Photograph: The rock stacks of Punta de Lobos, Pichilemu by Diego Grez, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Pichilemu is a beach resort town on the Pacific coast of central Chile, the capital of Cardenal Caro Province in the O'Higgins Region, and the place Chileans mean when they talk about surfing. It lies a few hours' drive southwest of Santiago, it is home to nearly twenty thousand people, and its name comes from the Mapudungun for a small forest. It is a surf town first and a seaside resort second, with dark sand beaches, a cold ocean in every month and a big wave break a short way south that draws surfers from abroad.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you buy through them, Roman Trail earns a small commission at no extra cost to you.
The photograph above is Punta de Lobos, which lies about six kilometres south of the town itself. It looks from the scrubby clifftop to the two pale rock stacks standing offshore, with surf breaking white around the rocky point and the open Pacific behind. The name means Sea-lions Point, and the rocks are frequented by sea lions.
What that one frame cannot show is the town where you will sleep and eat: the main beach of Las Terrazas, Ross Park and the old casino above it, the wooden railway station, the point at La Puntilla, and the salt pans and lagoon at Cahuil to the south.
We receive a fee when you get a quote from World Nomads using this link. We do not represent World Nomads. This is not a recommendation to buy travel insurance.
Why Pichilemu, and Who It Suits
This is a working surf town with a faded belle epoque core, not a polished resort. Pichilemu is regarded as the prime location for surfing in Chile, particularly at Punta de Lobos, and surf schools sit along the main beach. If you do not surf, the reasons are quieter: dark sand beaches, sunset from the clifftops, a seafood lunch at the fishermen's creek, and the salt pans.
It suits a woman who likes small places with weather. It does not suit anyone expecting warm water. The Pacific here is cool all year round, and even in high summer most people in the water are in a wetsuit.
A Short History: From Hacienda Coast to Surf Capital
The town you see was planned as a playground for Santiago's rich. In the late nineteenth century the politician Agustin Ross Edwards bought land here and turned Pichilemu into a summer resort town for affluent families from Santiago. He laid out a park and built a hotel, a casino and a balcony over the rocks facing the beach.
Ross Park, which he created in 1885, still holds old palms and green lawns and is the place everyone walks in the evening. The casino building in front of it dates from 1905, and the first casino in Chile opened inside it on 20 January 1906. It ran until 1932, when the casino at Vina del Mar opened and took the trade. Today it is the Agustin Ross Cultural Centre, reopened in 2009 with gallery spaces and the public library. The Ross hotel is one of the oldest hotels in Chile, still partly open to guests and in a state of disrepair.
The old wooden railway station, Estacion Pichilemu, was built around 1925 at the end of a branch line from San Fernando. Passenger trains stopped running in 1986, and the station is now an arts and culture centre and the tourist information office, and the first stop for local information.
Pichilemu was severely affected by the 2010 Chile earthquake and the tsunami that followed it, which caused massive destruction along the coastal strip. A magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck about fifteen kilometres northwest of the town on 11 March 2010.
Punta de Lobos and the Surf
Punta de Lobos is the reason Pichilemu is known abroad. The point sits south of the town, its beach of fine grey sand backed by cliffs about fifty metres high. It is sheltered from the southern winds, and in autumn and winter the large swells can reach heights of up to fifteen metres. In 2013 it was nominated as a World Surfing Reserve by the Save The Waves Coalition, and surf contests are held there every year, including the national championship each summer.
Be honest with yourself about what that means. On a big day, the break at the point is for experienced big wave surfers with local knowledge, and the right place for everyone else is the clifftop. On a swell day the view from the top is worth the trip on its own. Keep back from the unfenced edges.
Beginners learn at the main beach in town, Playa Las Terrazas, in front of Ross Park, where the surf schools are and the waves are gentler on most days. The point at La Puntilla, at the southern end of that beach, is where the town's own international contests are held. South of the point, Playa Infiernillo is rocky with tide pools.
Recommended Tours and Experiences
Cahuil, the Salt Pans and the Inland Villages
The best half day away from the beach is Cahuil. The village sits at the mouth of the Nilahue estuary, the next village down the coast road south of town, and its economy rests on sea salt, oysters and mussels. Salt has been gathered here since before the Spanish arrived, and the shallow evaporation pans beside the lagoon, with their mounds of white salt, are the picture most visitors bring home. The municipality runs a Salt Route that takes visitors to the places where it is still produced, and buying a bag of Cahuil salt from the people who rake it is the obvious souvenir.
