Candelario | Informal Campsite

November 10th, 2024 by roeltje456

Avoid to stay here unless you don’t have an option! It is basically a tourist trap. Very basic open field without wind protection, basic toilet situation for a high end price 10.000. The barking dog might wake you up several times at night. The only good thing about this place is that they have Wifi, but not in the area you camp.

The male camping owner was hanging out in the harbour when the ferry arrived and waiting until the last person had left. The ferry arrived at a different schedule in the evening, because of the weather. We decided to wild camp because it was not possible to cross the border. The camping owner saw me going in to the woods which is far away from their campsite.

When we had set up tents the police came to say that someone (camping owner) had called. Apparently this is one of the few places in Patagonia where it is not tolerated to wild camp, the police was quite reasonable but they said they were not going to let us stay because these (camping) people keep calling the police until we would arrive on the campsite. Because there are no other options to stay.

So were basically forced by the Police due the camping owners to stay at their campsite. Very weird way to get in guests, you basically have to pay the people that called the police on you.

When we arrived on the campsite the very unpleasant lady treated us very weird and asked us with how many people were. We told her 2 people, but she kept asking two times more. Then she asked if someone of us speaks proper Spanish (we both do) and asked again. We told her we were two, she was not satisfied with the answer. When we were inside the building for the check in, it turned out they knew, that there were no 17 passengers on the boat and only 16 on the campsite. ‘So they were missing one’, like the are some authority around there.They discussed all this with other guests present. Probably they called the Police again…

They are already one of the most expensive campsites in Patagonia, they already have literally a boat load of guests and no competition. And they still misuse the Police and keeping track of the people on the boats to force to get more guests at their campsite.

If you are coming from the ferry at normal schedule, don’t stay here. Just cross the border and camp far away from this place.

February 16th, 2024 by hiddenattitude76

8k but they offer wifi now.
with a common area for cooking. The owners are really nice, nobody really knows when the boat can/will leave (even the boat drivers)

December 21st, 2023 by midgrandfather60

unfortunately not open at the moment, maybe it will open for the season

February 25th, 2023 by nolog_maybe

We had a very good time in Candelario.I understood that Martha is gone and the new "manager", Maria Louisa, was very nice and fair to us. Staying in the middle of nowhere living a simple life was an unforgotable experience!

January 19th, 2023 by post

Marie Louisa is friendly and we had a good time staying here. Warm shower, a shelter with tables and chairs to cook. Price 5000CLP per night on campsite.

January 18th, 2023 by axelflodin

further info about the ferry: if there's too many people waiting to go north the check in list of this camping is the official list for who gets to board the small boat first. there's 16 spot on the boat and room for 6 or 8 bicycles. the boat left ohggins at 8 and from below the camping at 11.

January 17th, 2023 by axelflodin

still 5000 ChPesos (only cash option) per person. owner was kind to me, so just keep a good attitude and everything will work out well

January 16th, 2019 by estelasim

Excelente hospedaje. Atención de lujo. camping y hostal. comidas

December 30th, 2018 by David Atacama

It really amazes me how people complain about prices... If you can’t pay $500 for a home made bread roll, stay home or stay in Santiago: you’ll find lots of cheap stuff there! Candelario Mancilla is isolated, supplied only once or twice a week by a boat if weather is good (90min ride); Villa O’Highins is also expensive because is 230Km away from the next town, on a dirt road and a ferry crossing; and still, Cochrane is not cheap either because is just in the middle of the Carretera Austral, with limited suppplies, 550Km away (450Km of dirt road) from the next big city! How much does a bloody Moccachino with Almond flavour cost in a Starbucks?
Yeah, rooms are not the nicest, they are fine! Furthermore, having a camping in the middle of nowhere with a barn where you can heat up and cook and stay dry, and a warm shower, even if it’s not the cleanest around, it’s pretty amazing! Don’t like the prices, bring your own food! I don’t like the prices in Manhattan either!

December 24th, 2018 by maarten.v.d.kuilen

Bad place to be stuck, Martha, the owner, will scam you out of everything she can. Take enough food! more importantly: don't trust Matha. Don't eat all your food when she tells you the boat will be there. She'll announce the arrival of boats about twice as often as they'll actually come. She has a weak radio that can contact the boats when they are in the bay, anny other prediction of here is just guesswork.
She'll keep a list of order of arrival and act as if that's important (she threatened some campers with removal from the list for the crime of napping when she collected the camping fee). Border patrol keeps a list as well and that's the list the boat crew will use to determine the order of boarding.

December 13th, 2018 by marenowschenski

The camping is 5.000 per person, a single room 12.000. Compared to a room in a city more or less cheap so I decided for that. House owner is very nice. I had enough food so I didn't have to buy anything from them. They have a wood and a gas stove you can use. It is the only house besides the one for the policemen. Make sure you take everything you need before you arrive. The only Wi-Fi is in the police station for the police. No Mobil signal in this area.

January 28th, 2018 by er42157

Price went up CLP$5000 for 1 night and CLP$500 for a small price of bread. Need to set up fire for cooking and shower. There is dorm for CLP$10000. Nice owner but come to clean only few times.

The RULE is who cross the border first, who get on the boat first. It doesn't matter what date of the ticket you have. It's really important specially when there is a bunch of people waiting.

April 15th, 2017 by myatlas.com

Lugar muy hermoso, con un lugar de camping perfecto. Hay cocina libre y bano y ducha con agua caliente.

solo piensan en traer comida porque no encontraran nada mas que huevos y pan. Si no tienes comida, el dueno te puede ofrecer trabajo contra comida :).

March 24th, 2016 by OKP

ah well.....a private estancia that offers camping 2500chp. and cabanas - for rigourous payment. if you cross from AR to CH by foot you WILL END UP HERE. there is no option but wait here for the boat.
no wifi. "kitchen" is a wood stove in the barn.large grasslands to put the tent. owner allow you to use bathroom in their house.
selling bread for 300chp each (!!!) :(
selling breakfast and lunch too. marmelada s 2000chp. (you can buy everything for money here I guess)
good for meeting people, bad for your wallet if you are stuck here 5 days waiting for a boat.