Isla Negra Beach

Situated around 70 kilometres south of Valparaiso is Isla Negra. Translated as “black island” this is somewhat misleading as it is not in fact an island at all. The name actually comes from an outcrop of dark rocks on the beach.

Much of what you will hear about Isla Negra relates to its most famous formere resident, the Nobel Prize-winning poet and politician Pablo Neruda. It was in fact he who named the area, with the beach overlooked by his home here. The house is now a museum - the Casa de Isla Negra. Here you can see his various eclectic and quirky collections which mostly relate to the sea - old anchors, sea shells, ship’s bells and the likes.

Set just below Neruda’s house is Isla Negra’s beach. A stretch of sand dotted with rocky outcrops which largely seperate the sand from the ocean.