Chile / Arica y Parinacota Region
Playa Chinchorro
Playa Chinchorro is a 3.0 km-long sandy beach facing west, 2.4 km north of Arica (Arica y Parinacota Region, Chile). The sea averages 22.5 °C in February, its warmest month, and 17.0 °C in August; it is 21 °C or warmer in January–March.
Average sea surface temperature by month. Current month outlined.
Month by month
October at Playa Chinchorro
Beach-day index 6.3/10 · Chile median 4.5
| Measure | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sea °C | 22.1 °C | 22.5 °C | 21.8 °C | 20.4 °C | 19.6 °C | 18.7 °C | 17.4 °C | 17.0 °C | 17.1 °C | 18.0 °C | 19.5 °C | 20.8 °C |
| High °C | 21° | 21° | 22° | 22° | 21° | 21° | 20° | 21° | 22° | 22° | 22° | 21° |
| Low °C | 11° | 11° | 11° | 10° | 8° | 8° | 7° | 8° | 9° | 9° | 9° | 10° |
| Rain mm | 11 | 10 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| Cloud % | 65 | 65 | 59 | 60 | 72 | 81 | 83 | 82 | 79 | 78 | 70 | 64 |
| Wind m/s | 3.1 | 3.0 | 2.9 | 2.9 | 2.8 | 2.8 | 2.8 | 3.0 | 3.1 | 3.2 | 3.2 | 3.1 |
| Daylight h | 13.1 | 12.7 | 12.2 | 11.7 | 11.3 | 11.0 | 11.1 | 11.5 | 12.0 | 12.5 | 13.0 | 13.2 |
| Record high/low | 28°/8° | 26°/8° | 28°/8° | 27°/7° | 28°/5° | 27°/6° | 27°/4° | 28°/4° | 28°/5° | 29°/5° | 27°/7° | 27°/7° |
| Beach index | 7.2 | 7.4 | 7.4 | 7.0 | 6.6 | 5.9 | 5.4 | 5.7 | 6.0 | 6.3 | 6.7 | 6.9 |
Long-term monthly averages: air from NASA POWER (2001–2020), sea from NOAA OISST (1991–2020); records are the extremes of 2001–2020. How the index works.
When to go
The beach-day index peaks in December–April; February scores 7.4/10 with highs of 21 °C, sea at 22.5 °C and 10 mm of rain.
In February that is 0.4 points above the median of the 204 beaches in Chile covered by this atlas.
At its warmest the water here is 6.3 °C warmer than the Chile median for February (16.2 °C).
Across the year the sea averages 19.6 °C, warmer than 60% of the coastal beaches in the atlas.
January is the wettest month (11 mm) and May the driest (0 mm); the yearly total is about 50 mm.
Daylight runs from 11.0 hours in June to 13.2 hours in December; in mid-February the sun rises at 07:34 and sets at 20:16 local time.
Orientation, sun and shore
The shore faces west (275°). Open water fills about 44% of the horizon close by, which makes it an open stretch of shore.
The sun sets over the sea in every month; in mid-June it goes down at 18:12 local time on a bearing of 294°.
Straight out to the west there is open water for more than 2,000 km, so the beach is exposed to long ocean swell.
About 1 km offshore the sea is roughly 10 m deep and 20 m at 3 km, a shallow, gently shelving sea floor. Behind the beach the ground is about 13 m above sea level 500 m inland and 32 m at 1.5 km.
Within 1 km, the land is 52% built-up land, 35% bare ground, sand or rock and 5% tree cover (satellite land-cover map, 2021): an urban beach. Water makes up 63% of that circle.
- Built 52%
- Bare 35%
- Tree 5%
- Shrub 5%
- Grass 3%
Land cover: ESA WorldCover 2021 (10 m). Orientation from OpenStreetMap land polygons sampled in 36 directions; depths and heights from the GEBCO 2020 grid (about 450 m cells), indicative only.
The beach is tagged as supervised.
From above
Facilities within 1 km
- 32Restaurants, cafés & bars
- 2Public toilets
- –Showers
- 20Car parks
- –Lifeguard stations
- 6Hotels & guesthouses
- 1Campsites
- 3Grocery shops
- 55Bus stops (1.5 km)
- 3Pharmacies & clinics
Food and drink mapped within 1 km: 22 restaurants, 2 cafés, 4 bars and 4 fast-food outlets. Accommodation: 6 hotels and guesthouses.
Counted within 1 km of the beach (bus stops 1.5 km) from OpenStreetMap features and Overture Maps places, release of 2026-10. Unmapped does not mean absent.
Around the beach
Attractions & museums
- Museo Historico Del Morro De Arica museum 60 m S
Campsites
- Emelari 660 m E
Getting there
| Airport | Code | Distance | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chacalluta International Airport Arica | ARI | 12.3 km | north |
| Coronel FAP Carlos Ciriani Santa Rosa International Airport Tacna | TCQ | 44.7 km | north |
| General Jorge Fernandez Maldon Airport Ilo | ILQ | 139 km | north-west |
Straight-line distances from the beach; road distance is usually 20–40% longer.
Local transport: 55 bus stops within 1.5 km, rail station Chinchorro (1.1 km) and 20 mapped car parks within 1 km.
1 town or village of 1,000+ people lie within 10 km (about 241.7K residents); within 30 km there are 2 (about 241.7K).
Reference
Playa Chinchorro has an article on the ES Wikipedia: Playa Chinchorro.
Wikidata item Q6078345.
When people look it up
The ES Wikipedia article was read 909 times in the 12 months to August 2026. Interest peaks in January (111 views), 2.4× the quietest month.
Map
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Data on this page
- Air temperature, rain, cloud, wind, humidity: NASA POWER climatology 2001–2020, 0.5° grid.
- Sea temperature: NOAA OISST v2.1 monthly normals 1991–2020, nearest ocean cell 11.5 km away.
- Beach outline, surface, rules and public facilities: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), feature w83861240; restaurants, cafés, bars and lodging: Overture Maps places (CDLA-Permissive-2.0).
- Water body, status and length: Wikidata (CC0).
- Towns and time zone: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Airports: OurAirports (public domain). Sunrise and sunset: NOAA solar equations.
- Photos: Wikimedia Commons, author and licence under each image.
- Satellite view: Copernicus Sentinel-2 (ESA), scene S2A_19KCV_20240326_0_L2A.
- Orientation: OpenStreetMap land polygons (ODbL). Depth and terrain: GEBCO 2020 grid.
- Settlements: GeoNames places with 1,000+ inhabitants.
- Land cover: ESA WorldCover 2021, 10 m (CC BY 4.0).
- Search popularity: about 3.6K Google searches a month for the name (KeywordTool, October 2026).
Data compiled 2026-10-13. Something wrong? Report a data error.