Tongoy

Tongoy sits on a peninsula with a beach on each side: Playa Grande on the open southern side, long and exposed, and Playa Socos in the sheltered bay to the north, which is calm enough for children. The town's real business is scallops - ostion del norte, farmed and dived in the bay, sold in the caletas and served in the restaurants along the front, and the reason a good number of Chileans drive down here specifically. The 2015 earthquake off this coast produced a tsunami that damaged the low-lying front, and rebuilding since has changed parts of the seafront.

Background

The town stands on a rocky promontory facing the Pacific, with Socos beach (4 km) on one side and Grande beach (26 km) on the other, and the 2002 census counted 4,435 inhabitants. Summer houses fill the peninsula, known locally as La Isla, while most year-round residents live in the Pueblo Bajo. Tongoy was an important port for copper from the Tamaya mine, and in 1850 the industrialist Jose Tomás Urmeneta backed a railroad to bring in ore. The poet Víctor Domingo Silva, called el poeta nacional, was born and lived here, and a large park named after him occupies the highest ground of the peninsula.

Source: Wikipedia, "Tongoy"

The main sights

• Two beaches, one calm and one open - either side of the peninsula.
• Scallop farming in the bay - the town's real industry.
• Restaurants selling the catch - the reason many people come.
• Marks of the 2015 tsunami - and the rebuilding since.

When to go

December to March. Half a day.

Before you go

The water is cold, as everywhere on this coast. It is crowded in January and February and quiet otherwise. Some of the front is modern rebuilding. Prices for scallops have risen sharply.

Nearby

Guanaqueros is north along the coast; Coquimbo is beyond.

Key facts