Chanco’s coastline
Chanco is one of the six districts in the Maule Region and next to Pelluhue, the second in the Province of Cauquenes.
Located 47km from Cauquenes, it enjoys a remarkable, natural, countryside not to mention its valuable cultural resources.
One of these is its coastline, which stretches some 35 kms, starting at the River Santa Ana’s river mouth (in the north) and ending at the River Rahue (in the south).
Bathed by the Pacific Ocean`s water, the coastline is exposed, rockless and its extraordinary black sand inspires visitors to walks and rest. However, the Loanco sector is quite different; it is full of large, rock formations and hence has a wide, delicious variety of fish and shellfish.
Monolito Beach
This is located 3 km from Chanco’s town square. You need to go along Teniente Merino street, right to the end. You then head inland on a beautiful road which travels alongside the forest and becomes the Av. Los Gigantes, full of really old eucalyptus trees. You then reach a vast, tranquil, unspoilt beach with black sand that stretches various kilometres, around Chanco Bay (which used to be known as Fox Bay).
It is perfect for walks, because it is near the dunes, or sunbathing and shore fishing. It has car parking facilities, lighting, drinking water, picnic kiosks, a children’s play area and some amazing footbridges which stretch out over the dunes providing a panoramic view of the coastline.
Loanco Beach:
This is the only fishing bay in Chanco. It is located in the northern part of the district and is famous for the delicious fish and shellfish which you can buy and sample right here, in the bay itself. The most popular are mussels, piures, sea urchins, abalones, crabs, as well as sea bass, sole, conger eel and many more varieties.
In this area you can also visit Santos del Mar, which is 200m from the main beach and consists of a solid rock formation with an indent inside it and they say that you can see an image of the Virgin through this. A few metres south of Santos del Mar you will see the Rocas Loberas, where you will be able to watch some impressive sea lions sunbathing on the rocks.
You can see the lagoon of the River Santa Ana at the other of the beach, which is habitat to a large variety of birds (swans, seagulls and ducks) as well as flocks of famous geese. You can also walk further along the beach to visit the Carranza lighthouse.
