Catamaran Tour Through The Beagle Channel And Penguins In Isla Martillo

Couldn't hear well from your lady. If provide language selections and headphones which is similar with Hop on Hop off is better.

Most important before you get to port/ boat !!! You must get your actual ticket ( white paper ticket from a cabin nearby, there is a collection of them just near to entrance to port). Get down to port area early to avoid lines and potentially missing trip. ) I showed them my voucher on phone and they gave me ticket for specific boat . The trip on catamaran was comfortable and staff friendly . It was a beautiful morning out on the seas. The journey took a while to see animals but it was worth it. The only thing to mention on site if that boat approached martillo island and you don’t get off to walk around with penguins. It would be a helpful note to add!)

Crew was very professional, courteous and friendly. The only downside was at the penguin island. I initially thought we would step on the island but we stayed on the boat and rotated around the perimeter of the boat to take pictures. The best spot for pictures was taken up by individuals who paid to get their pictures taken by the crew.

I want to start this review by saying the penguins are well worth the visit! The staff on the boat is another story. The boat runs a photography service and people who choose to pay for the photo service get the best spots on the boat to see the penguins. That part is a bit of a racket. The cruise is already so expensive and if you don't fork over more cash, you do not have access to the prime boat spots. Additionally, when the photographer is talking and selling you their services, they will call you out if you talk. It was embarrassing for a few people. The boat was very comfortable and clean. Be prepared with warm winter clothes. The boat ride (outside) is very cold. Inside it is warm and there are plenty of food options if you are hungry. Overall, it was great to see the penguins but the experience could have been better if the photographers were not so pushy and rude.

Just absolutely gorgeous sites and wildlife! This trip was so worth it and sunny day to boot! Do it!

Overall is good. Just the initial part of trying to figure out what to do to get on board is frustrating. Need to provide more explicit instructions such as: 1. Go to this Kiosk at this location on the google map. 2. Report your name and retrieve an actual boarding ticket. 3. Head to this location on the google map to board. Instead of just indicating a meeting point without explanation. Who are we meeting? What do we show when we meet? etc.

Excellent trip, excellent guides and very knowledgeable, very polite, very efficient in all tasks and everything on time. Highly recommended

Lots of people, very touristy. Definitely not our favorite tour. We went through TA and paid more than 2 times what the guy next to us paid for the same tour. I would say that all in all, this tour was not a great value.

Nice experience! One of the must do things if you find yourself all the way to the end of the world. Great crew and well organized. Made sure that all visitors had a great time during the excursion

We took the Piratour catamaran tour and were generally pleased. We were able to spend a good amount of time watching the penguins and the separate stop to see the sea lions. Our tour operator was friendly and knowledgeable. The catamaran had good coffee and other food available for purchase and four bathrooms. The two downsides are that the catamaran is quite crowded (although the guides rotate the flow) and there is a bit of a hard sell on the photography and those not buying the picture package are often moved out of the way for those that did.

We managed a great weather day and also lots of sea lions and penguins to be seen. Quite a leisurely day and the cafe on board was good too, they had a great way of queuing around the boat so everyone gets a great opportunity to see the penguins and take pictures making it really fair for all. The guide was really knowledgable too, a great day out.

The interesting commentary is given in both Spanish & English. We did manage to see penguins in October but understand they had just started to arrive. It’s interesting to sail down the Beagle Channel along the border although enhanced by the wildlife you’ll see.

Great tour. Little cold but to be expected so dress appropriately. If want pics first two stops recommend being outside on upper deck. Find a railing and stay there. The boat will do a complete 360 at first couple of stops. So bad spot to start maybe great spot to finish. Penguins can see from upper deck but little better to follow advice and slowly walk and rotate to front of boat.

It's exactly like described. The crew was highly competent and friendly. The tour departed and came back as planned.

An excellent excursion. We saw everything we were promised in the excursion offering. The catamaran was extremely comfortable and warm. The outside viewing areas were small for the number of patrons but we were able to see what we wanted to see eventually. A humpback whale made an unexpected appearance and the driver made a quick (and safe) U-turn so all of the patrons could get a good view. Excellent attention to customer satisfaction. We got up close to the land points where the penguins and sea lions were resting and got great views and pictures. The only downside was finding the tour operator onshore. The instructions we received were incomplete and it took 10-15 minutes to find someone on shore to point us to the light green shack where the catamaran operator was. This hitch is why the review is 4-star and not 5-star.

