Playa Cole-Cole
Cucao, Chiloé Island, Chile
Cole-Cole sits deep inside Parque Nacional Chiloé, a wild stretch of Pacific sand in southern Chile that you only reach on foot. Wild horses sometimes wander the beach itself, and the endemic Darwin's fox turns up often enough that trekkers keep half an eye on the tree line the whole way in.
Locals and repeat trekkers treat it as one of Chiloé's great wild places, genuinely remote and worth the effort, though the river crossing and total lack of services mean it's not a casual day at the beach.
How we score beachesThe one real obstacle is the Río Anay crossing partway along the trail. A rope guided raft gets you across when the old footbridge isn't holding, so budget extra time if there's been recent rain and the river's running high.
There's no driving to Cole-Cole. You register at the CONAF post in Cucao, reachable by bus from Castro, and then it's an 8 to 15 kilometer coastal trek, depending which trailhead you count from, through rainforest and along cliffs.
This isn't a beach you stroll onto. The trail crosses muddy, uneven ground and at least one unbridged river, and CONAF describes sections of it as unmaintained. Wheelchairs and strollers are out of the question, and even fit hikers should plan for several hours each way.
Pets are banned throughout Parque Nacional Chiloé, a park wide rule meant to protect native wildlife from dogs.
Chiloé stays cool and wet most of the year, so summer, December through February, is when the river crossings are calmest and the trail is at its driest. The ocean itself stays cold and rough enough that this is a hiking and camping destination rather than a swimming one, in any season.
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