Some of my favorite trips have been inspired by photos. Pinterest led us to explore the coast of Croatia, photos on a friends blog led us to an incredible hike through the Calanques in southern France, and most recently a friends Instagram post led us to the small surfing town of Pichilemu, Chile.
As much as we are enjoying urban life in Santiago, sometimes you just need a breath of fresh air. Sadly, given the high levels of smog in the city during the winter, I mean this both figuratively and literally. Pichilemu, a costal surfing town about 3 hours south of Santiago turned out to be the perfect weekend escape.
It was a last minute trip, but we were able to snag a room at the Posada Punta de Lobos (Surf Lodge listed on booking.com and other travel sites as Surf Lodge Punta de Lobos) on Friday evening, and set out from Santiago on Saturday morning.
Pichilemu is know as the premier surfing location in Chile, and the town is covered in evidence of this. Inexpensive hostels and surf shops abound, and there is a decidedly chill vibe. Because it is now the end of the Fall here in the Southern hemisphere, the town was a little quieter than it would have been in the thick of summer, but the cooler weather didn’t keep a slew of wetsuit clad surfers away.
We arrived at our hotel during the early afternoon, and stashed our belongings in our room. The Surf Lodge has a variety of different accommodations, from single rooms in the main lodge to free standing cabins that sleep multiple people. We were about 2km from the beach, about 1km of which was a winding dirt road. The accommodations were a little rustic, but the setting was perfect for a quiet, relaxing weekend away from the hustle and bustle of the city. For $80 per night, we got breakfast, an hour of complimentary spa services and a priceless view of one of the clearest night skies I have seen.
After checking in, we walked down to the beach and spent the afternoon watching the surfers at Punto de Lobos and walking along the rugged coastline. Though it was cloudy in the morning, the sun began to peak out as the afternoon wore on, and the views were magnificent.
Pichilemu is small, and Punto de Lobos is about 5km down the road and even smaller, so there aren’t an abundance of restaurants, but there were a few food trucks parked along the main path, and we sampled both empenadas from the “Bombletos” truck (Bombletos being a cross between firemen “bombero” and the ever popular completo, a hot dog topped in guacamole, tomatoes and mayonnaise) and churros filled with dulce de leche. I highly recommend the churros, which are pumped full of delicious dulce de leche upon request, and made the perfect snack when we returned to the beach in the evening to watch the sunset.
We found a comfortable spot to watch the sun sink down, and then headed back to the lodge where we grabbed dinner at the hotel restaurant, spent an hour relaxing in the sauna and then got a good night’s sleep.
We headed back to the beach on Sunday morning for a leisurely walk along a costal path that connects 2 nearby beaches. The sun was shining brightly and the views were absolutely breathtaking.
Though a bit farther than some of the other beach towns, I would definitely recommend making the drive down south to Pichilemu if you have the chance. As we set out on Sunday afternoon, I was sad to leave this place behind, but I’m sure we’ll be back.