Punta Choros is a seaside resort community on the Chilean coast north of La Serena that is popular with Chileans and tourists for its beaches and nature reserves. The National Humboldt Penguin Reserve consists of three offshore islands, on one of which, Damas Island, it is permitted to land. The reserve protects numerous species including Humboldt penguins, black-faced ibis, and other seabirds as well as sea otters, sea lions, mouse opossums and cetaceans including porpoises and orcas. Inland from Punta Choros there are international astronomical observatories taking advantage of the clear desert skies for research.