Tour operators for Atacama Desert
 

Hello,
We are looking for a tour package to Atacama Desert in February 2008 but don't know which tour operators to go with. Following are some tour operators/website we came across:
Azimut 360
Desert Adventure
Atacama Connection
Visit Chile
San Pedro de Atacama

Does anyone has experience with these companies? Can someone recommend a good one to go with?

Thanks in advance.

Hi, Visit Chile is the government organisation which promotes tourism. This is their page for tour operators connected to them throughout Chile:
http://www.visit-chile.org/operadore...ores-eng.phtml
Azimut 360 has a very good reputation, but you might get feedback from someone who has used others. I would stick to a company on that web page.

Hi
Are you looking to stay only in the Atacama region or , perhaps, a wider trip in Chile or neighboring Argentina? How long are you thinking of going for? Do you prefer a budget trip, luxury, active adventure? Different tour operators are geared to a different kind of travel.

Kontiki Tours at Kontiki.org specialize in Latin American travel and have a number of interesting packages in the Atacama region.
Latour at Latour.com which is an experienced and well known operator, have an 11 day Chile tour which begins in Santiago from which you go to Punta Arenas/Torres del Paine National Park and end in San Pedro de Atacama. Latour also has a five or nine day package at the great Explora Atacama Lodge. Here is a link to the tours offered by the lodge: www.chile-hotels.com/explatou.htm. It's quite a selction.
Enjoy Chile at www.enjoy-chile.org also have an Atacama reigon six day trip.

Hello, Huentetu & Alros:
Thank you for your suggestions.

Huentetu: I've looked into some of the tour operators in Visit Chile, unfortunately I don't know Spanish and some of those sites are in Spanish only. I have also sent e-mails to inquire for more information. They still haven't got back to me yet, hopefully soon.

Alros: We are looking a budget to middle-range tour right now. About 4-5 days to Atacama desert only. Will look into your suggestions, although Explora would be out of our budget. Airfare is so expensive from Santiago to Calama that we have to budget in order to make the trip. Do you have any suggestions on how to save money in airfare?

Thanks again, please feel free to provide any suggestions. It's greatly appreciated. Cheers!

You might want to check:
LAN www.lan.com
Sky Airline www.skyairline.cl

Forgot to tell you that these airlines have last minute sale constantly... you keep checking them and maybe you'll be lucky!

Happy travels!

Early booking on LAN will find the cheapest price usually. However, February is when people here are on holiday, so things get booked up.
You can book seats on a minibus from the airport to San Pedro online once you know your flight:
http://www.sanpedroatacama.com/ingles/novedades_48h.htm
I think there are better options for lodging in San Pedro. The Explora is very nice to look at but sits apart from everything else.
If you are only going to San Pedro. are you sure you need to book a tour? Last time I was there I just booked when I arrived for the things I wanted. It was cheaper. All the hotels book tours and there are any number of agencies there.

You might also check Aerolineas del Sur. The fares are much lower than Lan and they offer more flights than Sky. I have not used the airline but I plan to on a future trip.

http://www.aerolineasdelsur.cl/index.asp

Thanks everyone for your input.

HelenofTroy: I'll try them out, hopefully they have an English site, my Spanish is zero.

detraveler: When will you be flying Aerolineas de Sur? Did you book your flight online? Any problems? Hope you will post your comments after your flight.

Huentetu: When were you in San Pedro? How did you like it? Did you have to take a lot of cash with you? We thought by booking a tour then we don't have to carry a lot of cash with us.

LAN Airline english site: http://www.lan.com/country_selector.html
If you need help with the other spanish sites don't hesitate to ask me for help.

I stayed at Hotel Diego de Almagro in San Pedro de Atacama, it was pretty good and well located. There are many places to stay in San Pedro, so it won't be difficult for you to find something... it depends on your budget. And as Huentetu, I also booked a tour once I got in town.

I went to San Pedro 4 years ago and there was one ATM at the main square, but credit cards are accepted in almost every place.

And YES ATACAMA DESERT IS BEAUTIFUL, you'll gonna love it! Enjoy Chile!

