El Tatio Geysers Travel Guide: Why You Should Book a Tour Early

Table of Contents

• Logistic

  • Why I recommend joining a tour

  • Why you need to check out local travel agency SOON

• My experience

Logistic

Why I recommend joining a tour

Before visiting I already learned that driving to El Tatio is tough, so I decided to join a tour. (Especially I was still having PTSD from the drive to Pocosol Biological Station in Costa Rica 😬) Now thinking back, joining a tour is such a right decision. Even though we were in a middle size shuttle, which is supposed to be more stable, it still shook a lot on the last 1/3 to El Tatio because of the sharp and big stones on the road. I definitely recommend joining a tour, so you don’t have to worry about flat tires etc.

Why you need to check out local travel agency SOON

I found out the price from a local travel agency could be cheaper than many of the well-known online options. On GetYourGuide, the average price of an El Tatio tour is $80; from a local travel agency, I paid about $40, which included a discount for two people and for paying in cash.

But the spots may be limited! We were told that only 6 vacancies were left at the time on the available date. They didn’t have a tour the next day and we were not able to do it 2 days later cuz our flight back to Santiago was booked. Fortunately, they had vacancy 1 day later when we were still in Atacama.

💡So timing is important, better check the price and availability out as soon as you can. (I checked the travel agency out of curiosity when we first arrived, how luck we were! )

My experience

It is my first time seeing Geysers in person, so I found it interesting. According to our tour guide, you are able to see 10+ geysers at the same time if you are lucky. And it usually happens when it’s cold. El Tatio is best visited early in the morning, when temperatures are often well below freezing. (We visited in winter - May)

The cold air enhances the visibility of the steam plumes, making the geysers appear much more dramatic and numerous. This is because the hot water meets the cold air and condenses quickly, forming thick columns of steam.

I think I saw maybe 5 Geysers when I was there. Don’t get me wrong. It doesn’t mean it’s not cold enough. Instead, it’s freeeeezing cold already 🥶 (since it’s 4,000 m and in early morning in winter) Better prepare gloves/hats/thick socks in advance. Otherwise you may not be able to fully enjoy the scenery like me. (My feet kept feeling cold even though I wear long socks 🥲) Speaking of the cold weather, it’s also not a good idea to stay outside too long. Our itinerary unfortunately included “eating breakfast outside and appreciating the stunning view”, which became my least favorite part of the tour:/

Our tour also included a stop in the town of Machuca, where you can try local food (including llama meat) and take photos with llamas. As a mostly vegetarian person, I chose the latter. The town isn’t big. It has around 20 houses and 1 church. I found it fascinating to see a different lifestyle, and I was surprised to learn that religion had reached to communities living over 4,000 meters up in the mountains.

I guess traveling is a way to supplement or test what you’ve learned from textbooks.