Wanderlust World Wanderlust World Portuguese mariner Juan Fernández discovered the island chain bearing his name in 1574. In 1750, the Spanish founded San Juan. The Spanish Crown sent 200 colonists to the island in the face of British regional competition. When its original settlement was destroyed by a tsunami, Spain rebuilt and fortified San Juan by erecting Fuerte Santa Bárbara. After the 1814 Desastre de Rancagua on the mainland, Spanish authorities used the town as an exile for independence activists. The area also saw naval action during WWI, when German and British ships faced off in the waters nearby. Some German survivors of the sunken Dresden settled here.
Tourist attractions on the island include the Spanish Fuerte Santa Bárbara and the Cuevas de los Patriotas, gloomy caverns that once hosted Juan Egaña, Manuel de Salas and 40 other Chilean independence activists. To ruminate over the island's centuries of visitors, visit the Cementerio San Juan Bautista, where you can find headstones featuring Chilean, Spanish, French and German names, or check out historical artifacts and photos in the museum/library known as the Casa de Cultura & Biblioteca Daniel Defoe. For those preferring living attractions, pick up a freshly caught lobster from the town's pier, dive or snorkel in nearby waters while accompanied by sea lions, or take a hike through the Mirador de Selkirk or the ferned forests of Parque Nacional Juan Fernández.
Within San Juan Bautista are a surprising number of accommodation options for such a tiny town. There are no top-end options. However, there are several small guest houses, hotels, and bed and breakfasts, most of which provide meals. Alternatively, there are cheap campgrounds at Camping Los Cañones, complete with bathrooms and cold showers.
Like the other islands in Juan Fernández chain, Isla Robinson Crusoe has a Mediterranean climate with warm, dry summers and cool, wet winters. Coinciding with prime fishing season, tourist season hits from October to early April. It peaks from December to February. April to September is rainy season.
The island is reachable by a combination of air taxi, four-wheel drive and ferry, with flights running several times each week through two companies, Lassa and Transportes Aereos Robinson Crusoe. Both services depart from Aeropuerto Los Cerrillos.