The lagoon is used for fishing, swimming and kayaking, and kiteboarding lessons are offered on it. It is also good birding water: at least 46 bird species have been recorded in the Cahuil area, among them the coscoroba swan.
Weather: Dry Summers, Wet Winters, Wind and Fog
Pichilemu has a Mediterranean climate, but the ocean makes it cooler than that word suggests. Winter rain reaches roughly 700 millimetres, and the rest of the year is dry, often windy and sometimes foggy along the coast. Occasionally the town gets winds as strong as 150 kilometres an hour.
SUMMER, the southern hemisphere summer around the turn of the year, is the main season, when Chilean families fill the town and the beaches are at their busiest. The afternoon wind off the sea can make a sunny beach feel cold, and evenings are cool enough for a fleece.
THE SOUTHERN AUTUMN AND WINTER are when the rain comes and the big swells arrive at Punta de Lobos. The town is quiet and the weather wet, windy and chilly.
The Pichilemu Packing List
Layers for wind and fog, which matter more than heat
A long sleeve merino wool base layer for women is the most useful garment you can bring here. It is warm when the fog rolls in and does not smell after a week of wear. Our merino base layers are 100% Australian merino at 17.5 micron. Over it, a fleece mid layer covers evenings in Ross Park and mornings on the clifftop.
A real rain and wind shell
In winter it is the most important thing in the bag, and in summer it is the layer that turns a cold windy sunset into a pleasant one. A packable rain jacket for women with a hood covers both jobs.
Sun protection that does not wash off
Cool air does not mean weak sun. A long sun hoodie covers your arms on the beach and between surf sessions, and a wide brim sun hat does the rest when the wind allows it. Our affiliate register carries no sunscreen and no sunglasses, so bring both from home, unlinked.
For the water
Bring a quick dry travel towel, because a cotton towel will not dry in sea fog. A wetsuit is the single most important item for anyone surfing or swimming, and we have no wetsuit in our register, so this is unlinked advice too: the surf schools hire wetsuits and boards with lessons, and renting is usually the sensible choice for a short stay.
For the cold evenings
A merino beanie earns its place on a winter trip and on summer evenings when the wind gets up on the clifftops.
What we left unlinked, and why
A dry bag for phones and keys on the beach is worth packing, and it is unlinked here only because the six link cap is reached; the beanie matters more on this coast. Cash in pesos helps at the fish market and at Cahuil.
Is Pichilemu Safe for Women Travelers
Pichilemu is an easy, relaxed town for a woman travelling alone, and its real risks are the ocean, the cliffs, fire and earthquakes rather than crime.
UK FCDO: there are NO advised-against areas anywhere in Chile, and the word advise does not appear on either the safety and security page or the regional risks page. ONE REGION carries its own section: the ARAUCANIA REGION, where there is ongoing civil unrest especially around Temuco, with attacks by groups of demonstrators on people and property, and an ongoing STATE OF EMERGENCY in the provinces of Biobio, Arauco, Cautin and Malleco with the military assisting regional police. What the FCDO does cover at length instead is ordinary crime and natural hazard: MUGGINGS, which it says happen frequently in Santiago and Valparaiso, increasingly with guns and knives, in daylight and in plain sight, with the explicit advice not to resist; DRINK SPIKING in the Suecia and Bellavista areas of Santiago; and TAXI SCAMS AT SANTIAGO AIRPORT, where criminals dress as authorised drivers inside the arrivals hall, so the rule is to book and pay for an official taxi inside the building before you exit.
The O'Higgins Region is not named anywhere in the FCDO's regional advice. What the FCDO does say about crime applies everywhere in Chile: "Pickpocketing, mugging and thefts from vehicles are very common throughout Chile, including inside airports, churches, hotels and bus stations, and at viewpoints and petrol stations." It names hire cars specifically, saying they are "targeted and broken into whilst parked at a viewpoint, petrol station or other location". That describes the clifftop car parks at Punta de Lobos precisely. Leave nothing visible in a parked car, and do not leave a bag on the sand while you are in the water.
Two more FCDO points matter here. It is illegal to drink alcohol in public places in Chile, and the FCDO lists "streets, roads, squares and promenades", so a beer on the seafront is not the harmless habit it is elsewhere. And the FCDO notes that "The rescue services in Chile are good, but you may have to pay if they help you", which is one more reason to be cautious on the cliffs and in the water.
