Chile's Island of Myth, Where the Sea Flees Twice a Day

On Chile’s Chiloé Island, the ocean does not simply rise and fall. It retreats so far and so fast that it feels like magic—or a monster. This is the "rehu," the local name for the rapid tide. The water can vanish for hundreds of meters in minutes, leaving boats stranded on wet sand. According to island lore, this dramatic sight is the work of the "Trauco," a mythical forest gnome said to pull the sea away. The phenomenon is a normal, if extreme, tidal event. But for residents, it is a daily reminder of the powerful legends that shape life here. The stories explain the unpredictable world. This dispatch is part of a series where correspondents share snapshots of life from their posts around the globe. In Chiloé, the line between natural wonder and myth is as thin as the coastline.