Lagunas Escondidas de Baltinache — Attraction in San Pedro de Atacama

Bucket list experience of a lifetime. There are 7 lagoons bit you can swim only in the largest one, which makes sense. The road is 90% great, 5% gravel and only the last 5% is off-road but any SUV is able to handle it easily (see pictures). Currently there is a sign 'road closed' after that 90%, but you just go pass it and drive through.

They have a lunch break 12:30-13:30h (more or less) - then you can't enter it but you can exit alone. You get the ticket on the machine & pay by card. They have good facilities, 30sec cold shower (as everywhere here) and changing rooms. There's one way path which guides you through all the lagoons, they have 2 parkings, where one is closer to the lagoon in which you can swim (lagoon number 7). However the showers are at Lagoon 1 - so bring a towel. It is warmer than Laguna Piedra and much more beautiful. The colours on all the pictures are not tweaked at all. The staff doesn't speak English but has an explanation of all the rules in some notes in English.

I really hope this will help for people to decide to go visit, the road is not scary at all, and lagunas are out...

We visited the salt lagoons and it was an incredible experience! The views were breathtaking – it felt like everything was covered in salt, creating a surreal and magical landscape. You can swim in the lagoon, although we expected the water to be warm… it was actually very cold (we went in the winter season).

Important notes: – Don’t jump into the water – the cold shock can be dangerous. – The water is extremely salty, so it’s best to float on your back, not your stomach.

Even though the water was cold, the air temperature was very pleasant, and the swim was absolutely worth it.

One important warning: check the condition of your rental car’s tires before heading out. We got a flat – not because of the road, but because the rental car had severely worn-out (bald) tires. We weren’t the only ones – several travelers had the same issue. So double-check the tires before your trip to avoid a nasty surprise in the middle of nowhere.

Other than that – the road to the lagoons and the views at the destination are simply stunning. Highly...

Choose this one over the others! Amazing walk around and views. I was the first one to enter and had it all to myself (9:30) - the walk around the other pools takes around 15 minutes. You will spend maybe up to a hour. Bring water to wash yourself off. As I was there when it opened, there was no staff other than at the ticket office so no one bothered me (I have read in other reviews people were told to stay on path) - 20 minutes in the salt pool. I brought a ticket in the office, you fill out some paper work. I did cash. No phone signal.

THE DRIVE - 100% doable, this is coming from a 24 year old who crashed a corvette and doesn’t know anything about cars so fool proof! Stayed at 60-80km the whole time, the road is fine! I had a Subaru rental SUV. Yes, it’s rocky, but you will be fine! On the way back I saw lots of tour buses going over 100! It did take me almost double the time however, so leave earlier! I have attached a video to show you the road. As I was leaving 3 buses of tours turnt up so it can be easily...