Chile is one of the most seismically active countries on earth and the honest advice is procedural rather than alarming. Major earthquakes are a real risk, building regulations require new structures to account for them, and the FCDO notes that safety measures are widely known and practised by local authorities. Read the instructions in your hotel room, which every Chilean hotel posts, and know that the coastal drill is to move inland and uphill after a strong quake rather than to wait for a siren, because a local tsunami can arrive in minutes. A CHAIN OF VOLCANOES IS ACTIVE IN THE LOS LAGOS REGION, which the FCDO names along with Chaiten, Llaima in Conguillio National Park, Lascar in the north, Copahue on the Argentine border and Villarrica above Pucon. Monitor local media and the official volcano monitoring advice if you are travelling in those areas.
In Pichilemu that tsunami drill is not abstract. The town was severely damaged by the 2010 tsunami, and the evacuation routes signed along the seafront lead uphill. Learn the route from your accommodation on the first day. The FCDO's own words are that "Major earthquakes are a risk in Chile."
Forest fire is the summer risk. The FCDO says that "Chile often has severe forest fires which can be very destructive and spread rapidly", and the hills around Pichilemu are planted largely with pine and eucalyptus. In a fire, follow local authority instructions and evacuation orders, and never light an open fire outdoors. In winter, follow SENAPRED's heavy rain warnings.
The FCDO says Chile has good health facilities in Santiago and the other major cities but that private clinics and hospitals are expensive, and it advises adequate travel health insurance and accessible funds to cover the cost of treatment and repatriation. Private clinics in Santiago and the larger cities are excellent and expensive and will ask for payment or an insurance guarantee before treating you; the public system is good by regional standards but slower for a visitor. A farmacia handles minor problems. TAP WATER IS DRINKABLE across most of the country including Santiago, which is unusual in South America, though it is heavily mineralised in the north and many visitors prefer bottled there. THE TWO REAL ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS ARE ALTITUDE AND ULTRAVIOLET: the altiplano and the Atacama run above 4,000 metres on ordinary excursions, and the combination of thin dry air and latitude gives northern Chile some of the highest surface ultraviolet measured anywhere.
Essential Resources for Women in Pichilemu
Emergency numbers: 131 ambulance, 132 fire, 133 police (Carabineros), as listed on the FCDO's getting help page for Chile.
Tourist police: Chile has no dedicated tourist police force. The Carabineros handle visitor matters on 133, and the tourist information office in the old railway station is the first stop for local questions.
Hospital or clinic: Pichilemu is a small provincial capital, so ask your accommodation on arrival where the nearest emergency department is. Serious or specialist care generally means a transfer to a larger city, and the major private clinics are in Santiago. Dial 131 for an ambulance.
Official health authority: the Chilean Ministry of Health on the national government portal. Chile has no reciprocal health agreement with the UK or the United States, so travel insurance with medical cover matters, including cover for surfing if you plan to surf.
US Embassy: the United States Embassy in Santiago.
Official tourism authority: Chile Travel, the national tourism board. For local surf conditions, lessons and the Salt Route, the tourist office in the old Pichilemu railway station is the current source.
US State Department travel advisory: the Chile advisory. Read the current level there directly rather than relying on a figure printed in any guide.
UK FCDO travel advice: gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/chile, and read the safety and security page rather than only the landing page, because that is where the substance sits.
Solo women safety assessment: Pichilemu is a straightforward and friendly place to travel alone. The O'Higgins Region carries no regional warning from the FCDO, and violent crime against visitors in a small surf town is not the pattern. The crime that does happen is theft: bags left on the sand, phones on cafe tables, and cars broken into at viewpoints, which the FCDO names directly, so lock nothing visible in a car at Punta de Lobos. The serious risks are natural: a cold ocean with big swell, unfenced clifftops, summer forest fires in the plantation hills, and earthquakes and tsunami, which this town knows from 2010. Learn the uphill evacuation route on your first day, swim only in the main beach shore break, take lessons before surfing, and tell someone your plans if you walk the clifftops alone.
Reading On
For the country-level picture, start with the Chile travel guide for women and the Chile packing list. Most journeys here begin in the capital, covered by the Santiago packing list. For the coast closer to the capital, read the Valparaiso packing list and the Vina del Mar packing list. For other surf coasts in this library, the Big Sur packing list covers California's cold Pacific and the Byron Bay packing list a warmer surf town in Australia. Cahuil has no post yet. Every destination we cover is indexed at the travel packing guide for women.
If the outer journey is calling you, the inner one usually is too. Explore SoulMap at romantrail.com/blogs/soulmap.
For why merino rather than cotton on a cold, foggy coast, see our guide to the best merino wool base layers for women, and the full range is in the Roman Trail collection.
