Cobquecura

Cobquecura is built of laja, the flat sandstone slabs quarried locally, which gives the village a grey stone character unlike the timber and adobe of the region around it, and the whole settlement is a national monument. On the shore north of it is the Iglesia de Piedra, a sea cave worn into the rock with an opening and interior that suggested a church to whoever named it, and which is treated locally as a place of devotion. Offshore lies the Loberia, a rock holding one of the larger South American sea lion colonies on this coast. The epicentre of the magnitude 8.8 earthquake of February 2010 was just off this shore.

What you actually see

• A village of stone slabs - built of local laja, and a national monument.
• The Iglesia de Piedra - a sea cave used as a place of devotion.
• A sea lion colony offshore - on the Loberia rock.
• The 2010 epicentre - just off this coast.

When to go

December to March. A full day.

Honest expectations

The cave is reached over rocks and is cut off at high tide. The sea lions are viewed from the shore at a distance. Services in the village are limited and largely seasonal. The coast road is slow.

Nearby

Chanco is north; Concepcion is south along the coast.