Muelle de Pasajeros

Iquique


Hour-long boat tours around the harbor leave from Iquique's 1901 passenger pier, just west of the Edificio de la Aduana. The tour floats past the Boya Conmemorativa del Combate de Iquique, a buoy marking the spot where the Esmeralda sank in a confrontation with the ironclad Peruvian Huáscar. It also approaches a colony of sea lions.

Tours depart when enough people (typically eight) show up. Go on a weekend around 11am or noon for the least amount of waiting around.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Iquique attractions

1. Edificio de la Aduana

0.13 MILES

A grand old colonial building dating to 1876, the ex-customs house was ravaged by fire in early 2015.

2. Museo Naval

0.14 MILES

Take in the artifacts salvaged from the sunken Esmeralda at this small museum inside the haughty colonial-style customs house, built in 1871 when Iquique…

3. Museo Corbeta Esmeralda

0.22 MILES

This replica of sunken Esmeralda, a plucky little Chilean corvette that challenged ironclad Peruvian warships in the War of the Pacific, is Iquique's new…

4. Torre Reloj

0.24 MILES

This 1877 clock tower takes pride of place on Iquique's main square.

5. Plaza Prat

0.25 MILES

The city's 19th-century swagger is hard to miss on Iquique's central square. Pride of place goes to the 1877 Torre Reloj clock tower, seemingly baked and…

6. Casino Español

0.26 MILES

The prize for the showiest building in Iquique goes to this Moorish-style place from 1904, on the plaza's northeast corner. The gaudily tiled creation is…

7. Museo Regional

0.43 MILES

Iquique's former courthouse now hosts the catch-all regional museum, which earnestly re-creates a traditional adobe altiplano village and also exhibits…

8. Centro Cultural Palacio Astoreca

0.54 MILES

Originally built for a nitrate tycoon, this 1904 Georgian-style mansion is now a cultural center, which exhibits contemporary work produced by local…