Coronado Gulf

The Gulf of Corcovado lies south of Chiloé, between the island archipelago and the mountainous mainland of Chile. Its waters connect the inland channels to the open Pacific, where tides and winds make navigation demanding. Indigenous seafarers traveled among the islands and inlets in boats suited to the coastal waters. Spanish settlement in Chiloé from the sixteenth century depended on these maritime routes through a landscape cut into islands, straits and fjords.