Quintay: Ghost Whale Factory and Pacific Coast Village
Quintay — a fishing village 35 km south of Viña del Mar — has one of the most unusual historical sites on the Chilean coast: a well-preserved whale processing factory (abandoned in 1967) and a sea lion colony on the adjacent rocks
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Quintay Whale Factory
Quintay's whale processing plant – operated from 1943 to 1967 – processed blue, sperm and fin whales caught in the South Pacific; the destroyed infrastructure of the factory (the slips, the processing halls, the boilers) is preserved as an industrial heritage and a reminder of the global whaling industry that almost drove several species to extinction
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Sea lion colony
The sea lion colony on the rocks below Quintay has about 300-400 South American sea lions; the colony is accessible on foot from the village; the presence of sea lions on the same rocks where whale carcasses were processed 60 years earlier is an unintended ecological comment; today the sea lions are protected, the whales are recovering
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Diving and marine life
Quintay is one of the best diving destinations near Viña del Mar — the cold, clear Humboldt waters have excellent visibility and abundant marine life; the dive sites include the Whaling Factory Ruins (a unique underwater industrial heritage dive), the sea lion territory and the rocky reef fish populations; the cold water (requires a 7mm wetsuit) discourages casual divers and keeps sites crowded
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Fishing village life
Quintay's fishing community – with its small fleet of artisanal fishing boats, the communal fish market and the quayside seafood restaurants – maintains the traditional Chilean fishing village culture that is disappearing elsewhere on the coast; erizo (sea urchin) divers who harvest sea urchin from Humboldt waters with hand-pulled rakes are the last practitioners of a pre-industrial fishing method
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Coastal Drive
The road from Viña del Mar to Quintay — following the Pacific cliffs through Algarrobo, El Quisco and Isla Negra — is one of Chile's most beautiful coastal roads; the view of the Pacific Ocean breaking against the black volcanic rocks, the coastal fog and the small fishing villages gives the journey the character of the rugged Chilean coast that the resort environment of Viña del Mar hides
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Whale Recovery
The whale species hunted from Quintay - the blue whale, the fin whale and the sperm whale - are all recovering in the South Pacific since commercial whaling ceased; whale watching from Viña del Mar and Quintay has begun to develop as whale populations recover; Sightings of humpback whales are becoming more common in the waters near Viña del Mar