North of Tocopilla, Ruta 1 becomes the drive itself rather than a road between destinations. The route passes through the Túnel Pedro Galleguillos, built in 1994 to bypass the old Cuesta Paquica climb that still runs on the ridge above it, before settling into a long coastal run with the Pacific visible for most of the remaining distance — cliffs dropping to the water on one side, the bare Cordillera de la Costa rising on the other. This stretch has no major towns and few formal stops; the appeal is simply being beside the ocean after so many days inland, and it's worth pulling over wherever the road allows for a proper look at the water. A toll is collected at Peaje Troncal Chucumata as the road nears Iquique.
The coast road continues north past the toll and the city announces itself gradually — port cranes, then the outskirts, then the restored 19th-century centre that gives Iquique its particular character. The city built its fortune on nitrate in the same era as Tocopilla, and its architectural legacy shows it: wooden buildings imported in kit form from North America and Europe during the saltpeter boom still line the streets near the old customs house, a short distance from a modern high-rise skyline and one of the finest urban beaches on the Chilean coast, Playa Cavancha. After weeks of desert camping and high-altitude towns, arriving at sea level with a proper beach on the doorstep is its own kind of event. Settle in, walk the waterfront, and let the ocean air do the rest.
Deleting this waypoint is permanent and cannot be undone.