Guide · Penguins

A penguin tour from Punta Arenas to Magdalena Island

A half-day penguin tour from Punta Arenas crosses the Strait of Magellan to Isla Magdalena, where Magellanic penguins nest in burrows on both sides of a short trail. Here is how the boats, the walk and the rules work.

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Editorial team, puntaarenaswhalewatching.comUpdated October 22, 20267 min read39 sources

On this topic: the tour Punta Arenas: Boat Trip to Magdalena Island and Walk with Penguins 4.7 (67 reviews) 6 hours from$145per person Check availabilityCancel free of charge up to 24 hrs ahead

Quick answer

01Where: Isla Magdalena lies 35 km northeast of Punta Arenas.¹
02How many: About 7,000 pairs of Magellanic penguins nest on the island.²
03When: The monument opens from October to April.³
04On the island: A 1.4 km trail, and at most 1 hour ashore.⁴ ⁵
05Price: Trips from $145 on GetYourGuide.

An island given over to penguins

Isla Magdalena and its smaller neighbor Isla Marta form the Los Pingüinos Natural Monument, which lies off Cabo Negro in the Strait of Magellan, 35 km northeast of Punta Arenas.¹ The protected area covers 97 hectares.⁶ It was created on 22 August 1966 as a national tourism park and reclassified as a natural monument in 1982.⁷

The reason to go is the colony. About 7,000 pairs of Magellanic penguins nest on Isla Magdalena, and gulls, cormorants and skuas can be seen there too.² The penguins prefer to nest under a bush but dig burrows where they must, so the low grassy island is pocked with holes, each one a home.⁸

There is nothing else on the island to distract you. CONAF lists no lodging, food, electricity or telecommunications.⁹ Bring what you need for a few hours on the water and an hour on land, and expect to spend that hour among birds that pay you very little attention as long as you keep to the path. The quiet is part of the appeal: once the boat engine stops, the loudest sounds are the braying calls of the birds and the wind in the grass.

The morning

A Magdalena trip, step by step

Meeting point

Bus to the port

30 minutes to the Laredo Bay port on the speedboat trip.
The crossing

Speedboat

50 minutes to Isla Magdalena.
On the island

The trail

1.4 km, at most 1 hour ashore.⁴ ⁵
Isla Marta

From the boat

30 minutes of wildlife viewing, weather allowing.
Back in town

Plaza de Armas

The trip ends at the main square.

Getting across: the boats and the piers

Every visit starts on the water. Tourist boats sail to the monument from Punta Arenas between October and mid-April.¹⁰ Chile's tourism board names the Arturo Prat and Tres Puentes piers as departure points, gives about 2 hours for the one-way voyage and 4 to 6 hours for the whole excursion.¹¹ Times vary with the boat, so read each listing for its own legs. On the water the crossing itself is a wildlife trip, with seabirds following the wake and the low hump of the island growing slowly on the horizon.

The trips on GetYourGuide show how different the boats can be. The most reviewed one, sold by Solo Expediciones, meets at José Nogueira 1255, takes a bus 30 minutes to the Laredo Bay port and crosses by speedboat in 50 minutes. Another listing sails a catamaran for 1.5 hours from Muelle Prat, with departures at 6:00 AM and 12:30 PM.

If you are asking about a ferry from Punta Arenas to Magdalena Island, the answer is these tour boats rather than a public service: the CONAF rules allow entry only with tourist guides it has certified.¹² So a penguin visit is booked as an excursion, and the boat, the guide and the landing slot come together in one ticket.

Length of the trip

Hours from start to finish, by listing

hrs

Durations as each listing states them; Chile's tourism board gives 4 to 6 hours for a whole excursion.¹¹

Side by side

Penguin trips to Isla Magdalena side by side

Trip	Boat	Isla Marta	Rating	From
Speedboat and Marta	Speedboat, 50 min	Viewed from the boat	4.62	from $160
Catamaran from Prat	Catamaran, 1.5 hrs	Not listed	4.67	from $145
Catamaran from the office	Catamaran, 45 min	Not listed	4.75	from $160
Wheelchair-accessible trip	Boat, times vary	Not listed	4.26	from $210

Boats, stops and ratings as each listing states them; every price is a starting price on GetYourGuide, and your date sets the final fare.

Three ways to go

Which penguin trip fits your morning?