It was truly amazing! You can see different species of birds, sea lions, and penguins. We got super lucky and also saw two whales on our way, unexpectedly. The captain spotted them and made an unplanned stop, so we would have plenty of time to see them. The guide was very knowledgeable and all the staff were very friendly. The personnel at Info De Ushaia were also very friendly and helpful. Highly recommend!

The boat tour, when we finally got on, was quite enjoyable and comfortable. Great commentary by Paula. I booked tickets 3 weeks prior with Trip Advisor. At 9pm the night before, I started receiving texts from Info (Boat) De Ushuaia saying they needed to change our sailing date/time. They couldn’t tell me whether I would get a discount if we changed. At 10pm I messaged I was going to bed and would be at the boat at 8:15am. At 1 am they changed our tickets without our consent. We walked to the port at 8am and got ourselves on a boat after 30 minutes with the help of the staff at Canoero This is not how to run a business. Very frustrating, chaotic start to our day.

Nice experience, but bring some warm clothing. Staying outside on deck is half the fun, but it was COLD.

The boat tour itself was great, but the directions about where and how to get your ticket were very confusing. On the website it says to click here for ticket, but then you get a message that “this is not a ticket!” When we got to the meeting place it was very busy with lots of cruise ship people and the rest of us. Did not know that we needed to go to one of the hurts to get our actual ticket for the boat. Thankfully, some very nice locals helped us and we JUST made the trip. Let me say again that was super! Loved the penguins!

Wonderful experience. Fantastic scenery, oodles of wildlife, including whales! Friendly helpful staff. I would recommend this experience to families or couples or solo travellers.

A bit disillusioned as I was told by a representative this tour would include disembarking to see the penguins up close. I came to find out this wasn’t included only during the excursion. All else was accurate. The ship, crew and ease of finding the location were great. There were bathrooms and a cafe on board. This would be a very kid friendly tour but I would hold onto the littles tightly as there is A LOT of wind.

It was a beautiful trip through the Beagle Channel, with plenty of great photo opportunities. It was a crowded boat, but having the professional photographer helped ensure that we got the most out of the photos. The weather outside of the catamaran was very cold, so definitely recommend bringing a jacket for when you’re taking photos, but otherwise it was warm and comfortable within the catamaran (so comfortable that many people napped on the way back) The onboard cafe also had plenty of drinks and surprisingly good food, but it was a little pricey so I would also recommend bringing some snacks. You might be able to save some money by booking further in advance too.

Good comfortable boat ride with a knowledgeable, bilingual guide to explain things along the way. Lots of penguins and sea lions on the tour.

Well staffed spacious vehicle. Fantastic views on both sided of the Beagle Channel. 4.5 to 5.0 hour round trip. Close up view of the penguins without setting foot on the island.

The views of Argentina and Chile were spectacular, and the boat ride was very comfortable with all kinds of food and drink offerings for the 5 hour trip. The boat captain very adroitly positioned the catamaran so that we could get as close as possible to the island of the sea lions and seals, cormorants and then later the penguins (astonishing). The bilingual guide was informative about the history of the region. This boat had a lot of people but people made space for picture taking which abounded. Marvelous views!

Very nice But they need to speak some basics English Very professional Very friendly Very good knowledge

This was an amazing trip, we started our journey by picking up the tickets based on the voucher we had from the booth in the port and then we walked to the boarding area. We started boarding at 8:30 and at 9:00 we started our journey through the beagle channel. The catamaran was a very comfortable one, clean, with coffee options onboard and the entire trip lasted 5 hours. We slowed down the Faro des eclairaiges where we had the chance to see a colony of sea lions and the cormorants. Further down the channel we got to pass Port Williams that belongs to Chile, ending at the penguin island where we got to spend sufficient time to have everybody onboard taking their turn observing and enjoy the view of the penguins on the pebbles beach. The return was very comfortable and we were back in the port a little sooner than 14:00. Definitely a worth to do activity