I stayed at La Casa de Don Tomas a couple of years ago.
I think there are now two ATMs in San Pedro! Sometimes (long weekends) they can run out of cash.
Booking before you go is a good idea so as not to have to take too much extra cash, but you might get tours cheaper once you are there. That was my logic. I met Germans who had booked tours from Germany and I really felt sorry for them as they had paid ridiculous amounts. But if you book a couple of things beforehand with a local agency you should be OK. The easiest tours to book once there are the geisers (have to get up before dawn to go) and Valle de la Luna.
Note that the daytime temps in San Pedro are hot in Feb. but drop considerably at night, so you need some sort of jacket. You will also need one for heading out to the geisers.

Here's a bit about the Hosteria:
http://tinyurl.com/2dmmql

Hi, Helen:
I didn't know that San Pedro has Hotel Diego de Almagro, thought that was in Santiago. How did you like that? Thanks also for the note on Atacama, my husband wasn't too sure about it and wants to go to Pantagonia instead.

Hi, Huentetu:
Thanks for the tips and the website. They come in handy. Did you book through a local agent? or online directly with the hotel?

Does anyone know if they have to take your credit card number if book through the hotel directly? Or do you pay when you arrive? Is it better to book through an agent or just do it yourself?

Hi SSN,
The hotel was pretty good, it's located on Caracoles St. (main street in town) one block away from the main church and 2 blocks from the archaeologic museum and just in case... near the ATm machine.

This is the website of Diego de Almagro Hotel:
http://www.dahoteles.com/hotel.php?hotel=6

I found a business card of a tour company in San Pedro owned by Martin Beeris, a foreigner who fell in love with San Pedro and decided to stay there and run his own tourism company. They have multi-lingual guides.
[email protected]
Tel/fax: (56-55) 851069

Hope this help!
Next time you've got to come to Patagonia.

I booked directly with the hotel over the phone. I'm a resident here and had no trouble paying when I got there. As for booking from abroad, you could contact them by email and see how they charge.
There is a chain of Diego de Almagro hotels in Chile and perhaps Helen's was one of them.
I think you could book your hotel yourself and contact Helen's guide to see what he offers. Maybe compare the total with a package and see which is better value.

Hola! Mucho gracias! Helenoftroy & Huentetu!

helenoftroy: We would also like to go to Easter Island and will have to make it another time, hopefully with Pantagonia. Really have to save lots of money first. Did you take a tour from Martin Beeris? How did you like it? Is there a website? Thanks again for the info.

Huentetu: Thanks for the idea, will definitely make the enquiries and compare.

Buenas Noches SSN!,
(Good Night)

I bought a package w/ hotel + some tours included in advance, because I went for a long weekend to San Pedro so I didn't have enough time for wandering around and looking for a place to stay.

Martin Beeris' tour company was in front of mine (a chilean one). I was complaining of how awful our tour guide was: the guides didn't explain too much and they were always hurrying the people up... I talked to Martin and he seemed to me a very decent and serious guy, the best of all: he has multilingual guides. I know this couldn't be a good reason to recommend him: it's a feeling... unfortunately he doesn't have a website... write him and let me know how how it works out!

De nada (you are welcome).

P.S. Maybe I'll go to San Pedro again this year... still I've got to check the dates. If I do go I'll let you know and can do some inquiries for you (my email: [email protected])

Saludos (greetings)!

I found Martin Beeris' company is called Cosmo Andino. Still no website, but contact info here:
http://tinyurl.com/2rhkv9

Hi SSN,
I did a little bit of research on the internet... I'm pretty sure I booked w/ Desert Adventure.
I'm a spanish speaking so I don't know how are their english guides, but my experience wasn't good at all (as I told you before).

Good Luck!

Buenos Dias! Helenoftroy & Huentetu. (that's as far as my spanish goes)

Helenoftroy:
I've sent an e-mail to Hosteria San Pedro de Atacama but still haven't heard anything back yet. Or do they don't respond if no room is available? I will contact Martin and let you know. I'm surprised to hear that you did not have a good time with Desert Adventure, they came highly recommended with the tour guides. Please let me know if you do go to Atacama again, I always enjoy hearing travel stories.


Huentetu:
Do you know how much is the shuttle from Calama airport ot San Pedro de Atacama? I've tried to e-mail them for a rate but still haven't heard anything back. Thanks for the info on Martin. How did you like Las Casa de Don Tomas?

Mucho Gracias!