Anyone done a trip to San Pedro de Atacama Chile for Astrophotography? - Forums

Topic starter

Jun 2, 2025

Hi all,

Has anyone done a trip to San Pedro de Atacama, Chile for Astrophotography?
I'm thinking of maybe doing a trip in July to do some astrophotography for a week in the southern hemisphere. Thinking of taking advantage of the long winter southern nights.

Anyone been there?
Recommendations and travel tips?
Where did you stay?
Good targets for winter in the southern hemisphere?
Any hotels that have telescopes I can use for visual?
Hotel recommendations?
Observatories to see?

I'm thinking of taking a Seestar in EQ mode and a FRA200 or TV-85 with an AM3 and AS2600MM (or MC).

Thanks,
Rob

Michael Jarvis

Jun 2, 2025

I have been there. Is a beautiful destination. There are multiple resort-style hotels in the town. I did not bring a scope, but the place we stayed has several Dobs and arranged a star party for guests. The sky was simply amazing, a good pair of binoculars is all you need. We were there in January. So all the winter targets in the SH were available. I especially remember how bright M45 was. If you go check out the salt flats and make the early morning trip to the geyser fields. They are at approximately 14,000 ft which gave me a headache but well worth the trip. We did this as a pre-trip to Antartica - a once in a lifetime experience. If you have a good travel setup (e.g. strong luggage), then I would recommend the wide-field setup/AM3. You may also want to do some research of pre clearing your equipment through customs. I can send you more info if interested. Mike

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Martin Mančuška

Jun 2, 2025

In 2010 (15 years ago) I was there and I was accommodated here: https://www.spaceobs.com/en/Atacama-Lodge . I liked it.

Rob Calfee

Topic starter

Jun 2, 2025

Michael Jarvis:
I have been there. Is a beautiful destination. There are multiple resort-style hotels in the town. I did not bring a scope, but the place we stayed has several Dobs and arranged a star party for guests. The sky was simply amazing, a good pair of binoculars is all you need. We were there in January. So all the winter targets in the SH were available. I especially remember how bright M45 was. If you go check out the salt flats and make the early morning trip to the geyser fields. They are at approximately 14,000 ft which gave me a headache but well worth the trip. We did this as a pre-trip to Antartica - a once in a lifetime experience. If you have a good travel setup (e.g. strong luggage), then I would recommend the wide-field setup/AM3. You may also want to do some research of pre clearing your equipment through customs. I can send you more info if interested. Mike

Thanks, Mike! Yes, please send me more info. I'd really appreciate it. I didn't think of the customs aspect of bringing my equipment. I've never had that issue going to Aruba with my astro gear.

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Michael Jarvis

Jun 2, 2025

I think we stayed at the Hotel Cumbres San Pedro de Atacama. It was very nice but there are other similar places in and around the town. You should check them out as they may have specific astro programs. Our trip was arranged by Viking Cruises, and I did not go thinking I would bring a scope. The skies there are amazingly dark. We went Jan of 2024. If I went back I would probably bring a Seestar just for ease of travel. I think you probably would not have problems getting your gear through Santiago or Buenos Aries, but I seem to recall the local airport in the Atacama region questioning a professional astronomer about his big cases. Since there are so many international observatories there, I thought this was a bit odd.
Overall, an amazing experience. I could certainly be talked into to going back for a week or so of imaging.

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Michael Jarvis

Jun 2, 2025

If you go, also consider going to Patagonia, an equally amazing destination with plenty of dark skies.

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John Hayes

Frequent contributor

Jun 2, 2025

I've been there twice and it's a great destination! The first time that I was there for just a couple of nights and we stayed at this hotel: https://tierraatacama.com/?__hstc=222019975.706825e9ae24534c0289c9d0c1477df2.1748877579451.1748877579451.1748877579451.1&__hssc=222019975.1.1748877579451&__hsfp=412833804&_gl=1%2Ayure1m%2A_gcl_au%2AMjA2NzMyMTY0MS4xNzQ4ODc3NTcz%2A_ga%2AMTU3Mjc4ODk5MC4xNzQ4ODc3NTcz%2A_ga_773JLSHR5Z%2AczE3NDg4Nzc1NzIkbzEkZzEkdDE3NDg4Nzc1ODMkajQ5JGwwJGgw&_ga=2.46022884.1102559933.1748877573-1572788990.1748877573. It's a 5-star hotel and breathtakingly expensive. It was very nice but frankly not worth the price ($1200-$3500/night). There are a surprisingly large number of 4-star hotels in San Pedro that are a much better choice.

