat) and I used sandals (dont make this mistake, you can take them into your bag but well, this is your choice)4- Dont waste your time going to the bathroom in Isla Damas, prepare yourself before leaving the harbour, time is a must on this tripEnjoy your trip!
Didn't knew Chile has also a this typical white bounty beach with turqoise ocean. Allthough it looks like the caribbean the water is pretty cold, but you should take at least one dive in it. You can book a complete tour were you visit the isla damas and the penguin reservat. During the boat tour you might see dolphins.
Cute boat ride with sights of penguins, sea lions, Dolphins and whales. This is definitely a must tour if you are in the area. Be prepared for some optional walking on the island and a possible wet bum as on all smaller boat rides.
We enjoyed our visit to Isle Damas. We found the ride there very fascinating. After leaving the paved highway, we drove on a rough dirt road for at least an hour to reach Los Choros. This would explain why we could not map it out on Apple Maps. I would suggest if you make the drive on your own, that you take a 4X4. We went with a tour group. It was a little pricey, but included a very good lunch at an olive farm. We saw penguins, sea otters and dolphins that day. But unfortunately no whales. Our tour guide Hector was very informative and entertaining.
I am a backpacker, 37yrs old, 40+ countries visited, travelling with partner.Generally we don't like tours so we decided to do it by ourselves.FROM LA SERENA: We had a base in La Serena (Hostal El Observatorio recommended), there is a daily private and the only bus to Punto de Choros at 9am going every day from a bakery la panadería El Griegos. You pay 4.500 pesos one way, 9k return. We took the bus one way, the journey lasts about 1.5 hr so at 10.30am you are at the harbour.BOAT TOUR IN PUNTA DE CHOROS: After getting off the bus at the last stop at the harbour you will see a young lady chatting up tourists for a tour. She is a national park guide and her company charges 11.000 pp for about 2 hrs guided boat tour. We negotiated 10.000 pesos pp (which normally is impossible). The boat is waiting for other tourists from the tour agencies to join, including eco tour. Tour starts at about 11.10am. The experience was great, despite of cloudy and very cold weather and one part of the park completely closed we saw numerous types of birds, condors, pelicans, penguins, huge and impressive sea lions, many dolphins which we sailed with for more than 5 mins almost at the touch of your hand. All the time was on the boat as entering that part of the island is prohibited excluding scientists in order not to scare the birds and animals.The tour terminates at around 1pm. RETURN TO LA SERENA: OPTION 1:As the place attracts local tourists with private cars we travelled back to La Serena by hitchhiking. The tourists from Santiago are always happy to take gringos and we saved 9k pesos. OPTION 2: The other option is to take the return bus from Punto de Choros to La Serena at 3pm (you dont have to have return ticket, you can pay on the bus); it means you would have 2 hrs for yourself after the boat trip which you might spend walking around village (not much to do and see) or having lunch in one of the restaurants.STAYING IN PUNTA DE CHOROS: I think it would be nice to stay overnight in the village (if you like small, 'nothing to do' fishing villages) to chill out and observe fishermen in the morning but make sure the weather is nice.
This day long trip was one of the best of many things we did in the area! The scenic drive along the pacific coast through the desert and to the boating village was fabulous! That was just the lead up to the main course. The small boat trip to the islands took us so very close to the awesome rock cliffs where scores of various wild life in complete privacy. Sea birds, sea lions, seals, penguins are plentiful in their natural existence. Following near the boats were many large dolphins! The hour exploration of the nearby navigable island was a perfect spot to observe the open Pacific, the coastal mountains of the mainland and the beautiful water with spectacular wave active into the rock shores and protruding rocks. The 3 pm lunch at the olive grove oasis in the middle of now-where was delicious and a perfect way to get ready to settle back for the 2 hour trip back to LaSerena!
I love penguins, and I saw them on a boat trip (lasts about an hour for 10,000CHP) from Punta Choros, but from a bit of a distance. Worth bringing warm clothes. We didn't go on to any of the islands. We also saw lots of interesting sea birds and dolphins, and even fin whales. I felt sorry for the whales and dolphins though, with several boats chasing around to get close to them, which is probably against regulations, and certainly against advice from groups such as Sea Shepherd.Punta Choros is where the boat trips go from. It is a fairly simple and sliightly sorry-looking outpost, though the coast itself is clean and pretty. There are various food stalls selling seafood empanadas. We did it as a day-trip from La Serena. The bus left from outside a bakery at about 11am. It was packed, so best to get there a little early. The journey was quite long (over two and a half hours each way) through desert landscape and the last half an hour or so was on a pretty bumpy road, which made it a bit of a tiring trip. I would say Puñihuil in Chiloé is a much better trip.