Bahía Inglesa

About this place

One of Chile's loveliest beaches, a small bay of clear turquoise water, fine white sand and sculpted rocks on the edge of the Atacama Desert, like a tropical beach in the middle of the desert. Its name means «English Bay», after English ships that sheltered here in the seventeenth century. The water here is calmer and slightly warmer than most of the Chilean coast, so people come to swim, paddle and relax, with longer beaches such as Las Machas beyond. Black oystercatchers with red bills strut on the sand. The village is small and quiet, with seafood restaurants serving scallops and fresh fish from nearby sea farms, campsites and holiday flats. In rare rainy years the «flowering desert» blooms on the nearby hills in spring. The bay is busy in the Chilean summer, December to February, and calmer the rest of the year. The sun is strong and the wind picks up in the afternoon.