Is the Whale Watching Tour from La Serena Worth It?

I recently went on the Chañaral Island Marine Reserve Whale Watching Tour from La Serena in Chile and was blown away by the amount of wildlife I could see.

In this post, I’ll share everything you need to know about the tour, including what to expect, when to go, and my honest experience.

TL;DR? Here’s the most important info about the La Serena Whale Watching Tour 🐋
✅ Where to book: Online through GetYourGuide or directly with local companies (WhatsApp or email)
🗓 Best time to go: October to May
🐳 What you may see: Fin whales, dolphins, sea lions, Humboldt penguins, and even Atacama wildlife like guanacos and foxes
🕕 Tour duration: About 10 hours (pick-up around 6:00 a.m.)

Where do the Whale Watching tours out of La Serena go to?

After the boat excursion, tours usually continue inland to the Los Choros area, to have lunch and potentially spot land wildlife in the Atacama Desert landscape.

What is included in the La Serena Whale Watching & Atacama Wildlife Tour?

These full-day tours typically last about 10-11 hours, and include a specialized tour guide and pick-up and drop-off in La Serena.

Each tour operator does the Chañaral Island Marine Reserve Whale Watching Tour from La Serena in their own style, but you can usually expect three main attractions:

1. Whale Watching Boat Tour

A fun ride in a small motorboat around Isla Chañaral, to look for fin whales, which is the second largest animal on Earth!

If your group is lucky, you might also see humpback or blue whales.

Though the whales are the star of the show, the boat ride also goes to areas with colonies of Humboldt penguins, sea lions, and dolphins!

2. Local Lunch

A local lunch in a restaurant around the Los Choros area is included. We found the food and service to be top notch!

3. Atacama Wildlife Watching

Lots of animals wander on the side of the road in the area around Los Choros, and the van stops for to enjoy the view for a bit.

During my tour, I spotted gray foxes and Guanacos, which were Atacama wildlife species I hadn’t seen before!

What is the best time to go whale watching in Humboldt Pinguino National Reserve?

The whale watching season in Isla Chañaral peaks from October through May. The tour company I hired (Ecoturismo La Serena) reported an exciting 98% chance of whale sightings during those months!

In September, depending on the year, the tour company reported around a 90% chance of spotting the Fin Whales.

During June, July, or August sightings are more rare, with local guides saying that the odds of seeing a whale lower to about 50%

Like all wildlife sightings, nothing is a guarantee, so always keep that in mind even though the odds of seeing fin whales are great in the Chañaral Island Marine Reserve.

Where to book the tour?

The Humboldt Pinguino National Reserve whale watching tour out of La Serena can be easily booked online in well-trusted platforms like GetYourGuide.

If you’d like to book it directly with a tour agency, you can do so in person, e-mail, or WhatsApp. Ecoturismo La Serena is a great tour operator to reach out to!

What is the tour schedule and logistics?

Pick-up usually starts around 6:00 a.m., and drop off in La Serena is usually around 4:30 p.m.
Your exact pick-up time varies depending on the expected sea conditions, and is often confirmed by WhatsApp or e-mail the day before the tour.

What to pack to the tour?

• Warm sweatshirt (it is also a good idea to bring a waterproof windbreaker because things can get quite wet during the boat ride)
• Sunscreen
• Hat
• Sunglasses
• Binoculars beacause some wildlife is a bid further away!
• Water bottle
• Small snacks for the long van ride

My experience on the Chañaral Island Marine Reserve whale watching tour out of La Serena

a. Booking the tour

I booked my tour in Spanish with Ecoturismo La Serena through WhatsApp!

The day before the tour they messaged me to collect the pickup address and provide an early-morning pickup time.

My hotel was a bit out of the way, so we agreed on a pickup spot near a major grocery store which I ubered to.

b. Pick-up

We were picked up early in the morning in a Mercedes van in very good condition!

The van’s air conditioner was quite cold, and I regretted not bringing warmer clothes during the whole 2-hour ride to the pier!

Somewhere along the way, the van quickly stopped at the restaurant where we would go for lunch for us to drop off our lunch orders and maybe grab a warm drink or bread.

c. Boat tour around Chañaral Island Marine Reserve

Upon arriving in the pier, we headed to the booth of the boat tour operator to get fitted for life vests before heading to our small motorboat.

The weather was gloomy and a bit rainy, but that didn’t impact the tour in any way other than making it a lot colder (and wetter).

The boat tour guide was incredibly knowledgeable about the local wildlife and gave us a mini lecture on the best practices to follow during the tour.

We learned that the first step for spotting a whale was looking out for the water mist that they blow, and we were all looking at all corners of the ocean until we finally spotted it!

Soon after chasing the mist, we were able to see the first whale surfacing very close by!

Throughout this whale watching section, we spotted two different fin whales.

I was over the moon.

I thought the tour was over because we had accomplished the main goal, but the boat kept going more into the ocean for us to spot even more animals!

First we spotted a few pods of dolphins, which were playing a lot around the boat!

We then moved on to see a giant colony of sea lions!

I was beyond amazed by the sea lion colony because they actually looked like a water lion!

During my trips to the Galapagos I saw lots of small and slim sea lions and wondered why they were named that way.

The massive South American sea lions I came across on this tour truly lived up to the name!

The next animal sight was really the cherry on top of this incredible boat tour.

Humboldt penguins!

d. Local Lunch

After a quite cold boat ride, a warm lunch in a local restaurant felt like a blessing!

We had delicious empanadas as a starter and could choose between a few meat options for the main course.

I picked chicken and my husband picked fish, both of which were delicious!

e. Ride back and Atacama wildlife watching

We got back on the van to head back to La Serena, but on the way we made a few quick stops along the road to observe local wildlife!

We first saw a few gray foxes, which were small and sly!

We then spotted a Guanaco, which felt amazing because it was one of the few animals missing in my Atacama wildlife bucket list!

The wrapup: is the Whale Watching Tour out of La Serena worth it?

I always dreamed of going on a whale watching tour, and when I heard that fin whales could be spotted off the coast of the Atacama desert, I made sure to include it in my itinerary!

What I didn’t expect was for the tour to be so rich in pretty much all aspects: wildlife, culture, and organization.

This tour remains my favorite tour in the Atacama, a true hidden gem that offers sightings similar to much more expensive and hard to access experiences across the globe.

Going on the Whale Watching Tour out of La Serena was definitely worth it for me, and I hope it will be for you too!