Cavancha beach
Cavancha Beach is located on the coast of Iquique seaport in the Iquique province of Tarapaca. The enormous sandy beach is one of the main sights of the city.
Photos
Beach description
Cavancha Beach is covered in white sand. The descent is smooth and the sea bottom is sandy. The waves are high. The water is cool. Reefs can be seen near the coast. There are rental stores where you can take umbrellas and sunbeds, but locals prefer to come here with their own stuff. Showers and toilets are installed. Rescue workers are stationed here.
The beach is crowded. The majority of visitors are families with children. There's not a large amount of tourists here. Surfing enthusiasts come here usually.
Bringing children here isn't advised, as swimming is prohibited, and there's little else to do.
When is it better to go
The beach season in Chile begins in October and ends in March. Do not forget that the Peruvian current (Humboldt Current) prevents a full beach holiday, as it carries cold streams from Antarctica along the coastline of South America.
Video: Beach Cavancha
Infrastructure
Where to stop
Iquique offers many different accomodation options, from hotels to apartments to guest houses on the coast and in the city.
Where to eat
Besides the regional Chilean cuisine Iquique has Spanish, Peruvian, Mexican, Mediterranean, Italian and Greek restaurants. The Old Town has expensive haute cuisine restaurants situated in the old colonial mansions with amazing interiors. Fast food restaurants can be often seen in the business district and port district of the city. All of the city districts have a place worth visiting. Don't ignore the snack bars and pizzerias where you can order take out food and beverages. Restaurants, cafes and bars on the boulevard along the coast are especially popular.
What to do
The city of "endless Summer", as tourists call it, Iquique is known for its picturesque sand dunes. You can look at the city and dunes from up above on a paraglider. Paragliding is one of the most popular activities in Iquique. There are no forests or trees in the outskirts which makes landing safe almost anywhere.
Water sports are also popular:
- parasailing,
- windsurfing,
- kitesurfing,
- bodyboarding,
- sup surfing.
Cavancha attracts both amateur and professional surfers. Sandboarding - riding a board across the sand dunes - gets a special mention.
Weather in Cavancha
Best hotels of Cavancha
All hotels of CavanchaUseful information
How to get there
You can get to Iquique by flying from the Santiago Airport. An airport that takes domestic flights operates here. There's a bus that comes from the capital of Chile, but this route will take over a day.