Punta Arenas: Walk with Penguins on Magdalena & Marta Island

Most reviewed

Both islands

Speedboat trip

Duration: 5 hrs
Rating: 4.62
Reviews: 694
Price: from $160

See this trip

Lowest price

Catamaran from Prat

Morning or afternoon

Duration: 6 hrs
Rating: 4.67
Reviews: 67
Price: from $145

See this trip

Punta Arenas: Magdalena Island Navigation & Penguin Walk

Wheelchair access

Accessible option

Two meeting points

Duration: 5 hrs
Rating: 4.26
Reviews: 81
Price: from $210

See this trip

Decision helper

Which trip should you book?

Pick the line that sounds most like you

I want to see the sea lions too I want the lowest fare I use a wheelchair I arrive on a cruise ship I want an afternoon trip

Speedboat and Marta

It adds 30 minutes off Isla Marta, weather allowing.

Catamaran from Prat

It starts from $145.

The accessible trip

It is the one listed as wheelchair accessible.

Office catamaran

Cruise passengers go at 10:00 am, subject to availability.

Catamaran from Prat

A second departure leaves at 12:30 PM.

The walk among the burrows

On land the visit follows a single trail. CONAF gives it a length of 1.4 km, rates it easy and allows 1 hour for the whole walk.⁴ A stay on the island lasts at most 1 hour, so the boats work to a tight timetable and your guide will keep the group moving.⁵ Wear shoes with some grip, because the path can be muddy after rain and gravel near the landing shifts underfoot.

The first stretch is the busiest. On the section of about 300 meters from the landing, penguins cross the path carrying food for their chicks.¹³ Stop when a bird wants to cross, let it go, and resist the urge to step closer for a photograph. The rules say visitors may come no closer than 2 meters to the penguins.¹⁴

At the top of the island stands the Magdalena lighthouse, built of iron, brick and concrete and inaugurated in 1902; its cylindrical tower is 13.5 meters tall.¹⁵ It was declared a Historic Monument in 1976, and in 1981 the Chilean Navy lent its buildings to CONAF.¹⁶ It is the natural turning point of the walk and the best spot to look back over the colony. From up there the burrows look like a pale honeycomb spread across the slope, and the open strait stretches away on every side.

Map

From Punta Arenas to the whales, the penguins and beyond

The strait south of the city to Cabo Froward and Isla Carlos III, the penguin islands and Tierra del Fuego, and the wider south from Torres del Paine to Ushuaia.

Map of the Strait of Magellan south of Punta Arenas with Fuerte Bulnes, the San Isidro lighthouse, Cabo Froward and Isla Carlos III in the western channels — South along the strait

Map of the eastern strait with Punta Arenas, Isla Magdalena and Isla Marta, Porvenir, Parque Pingüino Rey on Bahía Inútil and the Primera Angostura crossing — Penguin islands and Tierra del Fuego

Map of southern Patagonia with Punta Arenas airport, Puerto Natales, Torres del Paine and Ushuaia — Southern Patagonia

1
Punta Arenas
Capital of the Magallanes region, founded in 1848.¹⁷ ¹⁸
In Google Maps ↗
2
Fuerte Bulnes
Inaugurated in 1843; a national Historic Monument 58 km south of the city.¹⁹ ²⁰
In Google Maps ↗
3
San Isidro lighthouse
70 km south of Punta Arenas and more than 100 years old.²¹
In Google Maps ↗
4
Cabo Froward
Where the American continental landmass ends; the whale boat passes it for 30 minutes.²²
In Google Maps ↗
5
Isla Carlos III
Humpback presence around the island peaks from December to March.²³
In Google Maps ↗
6
Isla Magdalena
About 7,000 pairs of Magellanic penguins nest here, 35 km northeast of the city.² ¹
In Google Maps ↗
7
Isla Marta
Sea lions and imperial cormorants; landing is prohibited.²⁴ ²⁵
In Google Maps ↗
8
Porvenir
About 2 hours by ferry from Punta Arenas.²⁶
In Google Maps ↗
9
Parque Pingüino Rey
King penguins at Bahía Inútil, 115 km from Porvenir.²⁷
In Google Maps ↗
10
Primera Angostura
The 20-minute ferry crossing to Tierra del Fuego.²⁸
In Google Maps ↗
11
Punta Arenas airport
20 km north of the city, with daily flights from Santiago.²⁹
In Google Maps ↗
12
Puerto Natales
About 250 km north of Punta Arenas by paved road.³⁰
In Google Maps ↗
13
Torres del Paine
National park since 1959, 112 km from Puerto Natales to the Sarmiento entrance.³¹ ³²
In Google Maps ↗
14
Ushuaia
293 km beyond the San Sebastián border.³³
In Google Maps ↗

