Atacama eSIM

Landing at El Loa Airport, Calama (CJC)

Airport

CJC / SCCF

Getting into Atacama

• Shared transfer from El Loa Airport to San Pedro de Atacama (Transfer Altiplanico, Transfer Pampa, Transvip) (CJC), about 90 minutes
• Route 23 from Calama to San Pedro de Atacama (100 km) (CJC), about 90 minutes
• Authorised taxi from El Loa Airport to San Pedro de Atacama (CJC), about 90 minutes

Worth knowing about Atacama

• Atacama is a desert region, not a city. You fly into El Loa Airport at Calama, 6 km from the Calama city centre, and then cover 100 km along Route 23 (about 1 hour 30 minutes) to reach San Pedro de Atacama.
• The airport's own shared-transfer operators (Transfer Altiplanico, Transfer Pampa, Transvip) check in on Level 1 of the public hall, and the published airport-to-San Pedro fare is CLP 17,900 per person.
• El Loa handles domestic flights only today - Santiago, La Serena and Concepcion - after its one international route, LATAM Peru's service to Lima, was suspended in March 2020.
• San Pedro de Atacama lies 106 km southeast of Calama at roughly 2,400 m above sea level, so the transfer is a sustained climb into altitude rather than a short airport run.
• Chile made prepaid mobile registration mandatory from 20 August 2026: every prepaid line must be tied to a named holder, with operators recording name, address and national ID or passport number, so buying a local prepaid SIM now involves identity verification.
• Route 23 between Calama and San Pedro de Atacama, 96 km, is one of the roads that holders of Chile's 700 MHz mobile licences must cover. The obligation for this stretch fell to the operator Will S.A., and services under the scheme began in March 2017.
• Toconao, a village in San Pedro de Atacama commune, has a free public Wi-Fi zone funded by the telecoms regulator Subtel under its Zonas WiFi 2.0 programme. Calama commune has two more, at the Chiu-Chiu plaza and at Tocopilla 3250.
• El Loa airport offers Wi-Fi, cash machines, public telephones and an information and tourism desk in the terminal.
• Authorised airport taxis charge a fixed CLP 75,000 per vehicle for the run to San Pedro de Atacama, at the rates in force from 1 April 2026. Shared transfers cost less per seat.
• Eight car hire firms have desks on Level 1 of the El Loa public hall, among them Avis, Europcar, Econorent and Salfa Rent, for travellers planning to drive the altiplano themselves.
• CONAF says official information on the Los Flamencos reserve comes only from CONAF and its Pases Parques ticket site. Nobody may stay overnight inside the reserve, and fuel is sold in San Pedro.
• Valle de la Luna trails such as Duna Mayor and Cornisa close at times because of winter sandstorms or summer rain. CONAF has also closed the Miscanti and Miñiques lagoons sector when snow built up on Route 23-CH.
• Chile's Jama border complex sits inside Argentina at 4,200 metres, reached from San Pedro de Atacama along Route 27-CH. Calama and San Pedro are the nearest Chilean towns.
• Most of Chile's minefields lie near the Peru and Bolivia borders in regions XV, I and II. Region II is Antofagasta, which covers San Pedro de Atacama. Some signs and fences are old or damaged, so keep to marked roads.

Sources for this page

• aeropuertoelloa.cl
• en.wikipedia.org
• chile.travel
• en.wikipedia.org
• subtel.gob.cl
• subtel.gob.cl
• aeropuertoelloa.cl
• conaf.cl
• pasosfronterizos.gov.cl
• gov.uk

Other cities in Chile we cover

Valparaiso

977 km from Atacama, nearest airport SCL

Santiago

1005 km from Atacama, nearest airport SCL