The boat tour was very rocky and lot of passengers threw up and the boat smelt very bad The penguins island were full of penguins but was smelling so bad, we hardly could stand on the deck and watch the penguins Unless you are a die hard fan of penguins don’t take this more than 5 hour tour

The trip is really nice but the information misleads you to believe that the catamaran actually stops and you can walk somewhere ("entrada incluida"..entrance included) but you never leave the ferry. I asked about this through viator chat and the person who answered really had no idea and told me information that was incorrect (that we would stop in Isla Pájaro and Isla Lobos...but of course, we did not). Leaving this aside the trip is really nice and the views are incredible.

The ticketing process is very confusing and congested at the pirt in Ushaia, but the trip was excellent once we got going.

Seeing penguins and the sea lions was a great experience, although you cannot walk with them on land

I will share, that this tour was not what I had originally expected, but after going back and re-reading the description it was exactly what was described on the Viator tour details. In my head I had imagined that we would ride the catamaran and make several stops to visit the various islands described "This tour is carried out within the maritime excursions in Ushuaia." What confused me was throughout the What to Expect section, some sites were designated "pass by" while 4 sites were designated "Admission ticket free" which in my mind meant we had admission. This is my misinterpretation, not the tour's fault. However, now knowing that and having experienced it, I would say the tour is not worth $150 per person. You sit on a catamaran (first come first serve for seats which will not change, luckily we got good seats by the window), then for particular sites of interest the catamaran will pause and move around so that all those on board will have a chance to view and take pictures. You can of course get out of your seats to go outside for a better view, and the captain is very good at moving the boat around in multiple positions. The guide was very good at describing all the scenery around us and providing some historical tidbits. We did get to see sea lions and penguins. But I would say the description provided by Viator is not too forthcoming. Lastly, it says multiple times on the website, the app and the email that we only need to show the app in order to gain entry. We arrived about 8:15am where we had to stand in line at the kiosk to check in. The woman at the desk did not accept just the app but wanted me to show her the PDF of the ticket (luckily I had just enough data to download it, but it did take quite a while to do so), and then printed out different tickets where I was directed to then walk over to the passenger control area of the port and stood in another line which didn't open until 9am. So while the Viator information says this is a 5-6 hour tour that starts at 8:30am it is more of a 4.5 hour tour that starts after 9am.

The tour was great, although they are endless selling overpriced trinkets, photos in super cheap frames, etc. we are bilingual and were surprised out how much more info was given in Spanish than in English. Luckily for the non Spanish speakers at our table, we could add the missing info. Definitely get there early as it pays to get a seat next to the windows. We chose to sit upstairs and had a great view. At the outset, the windows are super clean. Needles to say, they get water spots during the cruise, so if you don’t want to venture outside, take your pictures early. The seating is tight, so getting in and out from the windows seats means disturbing your neighbors. Getting pics up close was challenging at times, especially as the boat’s photo people know that at Martillo Island, the penguin stop, the best place to be is downstairs in the front of the boat. I overheard them telling that to a couple at our table, so I braved the cold early to get to the front of the upstairs. I was slightly further away than those down below, but was able to get good pics regardless. Down below people were jammed together like sardines. If you weren’t in the first row or two, you would have had trouble seeing anything much less take pics. Viator is another issue. I was looking for a small group tour and the person on their chat service told me it was a group of 15. It seemed too inexpensive to be so small, so I asked several times. I even asked if the group of 15 was a small group that would be on the boat with other small groups booked by different tour operators. No, it is a small group of 15 with no one else. ABSOLUTELY NOT TRUE! The boat holds 190 ppl and they sold 164 tix.

This is a great tour with amazing experience through the Beagle Channel and the islands around it with close views of the animals and birds in that region. This was really like a dream come true experience for us. Our tour operator (Info de Ushuaia) and the bilingual guide, the captain of the catamaran and the staff were all extremely knowledgeable and friendly making the tour very enjoyable. The boat got very close to the islands and stopped for quite a while for us to see up close the sea lions, the imperial and rocky cormorants and the magellanic and gentoo penguins. Seeing all of them that close and watching them walk, swim, fly, move around or rest was a jaw dropping experience for all of us. We were also extremely lucky to see a pod of 7 orcas suddenly appear from nowhere on our way back. The captain got us close and stopped the boat for a long time. Even the guide and crew mentioned that this was a rare occurrence. Watching them breaching and swimming that close was really a mind-blowing experience. That made the awesome tour even more out of the world. We were all amazed and will cherish this experience forever.

