From the 1870s until synthetic fertiliser killed the trade, the desert behind Iquique was dotted with oficinas salitreras — company towns where sodium nitrate was dug, crushed and refined for export. Humberstone and Santa Laura, 47 km east of the city, are the two best-preserved, and since 2005 they have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Humberstone was founded as La Palma in 1872 and renamed in 1934 after James Humberstone, a British engineer of the nitrate industry. At its height it housed several thousand people. Both works closed around 1960 and were simply abandoned: the houses, machinery and even shop counters were left to the dry air, which has kept them in an eerie state of suspension ever since.
Top things to do at Humberstone & Santa Laura
Walk the streets of Humberstone
This is a whole town, not a single ruin. Around the plaza you will find the theatre with its rows of wooden seats, the market, the church, the hotel and the pulpería, the company store where workers spent their wages in tokens. Rows of workers’ housing stretch out behind, and several buildings hold small displays of toys, tools and photographs.
Find the iron swimming pool
One of Humberstone’s most photographed sights is its swimming pool, built of riveted iron plates, with a diving board and grandstand — an astonishing luxury in the driest desert on earth.
See the industrial plant at Santa Laura
About 1.5 km away, across the road, Santa Laura is smaller as a settlement but keeps the most impressive machinery: a huge timber-and-iron leaching plant and a tall chimney standing alone on the pampa. Your Humberstone ticket normally covers both.
How to get to Humberstone & Santa Laura
- By car: take Ruta 16 up from Iquique through Alto Hospicio; Humberstone is at the junction with the Pan-American Highway (Ruta 5), about 45 minutes away.
- By bus: buses and colectivos from Iquique to Pozo Almonte pass the entrance; tell the driver you want Humberstone. Flag down a returning bus from the highway.
- On a tour: local agencies in Iquique sell half-day trips and full-day circuits that continue to La Tirana and Pica. At the time of writing none of these is listed on GetYourGuide, so book them in town.
Insider tips
- Allow at least two to three hours for both sites. There is very little shade: bring a hat, sunscreen and plenty of water.
- The site is normally open daily; an entrance fee is charged. Check current hours and prices before you go.
- Structures are fragile and floors can be unsafe — stay out of anything fenced or signed off.
- Mornings are cooler and often less windy than afternoons.
Bookable experiences to pair with Humberstone & Santa Laura
GetYourGuide’s Iquique catalogue is small, so these are the real, bookable experiences that fit best around a visit to Humberstone & Santa Laura:
City tour + boat from US$85 Iquique: Guided City Tour with Boat Trip to Esmeralda Buoy
A half-day introduction to the city with a guide: the nitrate-era square with its clock tower and theatre, then out by boat to the buoy that marks where the corvette Esmeralda sank on 21 May 1879. The most efficient way to understand why this date matters so much in Chile.
- Plaza Prat, the 1877 Clock Tower and the Municipal Theatre
- Boat trip across the bay to the Esmeralda buoy
- The story of the Battle of Iquique where it happened
Adventure activity from US$52 Experience Sandboarding in the Iquique Dunes
Two hours of sandboarding on the dunes above Iquique with a local instructor. It is the cheapest bookable activity in town and, at the time of writing, the one with the most reviews — every one of them five stars. Expect sand everywhere and a sunset-coloured view of the city.
- Ride down the dunes that rise behind the city
- Equipment and instruction provided
- The best-reviewed Iquique activity on GetYourGuide
