Iquique weather by month
The best time to visit Iquique is January to March — 93/100 in February, 28°C and 1 rainy day. The best season is summer, December to February (91/100 on average).
The worst month is July at 85/100 — nice, dry, clean air. See July →
Updated September 2026 · climate normals from ERA5 reanalysis
Planning the wider trip? Best time to visit Chile →
Best season: December to February (91/100 on average) · worst July (85/100)
- Days
- 28°C
- Nights
- 21°C
- Wet days
- 1
- Sun
- 11.8 h
- Humidity
- 70%
- Daylight
- 13 h

Iquique, month by month
Comfort score out of 100 for the kind of trip Iquique is best for, the average high, rainy days and hours of sun a day from the climate normals, and how busy it tends to be.
What's on in Iquique through the year
Festivals, natural spectacles, holidays and the seasons to watch out for — curated and sourced. The month pages carry the detail.
- January
- Chilean summer season1 Jan – 28 FebSeason
- Altiplanic winter inland1 Jan – 15 Mar (usually)Season
- March
- Semana Santa3–5 AprHoliday
- May
- Glorias Navales21 MayHoliday
- Camanchaca grey mornings15 May – 30 Sep (usually)Season
- July
- Fiesta de La Tirana10–20 JulFestival
- August
- San Lorenzo de Tarapacá1–11 Aug (usually)Festival
- September
- Fiestas Patrias18–19 SepHoliday
- November
- Fiesta de San Andres in Pica28–30 NovFestival
Crowds in Iquique in February
How busy the place itself is — school and mass holidays, the months an editor tagged, and how sought-after the weather makes them. Never part of the comfort score.
Peak crowdsChilean summer season, Summer holidays in Chile, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it(estimated)
Peak crowdsBusyShoulder seasonQuiet
Traveller notes on Iquique
What people who have been say about the place — the year-round notes first, then month by month.
Forum posters describe Iquique's climate as subtropical and warm essentially year-round, sitting in one of the driest regions on Earth - real rain is close to a non-event here regardless of month. Posters discussing nearby Arica, the northernmost and warmest beach town in Chile just up the coast, describe February sea temperatures around 20C, a useful proxy given the two towns share the same cold Humboldt-influenced coastal climate. Posters flag February as peak vacation season for Chileans specifically, meaning accommodation can book up and cost more than other times of year - a crowding and pricing consideration rather than a weather one, since the desert coast's warm, dry pattern holds steady this time of year regardless.
Chile's forum consistently draws a line between the country's cold, wet southern winter and the north, where posters note holidays are viable year-round thanks to milder conditions. Iquique, being coastal in the Atacama's rain-shadow, gets specifically called out as staying pleasant even in the depths of Chilean winter - real numbers back that up, with low-20s C highs and barely any rain. It's a solid pick for a winter-month trip when much of the rest of the country is genuinely cold and wet.
Add your own note from Iquique's card on the map.