The Hidden Baltinache Lagoons in Chile’s Atacama Desert

Chile’s Atacama Desert is full of different lagoons you can visit, some of which you can even swim in and float in. A lot of the tours will take you to some of the more popular lagoons like the Cejar Lagoon or the Chaxa Lagoon. But there are some other tours that will take you to some lesser visited places like the hidden Baltinache Lagoons.

The Baltinache Lagoons are seven turquoise lagoons that are surrounded by salt flats in the middle of the desert. Some are a darker color due to the sediments but some are sparkling turquoise. The landscape surrounding them is really neat as well. If you’ve ever been to Death Valley in California, it reminded me of the Devil’s Golf Course and Badwater Basin.

Getting to the Hidden Baltinache Lagoons

San Pedro, Chile is where most people stay to explore the attractions around the Atacama Desert. The turn off to get to the Baltinache Lagoons isn’t located too far from San Pedro. When you’re driving through, you’ll see the sign from the main road and you might think that it’s pretty close to town. It’s not exactly.

While the directions are incredibly straight forward, the turn off is a long, straight dirt road that you’ll follow for quite some time. To get to the hidden Baltinache Lagoons, it’s about a 30+ minute drive from the main road. And it’s a rocky ride out there.

You don’t need a 4×4 or anything special. The road is very flat, just rocky. And there’s nothing else out there. You’re driving to the middle of the desert. Probably why they’re called the hidden lagoons of Baltinache–you don’t see them even when you’re driving up to the entrance.

Tours to the Lagoons

You can easily drive out here on your own and explore the lagoons by yourself if you have a car. I wouldn’t recommend biking here or walking. (I had met a few travelers who were walking/biking to some of the closer places like Death Valley. Yes, there’s a Death Valley here too–for sandboarding!) The turnoff makes it look close, so don’t be fooled.

I jumped on a tour since I didn’t rent a car. There are typically two times to do this tour–in the morning or afternoon. I ended up doing the morning tour since I was leaving later that day. Pickup was between 7:00-7:40am for a start time of around 8am. They pick you up and drop you off outside your accommodation in San Pedro.

We stopped at an overlook first to have breakfast which is typically bread, eggs and avocado with coffee or coca tea. Then you continue on to the lagoons for the start of the tour. Tours are about 4-5 hours from start to finish.

The Hidden Lagoons of Baltinache

You’ll know you’ve arrived at the hidden lagoons when you start to see some buildings. There are buildings at the entrance with restrooms and changing rooms. Once you are checked in, you’ll be driven to the start of the boardwalk.

The tour takes you through seven lagoons and through some otherworldly salt flats. The landscape is incredible and if your tour goes silent for a minute, you can hear the salt cracking around you.

The majority of the lagoons are a darker color due to the sentiments in the water. But there’s about 2-3 that have the beautiful turquoise color. The colors change from lagoon to lagoon as does the salty landscape.

I couldn’t get over just how much it looked like Death Valley in California! The further you walk along the path, the more different the salt becomes. Towards the end it looks like popcorn!

Swimming at the Baltinache Lagoons

Laguna Cejar is probably the most popular lagoon for swimming in the Atacama Desert, but it’s not the only one. The seventh and final lagoon you come to at the Baltinache Lagoons is dedicated for swimming. It’s not quite the pretty turquoise water I had envisioned swimming in, but when it’s hot out, it’s hot out.

The fun part is that even after you’ve been scorching in the sun through the rest of the lagoons, the swimming lagoon still feels like a cold plunge. It was so cold that it took me awhile to ease myself in. And even then, I felt like I had to do breathing exercises while floating, ha.

Because the salt content is so high here, floating is easy. Afterwards we were hosed down with warm water and given a robe to relax in.

What to Bring

The first part of the walk through the lagoons is completely open to the elements and let me tell you, you bake out there. The sun was really strong, but the temperatures were still fairly cool in the morning. You’ll definitely want to make sure you bring the following:

• Hat
• Sunscreen
• Sunglasses
• Water

If swimming is open when you visit, you’ll want to make sure you bring a change of clothes, swimsuit, sandals and possibly a towel, though you’ll likely receive a robe. The changing rooms were not at the lagoon, but at the entrance, so you’ll want to keep that in mind.

For whatever reason, they did request that everyone with long hair put it up in a bun. I’m not quite sure why but you’ll want to make sure you have a hair tie with you as well.

Things to Know

• Put on sunscreen before or during the ride there. You can’t use sunblock once you reach the lagoons and you will be a lighting rod for the sun out there.
• If you drive yourself, note that the entrance where your car will be is not where you end the walking tour, so you will have to walk back to your car.
• The facilities are at the entrance to the lagoons but not at the starting or ending point of the walk.
• If you are allowed to swim, make sure you rinse your suit out thoroughly after you get back, otherwise it will dry like a piece of cardboard from the salt!

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