I stayed in a very nice 4-star hotel on my second, week-long trip, but I can't find it on line. These two hotels look very similar:
https://terrantai.com/en/
https://www.noihotels.com/noi-casa-atacama/rooms

You can do astronomy tours from San Pedro. Although it's a very small town, you still need to get out of town to get to a really dark sky so just sign up for one of the "out-of-town" late night tours. Be sure to schedule your trip during the new moon to get the best view of the sky.

There are a LOT of other tours that you should also do while you are there. Be sure to visit the Valley of the Moon and the Geyser National park. San Pedro also has a world class meteorite museum. It's small and privately run but well worth checking out. Ask around and the locals can tell you how to find it.

Take your sunscreen and have a ball. That's a fun place to explore in Chile.

John

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GalacticRAVE

Jun 2, 2025

I have been in San Pedro a couple of times (usually in context with also visits at the observatories near the coast), beautiful place and lots of touristy things to do in the environ. So if you look for a vacation spot were you also can do astrophotography, it is a great place to go. However, the sky is not as clear (in the sense of transparency) as if you are closer to the coast (ie were all the optical observatories are). So if your main (or even only) aim is doing astrophotography, that may be the better choice. CS Matthias

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Rob Calfee

Topic starter

Jun 2, 2025

I have been in San Pedro a couple of times (usually in context with also visits at the observatories near the coast), beautiful place and lots of touristy things to do in the environ. So if you look for a vacation spot were you also can do astrophotography, it is a great place to go. However, the sky is not as clear (in the sense of transparency) as if you are closer to the coast (ie were all the optical observatories are). So if your main (or even only) aim is doing astrophotography, that may be the better choice. CS Matthias

Where do you recommend on the coast for astro?

GalacticRAVE

Jun 2, 2025

Rob Calfee:
I have been in San Pedro a couple of times (usually in context with also visits at the observatories near the coast), beautiful place and lots of touristy things to do in the environ. So if you look for a vacation spot were you also can do astrophotography, it is a great place to go. However, the sky is not as clear (in the sense of transparency) as if you are closer to the coast (ie were all the optical observatories are). So if your main (or even only) aim is doing astrophotography, that may be the better choice. CS Matthias

Where do you recommend on the coast for astro?

not on the coast of course - you would be in the fog - but one or two mountain ranges behind - basically a line along the Panamericana, where you find the big observatories (Paranal, Las Campanas, Cerro Tololo, La Silla etc) - the problem: there is not really a visitor focused infrastructure like in the tourist places like San Pedro - the region is more mining focused. I always had the privilege to stay at the observatories. Maybe the sites that host remote telescopes have a suitable infrastucture nearby?! Matthias

Bill McLaughlin

Jun 2, 2025

My trip was not for astronomy (although we did visit the VLT), but we stayed at the all -inclusive Tierra Atacama. I think they have been bought by a larger Australian chain since we were there but it was very nice.

Gary Crawford

Jun 3, 2025

Consider one of the workshops that are offered. I went a couple of years ago with Kerry-Ann Lecky Hepburn and Yuri Beletsky. 10/10. This year's trip has already happened https://www.weatherandsky.com/boliviaastrotour2025.pdf but there's next year and so on. It's not inexpensive but you're with seasoned Chile veterans who are accomplished astrophotographers. Visiting out-of-the-way locations, safety, absorbing the knowledge of the workshop leaders, etc. is hard to put a price tag on. I look at my experience with Kerry-Ann and Yuri as the hightlight of my astronomical voyage to date. If you're going to go there, and can afford it, maximize what you get out of it. You can always go back on your own next time.

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John Hayes

Frequent contributor

Jun 3, 2025

I agree that San Pedro is not the best place to visit if your number one goal is a clear, dark sky. It's not in the best location and we had night after night of high thin clouds. If you want a better option for astronomy, I suggest checking out this observatory that is set up for astro-tourism:

https://www.astronomictourism.com/mamalluca-observatory.html.

It's near Vicuna and it's in a better location for clear, dark skies. I don't know how they are set up for someone who wants to bring their own gear to do imaging so you might want to contact them to see what's available. I've driven by the turn off to Vicuna many times on my way to Obstech but I've never explored what it would be like as a tourist.

John

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