Motorhomes and campervans for the Pacific coast of the Atacama Desert
Compare campervan and motorhome rental companies à Antofagasta to find the best price, and book at the price shown, mandatory fees included.
Hiring a campervan in Antofagasta starts your trip in a large port and mining city of northern Chile, stretched in a long strip between the Pacific and the brown cliffs of the Cordillera de la Costa. To the north lie the La Portada sea arch and the Mejillones peninsula; to the south, the Pan-American Highway runs through a desert without a blade of vegetation towards the Mano del Desierto, the telescopes of Cerro Paranal and the small port of Taltal. Inland, the pampa still holds the ghost towns of the nitrate era. Our partner company, Camper Travel, hands over its vehicles from its Antofagasta depot.
Public ratings collected on October 28, 2026 from independent review sites.
At the northern edge of the city, the La Portada arch, carved by the swell into a cliff of pale rock full of fossil shells, can be admired from a viewpoint. The road then reaches Juan López, a small resort with sheltered waters, then Mejillones, a port set at the far end of a huge bay. Further north, Hornitos beach comes before Cobija, a former Bolivian port ruined by the 1877 earthquake and tsunami, where adobe walls and a cemetery still face the ocean.
To the south, the Pan-American Highway runs to the Mano del Desierto, a concrete hand by the sculptor Mario Irarrázabal rising from the sand at the roadside. Further on, a secondary road climbs Cerro Paranal, where the domes of ESO's Very Large Telescope overlook the coast. You then head down towards Paposo, a fishing cove surrounded by slopes where coastal fog nourishes cacti and flowers, then Taltal, a former nitrate port, before driving back to Antofagasta.
This one-way trip leaves the coast for the pampa, where the Chacabuco nitrate works still line up their streets of workers' houses, their theatre and the skeletons of the plant. Along the Pan-American Highway you reach María Elena, the last nitrate town still inhabited, then Quillagua, an oasis on the Loa often cited among the driest inhabited places on earth. The road then crosses the Pampa del Tamarugal before the descent to Iquique, another departure city of our rental companies.
From March to May and from October to December, Antofagasta offers mild days and ten to thirteen hours of sunshine, without the crowds of the Chilean summer. It is the ideal time to combine the coast and the interior: the pampa stays bearable at midday, and the sea, between 16 and 19 °C, still allows a swim at Juan López at the end of the season.
The heart of the summer holidays in Chile: the sea reaches 19 to 20 °C and families from the region flock to the beaches of Hornitos, Juan López and the city. The sun shines twelve to thirteen hours a day, and nights stay warm on the coast. Book your vehicle and pitches in advance, and bring shade for stops in the desert.
The southern winter is cool but never cold on the coast. The camanchaca, a sea fog, often blankets the shore in the morning before clearing; you only need to drive up to the pampa or Paranal to find clear skies, with much colder nights inland. Roads are quiet, except around the national holidays in mid-September.
Most pleasant months: All year round.
| Month | High | Low | Rain | Sun | Sea |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 24 °C | 18 °C | 0 mm | 13 h/day | 19 °C |
| Feb | 25 °C | 19 °C | 0 mm | 12 h/day | 20 °C |
| Mar | 23 °C | 18 °C | 0 mm | 12 h/day | 19 °C |
| Apr | 21 °C | 16 °C | 1 mm | 11 h/day | 18 °C |
| May | 19 °C | 14 °C | 1 mm | 10 h/day | 16 °C |
| Jun | 18 °C | 13 °C | 3 mm | 10 h/day | 16 °C |
| Jul | 17 °C | 12 °C | 1 mm | 10 h/day | 16 °C |
| Aug | 17 °C | 12 °C | 1 mm | 10 h/day | 16 °C |
| Sep | 18 °C | 13 °C | 1 mm | 11 h/day | 16 °C |
| Oct | 19 °C | 13 °C | 1 mm | 12 h/day | 16 °C |
| Nov | 20 °C | 15 °C | 1 mm | 12 h/day | 17 °C |
| Dec | 22 °C | 16 °C | 0 mm | 13 h/day | 18 °C |
Averages 2016–2025 computed from Open-Meteo data (ERA5 reanalysis).
Camper Travel is the only one of our partner companies present in Antofagasta: the exact vehicle handover point is given in the booking confirmation. If you arrive at Andrés Sabella Airport, north of the city, let the depot know your landing time and plan a taxi or transfer to the meeting point.