Open the map in Google Maps

Checklist

Before you board for Magdalena

Bring

Warm layers, hat and gloves for the crossing
A windproof, waterproof jacket
Passport details for the booking

On the island

Stay on the trail and let penguins cross
Keep your distance from every bird
Follow your guide back to the boat on time

Cost calculator

What the penguin trip costs your group

Starting totals for each trip, by group size.

Speedboat and MartaMost reviewedfrom $160 Catamaran from PratLowest pricefrom $145 Office catamaranBus and boatfrom $160 Accessible tripTwo piersfrom $210

People 2

Total from$320

per guest from $160

Check availabilityfree cancellation

Totals multiply each trip's lowest GetYourGuide starting fare by your party size and convert it at the European Central Bank rate; your date and option fix the real amount at checkout.

Video

The best place to see Penguins in Chile: Isla Magdalena!

The video stays switched off until you hit play.

Isla Marta and its sea lions

Some trips add a second stop at Isla Marta, but you watch it from the boat. Landing on Marta is strictly prohibited: it is an untouchable zone reserved for breeding birds and sea lions.²⁵ A colony of imperial cormorants nests there, and two sea lion species, the South American sea lion and the South American fur seal, breed at its southwest tip.²⁴

The Solo Expediciones listing builds this into its route: after the walk on Magdalena it sails 25 minutes to Isla Marta for 30 minutes of wildlife viewing, if the weather allows, before a 45-minute run back. That is the easiest way to see both islands in one morning.

Boats keep their distance from the animals by law. Chile's wildlife-watching rules require boats watching penguins to stay at least 50 meters from the nearest bird and to avoid disturbing birds that are feeding, resting or breeding.³⁴ Bring binoculars if you have them; at that range they turn a brown shape on the rocks into a sea lion with a face. The smell reaches you before the details do, a reminder that this is a working colony rather than a show put on for visitors.

The penguin calendar

Magellanic penguins breed from September to February.³⁵ The monument opens daily from October to April, with the first entry at 8.30, the last at 16.00 and closing at 18.00.³ Landings themselves take place between 9:00 and 18:00, and the trail closes in winter.³⁶ ⁴

That means the visiting season sits inside the breeding season for most of its length. Early in the season you see adults at the burrows; later you may see chicks waiting at the entrances while their parents commute to the sea. The species is a fish eater, and its diet is mainly pelagic fish, with prey varying from colony to colony.³⁷ Late in the season the adults look scruffier as they prepare to molt, and the colony grows noisier as hungry young birds call for food.

These are long-lived birds. Magellanic penguins live 25 to 30 years on average in the wild.³⁸ When last assessed in 2010, the IUCN Red List classed the species as Near Threatened, which is one more reason the island's rules are strict.³⁹

Choosing between the Punta Arenas penguins trips

Several listings cover the trip, and their differences are practical. The Solo Expediciones speedboat trip adds Isla Marta and lasts 5 hours from $160. The catamaran from Muelle Prat lasts 6 hours from $145 and offers rescheduling or an immediate refund if bad weather changes the trip.

A third trip goes by bus and catamaran from the operator's office, 45 minutes out and 2 hours back, and its peak-season times may move around Christmas and cruise dates. The fourth is listed as wheelchair accessible and meets at Muelle Prat or the Tres Puentes terminal depending on the time you pick.

The booked whale tour of this site is a different day altogether, but it overlaps in one way: its own listing names Magellanic penguins among the animals of the Francisco Coloane Marine Park. If you only have time for one boat trip, decide whether the whales or a walk among the Punta Arenas penguins matters more to you. Both trips start early, so you can still fit an afternoon in the city or a museum visit on the same day.

Practical tips for the day

Dress for wind rather than for the calendar. Even in summer the strait is cool, and the boat ride is the coldest part of the trip. Wear layers you can open on the walk and close again on deck, plus a hat and gloves for the crossing.

Bring your passport details when you book; one listing asks for each participant's full name, passport number, country of issue and expiry date. Another asks you to arrive 10 minutes before the start. