Safety in Chile

The general picture: Chile is considered safe, but do not switch off entirely. The main problem is bag and phone theft in crowded places, particularly central Santiago and the busier markets.

Motochorros: Thieves on motorbikes will snatch a phone straight out of your hand as they pass. Use a phone strap and do not take expensive electronics out beside a busy road.

Safer districts: In the capital, Providencia and Las Condes are the easy places to walk around. Bellavista is fun in the evening, but the risk of running into trouble outside the bars rises noticeably after midnight.

Car break-ins: Never leave a backpack on the seat of a parked car. Even for two minutes: windows go through in seconds and your things vanish immediately.

Street scams: Beware of groups who offer to help you wipe off a stain that has mysteriously appeared on your clothing. While you are distracted by the cleaning, their colleagues go through your pockets.

Earthquakes: Chile sits on an active fault system. If the ground starts moving, stay calm and follow the "Zona de Seguridad" signs, which are posted in every large public building.

Chile was for years considered Latin America's safest country, but street crime in Santiago and Valparaíso has risen noticeably in recent years. It is still calmer than Brazil and Colombia, but complacency no longer works.

Phone theft. Santiago's main problem. Phones are snatched from hands in the street and on the metro, especially in the centre, around Plaza de Armas and on Line 1. A phone in your hand in the street is bait.

The "stained clothing" trick. The classic: something is spilled on you, a helpful passer-by wipes it off, and your bag departs.

Valparaíso. The city is beautiful, but robberies on the hills beyond the tourist cerros of Alegre and Concepción are ordinary, in daylight too. Stay on the marked tourist routes and do not walk residential districts with a camera.

Taxis. Use apps. At Santiago airport, take a car only from the official desks.

ATMs. Skimming occurs. Withdraw inside banks and malls.

Biosecurity on entry. Chile protects its agriculture almost as fiercely as Australia: importing fresh fruit, vegetables, seeds, meat, dairy and honey is prohibited or must be declared. An undeclared apple from the plane costs a fine of several hundred dollars, and fines are genuinely issued. Everyone fills in a declaration, and everything must be declared.

Drugs. Personal cannabis use in private has been decriminalised, but selling and using in public remain offences.

National parks. Torres del Paine enforces strict rules: marked trails only, registration at the entrance, and no open flame. The reason is the fires that twice destroyed parts of the park through tourists' fault. Fines are enormous, up to criminal prosecution.

Drones. Registration is required, and they are prohibited in national parks and over people.

Protests. Demonstrations with tear gas occur periodically at Plaza Baquedano (Plaza Dignidad) in Santiago. A foreigner should avoid the area rather than watch.

Documents. Carry a passport copy and leave the original in the safe.

Altitude. San Pedro de Atacama sits at 2,400 metres, the El Tatio geysers at 4,300, and the passes toward Bolivia higher. The Tatio excursion starts at four in the morning with an ascent of nearly two kilometres, and altitude sickness there is ordinary. Arrive in San Pedro a day before the trip, not the same evening.

Sun. Chile has some of the world's highest UV readings: altitude, clear air and proximity to the southern ozone anomaly combined. In the Atacama and Patagonia you burn in twenty minutes, overcast days included.

Earthquakes. Chile is among the world's most seismically active countries and tremors are routine. Check the evacuation plan at your hotel, and on the coast look for tsunami zone signs and the route to high ground. After a strong tremor on the shore, head uphill immediately without waiting for a siren.

Water. Santiago's is drinkable but heavily mineralised and often upsets visitors. Atacama water has high arsenic content — drink bottled only.

Patagonia. Wind, sudden weather changes and no coverage. Registration at the Torres del Paine entrance exists for a reason.

Healthcare. Private clinics in Santiago are excellent — Clínica Alemana, Las Condes. Expensive. Insurance is needed.

Emergency numbers: 131 ambulance, 133 police, 132 fire.

Chile is traditionally among Latin America's least corrupt countries, and the Carabineros enjoy relative public trust. Bribes are not taken from tourists.

Carabineros. On 133, in green uniforms, working correctly. Not all speak English, and Spanish will serve you well.

Reporting theft. A denuncia is filed at a Carabineros station or with the PDI investigative police. That satisfies insurers.

Do not resist a robbery. Attackers may be armed and a phone is not worth it.

Geography. Las Condes, Providencia and Vitacura in Santiago are calm. The centre is fine by day and worse in the evening. La Legua, Puente Alto and the outskirts are not places a tourist needs. In Valparaíso, stay on Cerro Alegre and Cerro Concepción.

Protests. During demonstrations the metro closes stations without warning. Plan with slack.

What has changed. Ten years ago Chile felt almost European. Now urban caution at Argentine levels is required: no phone in view, no valuables on you, and a car at night.