Amazing encounter with sea lions and penguins. Excellent view of birds nesting on an island. Knowledgeable and super friendly guides and staff at the boat.

It was amazing, the rocking was a bit rough but the areas to take pictures were amazing. We were able to see the prednisone and sea lions for a while.It was really fun.

What an amazing experience bring in the water and stopping nearby to look at wildlife and the fun penguins. It was truly memorable and recommend it.

We saw what we came for but finding the place was not straight forward at all as you have to grt your ticket from a little office we could not find. The boat also leaves later than we were told and got back earlier. The penguins and sealions were adorable, but the way they try to get people to circulate the boat (so everybody gets a good shot and gets to enjoy them) is very pushy and confusing.

Great tour overall, super knowledgeable crew, especially the captain. Tour thru the Beagle Channel is gorgeous and you get plenty of time at each of the main stops (lighthouse with sea lions & the penguin island), some of the best views and pictures we had on our trip. Totally worth the time and price on this one, book it you won’t regret it!

We had a beautiful day. Enjoy. The trip. Penguins were really cute. Also, enjoyed the beauty and views.

Nice tour, you get to see Penguins ! :) But busy boat. We got a message that the trip was fully booked and were asked to go in the afternoon. We did not have internet so only read until being at the port. No problem to enter luckily. I recommend going to the port to book at one of the small houses there. That way is cheaper and you are guaranteed a seat.

Just traveling down the channel for me was amazing, given the history. The guide did an excellent job of explaining about the creatures but the history as well. And, yes the scenery and animals were great.

Pleasant catamaran ride through the beagle channel with stops at the light house and Martillo island of penguins. This trip is enjoyable and worth it if you like lighthouses and penguins. The catamaran gets close to the sights, and spends ample time there to allow tourists to get their pictures. We saw 3 types of penguins: Magellanic, Gentoo, and one King penguin. There is a reasonably priced cafe that serves drinks, sandwiches, cookies, and snacks. An informative talk regarding the area and the penguins is announced in Spanish and English.

Loved seeing all of the sea lions, penguins, and coastline. Liked that we spent time at each place to take pictures. Probably about 30 penguins. Lots of “selling” on the boat by staff for swag and professional photos.

They cancelled the trip because of weather. We went down to the dock and the boat was going. They overbooked and wanted to bump us to the afternoon. We met 2 other couples that they bumped too. We all showed our tickets and insisted on boarding. They let us on, but what a hassle. The best part of the trip was the guide on the boat. Amparo made the trip. She spoke well, knew a tremendous amount of history, geography and all about the flora and fauna. She was cheerful, articulate and helpful. She deserves a raise!!!!

Breathtaking views, this excursion is a must do if you're in Ushuaia. It's a chance to see sea lions and penguins that you can't miss.

Had a fun 5 hrs seeing the light house, sea lions, different types of penguins with enough time for photos. Crew was great, kept the boat clean and communicated well. The boat was large so there wasn’t much rocking to make anyone seasick. There was wind warning in the AM so the tour was postponed to the afternoon. That was perfect cause the sun came out. We had a coffee with Baileys from the onboard cafe-it was well made n warmed us up as we chose to stand outside n enjoy the view for most of the journey. Well worth the price and time. Do the 5 hr one n do it with this tour company Canoero Catamaran!

I can’t leave a review because it was cancelled due to strong winds in the Beagle Channel. It has been rescheduled till tomorrow.

Response to owner on his response. We did book, you just didn't adhere to booking, as your waiting staff so over worked, whilst you stand at bar being rude. Apparently, a glass with a drink should not be expected and if you want one, you need to queue again and a drink served week before we told you don't do, not out of stock, you don't do. I had same experience week before and we booked in then to. 2.5 hours to get food, eat food and get bill. We didn't bother with dessert, as may not have got home for Christmas!!!