Between Antofagasta and Taltal, the Pan-American Highway crosses one of the emptiest stretches of the desert: filling stations are rare and sometimes very far apart. Fill up in the city before leaving, top up at every opportunity and carry several days' worth of drinking water, without counting on any water point between two towns.
The coast road to Mejillones and Tocopilla is busy with lorries from the ports and industrial zones, and the camanchaca often reduces visibility early in the morning. Drive with headlights on, keep your distance and watch out for falling rocks at the foot of the cliffs, especially on bends.
Proper campsites are rare around Antofagasta. In summer, many Chileans camp on the beaches north of the city; some are managed by the municipality or closed to camping, so check local rules. In town, avoid sleeping in the street and leave the vehicle in a guarded car park, with nothing visible in the cab.
In Antofagasta, our partner company is Camper Travel, which has a depot in the city. The exact meeting point and handover time are given in the booking confirmation. Allow time on site to walk around the vehicle, understand the equipment and check the water supply before setting off on the desert road.
The rate depends on the dates, the length of hire, the vehicle chosen and any one-way trip to another city. Run a search with your exact dates: the prices shown, mandatory fees included, are the ones you can book straight away. The Chilean summer holidays, in January and February, are generally the busiest period.
Calama, San Pedro de Atacama, Iquique, Copiapó, Arica and even Valparaíso are other departure cities of our rental companies: a one-way trip lets you head up to the altiplano or down to the centre of the country without retracing your route. Enter the return city in your search to see the available offers and any one-way fees.
ESO runs free guided tours of the observatory, usually on certain Saturdays, only with online booking and several weeks ahead, as places are in high demand. The rest of the time, the site is closed to the public. Check the calendar and conditions on the ESO website before building your itinerary around the visit.
Yes, but Pan de Azúcar National Park lies about 400 km to the south, beyond Taltal and near Chañaral: allow a long day's drive. The simplest option is to make it a stop on a one-way trip to Copiapó, another departure city of our rental companies, rather than returning to Antofagasta along the same Pan-American Highway.
They have always responded quickly to all my requests and their website is very functional!
Fast service
The booking process is very smooth. I had very good communication with the Cooldrive team. As for the follow-up, it will be seen on site during the vehicle pickup.
A valid car driving licence is enough for the motorhomes and campervans offered for hire. With a foreign licence, an International Driving Permit is recommended and often requested during checks by the Carabineros. Each rental company also sets a minimum age and a minimum period of holding a licence, stated in the offer's conditions.
On the seafront, Plaza Colón and its clock tower, a gift from the British community, recall the nitrate era, as do the old pier and the former port buildings. South of the city, the Huanchaca ruins, a 19th-century silver smelter, house a museum devoted to the Atacama Desert.
Andrés Sabella Airport, often called Cerro Moreno, lies some twenty kilometres north of the centre, on the road to La Portada and Mejillones. Taxis and shared minibuses serve the city. Give your flight number to the rental company to arrange a realistic meeting time, allowing for possible delays.
Not for the main roads: the Pan-American Highway, the coast road to Mejillones and the road to Taltal are paved. Ask about the condition of secondary roads, such as the descent from Paranal to Paposo; tracks to isolated beaches are often dirt or sand. Check in the contract which roads the insurance covers before venturing onto them.
Two or three days are enough for the northern coast as far as Cobija. With a week, you can add the Mano del Desierto, Paranal and Taltal. To also head up to Calama, the salt flats and San Pedro de Atacama, allow at least ten days, as distances between stops often run to several hundred kilometres.
For January and February, book several months ahead: with a single depot in the city, the number of available vehicles is limited. The national holidays in mid-September and the end of the year are also busy. The rest of the time, a few weeks are usually enough, especially if you are flexible about the type of vehicle.
The largest city in northern Chile, Antofagasta is also the only one of our departures in its region located on the Pacific. In a few days you combine landscapes you might think incompatible: cliffs and sea arches, coves where fishermen moor, an absolute desert where a giant hand rises from the sand, and one of the clearest skies on the planet above the Paranal telescopes. The neighbouring pampa, for its part, tells the story of the fortune and abandonment of the nitrate towns.
Camper Travel hands over its vehicles here, and Calama, San Pedro de Atacama, Iquique or Copiapó, other departure cities of our rental companies, open up long one-way trips to the altiplano or the south of the desert. Softened by the ocean, the climate stays pleasant all year round: only the long distances without supplies call for real preparation.
