Right in the heart of the Chilean fjords of Patagonia lies Chaiten, a lovely small port town still recovering from the huge eruption that nearly wiped it out back in 2008. Nowadays, the town is still far from being exploited – believe it or not we were there for the inauguration of the info point – but this is what makes it special. As the first Patgonian outpost if you’re coming from the North, it is what you would expect it to be: green landscapes, complete wilderness and buckets of rain. Yes, you’ll have to get used to it. Ain’t not place nor season in Patagonia when rain is not in the equation!
Main road of town
Things to do
The town itself feels abandoned more than an actual place to “do” something yet is surrounded by a great deal of activities suitable for all kind of ages. From relaxed volcano hiking to swifting over the waters of Santa Barbara for dolphin watching, just take your pick. A little insight tip – as long as you’ve got your transport organised then you’re set. That’s the hard part!
As you can tell, everyone is laid back here
Hike Volcano Chaiten: If you visit Chaiten, for no reason on Earth you should miss hiking its famous volcano. Located 27km north of town, following the one and only Carretera Austral 7, it sits quietly on the side of the road. After it’s destructive eruption back in 2008 nothing exciting happened so it is indeed possible to hike to its mouth (or at least close enough!) and enjoy the breathtaking views from atop. Check out “Chaiten Heights: Climbing the infamous volcano” to know more about the hike >
Walk around Pumalin Park: A bit more north of the Volcano Chaiten, lies the immense Pumalin Park, a beautiful natural park which conserves a great variety of flora and fauna. The park path system is pretty organized and offers a great variety of options ranging from short & easy ones to even multi-day treks. Entrance to the park is free but transport can be a bit tricky, especially on the way back.
Hike to Ventisquero Glacier: Just an hour away South of town, it is still a virgin hiking as it barely sees more than a couple of tourists per day. It’s definitely not the best glacier you’ll see in Patagonia – in fact more like “a beginner’s glacier” – but who are we to say you shouldn’t go! Be aware of slightly cloudy & rainy days: if you go you’ll hardly seen anything because of the fog.
Swim in the El Amarillo Termas: A little after the Chaiten Volcano and before the Ventisquero Glacier you can find the El Amarillo hot springs. A perfect gateway for your sore hiking muscles (or for the lazy ones) it’s definitely worth a visit if you can arrange your transport. For the budget travellers: willing to pay around 20$ of entrance fee?
Go dolphin-watching: To be completely honest, until we visited the info point in town (yeah, the just-opened one) we had no clue such activity was even feasible. We were like “Whaaaat? Dolphins? Here? You sure you’re not spelling fat salmons wrong?”. Well, guess what… they were not. In fact, the tour involve getting to Santa Barbara by land (not more than 15min by car) and then on a boat to do dolphin watching.
Transport to Caleta Gonzalo (and Chaiten Volcano)
Transport in & out
Here’s a summary of the buses running in town all year round. In high season, make sure to go to the bus company and ask directly cause usually there will increase the number of buses.
The bus company which operates on the timings below are Bus Becker, Terra Austral, Buses Cardenas and a local bus.
Typical houses in town
Where to sleep
Departamentos Emmanuel: In low season you can just call the Departamentos Emmanuel on their land line and live the dream. Really, no kidding. The six apartments located over the supermarket (funnily all owned by the same guy named Eduardo), are great for groups/families from 3-6 people and sits well above the town’s average. Imagine something like small catering flats each featuring kitchen, living room, two bedrooms and a bathroom. The price ? Usually it’s 50’000CLP but if you mention to stay more days like we did they’ll get it down to 45-40’000CLP (53-60€/61-69$). The best deal in town if you’re in a group! Remember that booking in advance in high seasons is definitely the way to go!
Anything else: Around town there are plenty of other accomodation options – hospedajes, B&B and small hotels – all costing at least 10’000CLP/pp and 15’000CLP with breakfast included. See why teaming up with another couple and going to Departamento Emmanuel is the best pick?
Ever tried the tasty salmon empanadas?
Where to eat
Restaurant Legado: As you might have guessed by know, there’s not really much choice in town. This restaurant which has some great food but terrible service is not cheap but is the average in town (8’000CLP a plate). Fancy risking it? There are plenty of other options in town but after that first experience we just cooked our meals at “home”. No need to try more local food here for now, that great seafood experience in Niebla was still up in our heads (and down in our bellies)!
Whether be it because it was the first patagonian stop or a really great town, we did enjoy our stay in Chaiten a lot. Tucked away in the wilderness – and still recovering from the eruption in 2008 – looks like it will become a major tourist destination in some years from now. Transport can be hard to organise and any kind information hard to come-by but that’s really the fashion of the town: just take it easy. Would we visit again? How could we not, we still have that dolphin watching in stand-by!
If you like it, pin it!
PLANNING A TRIP TO PATAGONIA? CHECK MORE POSTS BELOW!
[pt_view id=”dac2754tk3″]