WALKING WITH PENGUINS
For many people, seeing penguins is one of the main goals while visiting Patagonia. Near to Ushuaia you can encounter two different types at the Martillo Island – Pinguineira (specifically Magallánico and Gentoo penguins). The island is in Estancia Haberton – an old farm which includes land on the shore of the Beagle Channel about one and half hour drive from Ushuaia.
https://www.estanciaharberton.com/activities
There should be only one company organizing WALKING WITH PINGUINS trips from Ushuaia – PIRATOUR (even Estancia Haberton alone doesn´t run the excursions. There are other tours to observe penguins as well, but it is mostly seeing them from a boat, not actually walking among penguins on the island).
It is necessary to book your trip with Piratour in advance since the excursions are likely to be sold out.
Their office is located among offices of other Ushuaia travel agencies in the touristic port of Ushuaia (muelle turístico).
Before the trip, you are supposed to go to the office to pick up your ticket and further instructions. Then you need to get on a bus with a tour guide waiting nearby which will take you to the Haberton farm. In Estancia Haberton you will embark a small boat that will take to Martillo Island.
The tour is in both Spanish and English.
Note that the tour is operated from October to the end of March only.
On the island you will get really close to the penguins, sometimes you even need to mind your steps not to run into one. For the wellbeing of the penguins it is required to follow the guide, stay together with your group, and stay silent.
Here you can book the Piratour trip:
https://piratour.net/producto/caminata-en-isla-martillo-version-terrestre/
For this tour, we paid 250 USD each.
In Estancia Haberton, apart from the Penguin Island, you can also visit a small museum dedicated to the history of the farm and a marine mammals museum which contains skeletons of various sea creatures like orcas, seals, dolphins etc. On the Haberton land you can find a small cafeteria where it is possible to buy coffee, cakes, and other small refreshments.
CRUISES
The most basic but very lovely experience is a cruise in the Beagle Channel to see the bird island, sea wolves island, light house (Faro Les Eclaireurs) and some examples of Ushuaia flora. We loved the trip and as well as many sea wolves and cormorants we even saw a whale and penguins! There are multiple companies offering several variations of the cruise and you mostly don’t need advance booking. We booked our tour in the port the day before our trip.
The tour lasts from 2.5 – 4 hours depending on the boat and company and the cost should be around 30 USD. These tours are offered all year round!
As mentioned above, the possibility to see the penguins on Martillo Island from a boat is offered also by other companies apart from Piratour. With these tours you mostly visit the bird island, sea wolves island, light house, etc. (the same as in the basic tour I described above) and then you continue your cruise to Martillo Island. Once again, be careful, because often you really can see the penguins from the boat only, not walk with them. For walking with penguins check out specifically the walking with penguins tour!
As Martillo Island is not completely close to Ushuaia, the tour needs to be done with an appropriate boat, hence it is possible that it will be sold out. Booking in advance is a good idea!
With Piratour, the tour duration is 5 hours. Also, it is offered in summer only!
TIERRA DEL FUEGO NATIONAL PARK
Tierra del Fuego National Park is one of the most typical destinations when visiting surroundings of Ushuaia.
The available trails are marked in the map below. We did the trail number 2 – the Costera trail. It started at the Post office at the end of the world (the southernmost located post office in the world from where you can send postcards and have your passports stamped) and went alongside the coastline through beaches and forest. The trail is considered moderate with a mild incline. You can do it in four hours as mentioned in the official trail description. We finished up at the Visitor center Alakush where the van operated by our tour agency picked us up (the agency will share a flyer with bus schedule and map with you).
How to get to the Tierra del Fuego national park from Ushuaia?
As suggested above, we booked a trip with the agency. There is an office operating the tours to Tierra del Fuego national park which is located next to the bus parking lot in Ushuaia (close to the touristic port).
The price (around 20 EUR) includes the drive to the national park (around 30 minutes from Ushuaia) and back. Firstly, they will take you to the park office where you will pay the entrance fee to the park (around 7 USD). Then you will get off the van next to the Post Office at the beginning of the Costera trail. We didn’t need to book the tour in advance, we bought our tickets on the morning of the trip.
While visiting Tierra del Fuego national park, many people take a ride in the Train at the end of the world as well. We did not, so I am just attaching the link with the information only.
https://www.trendelfindelmundo.com.ar/en/
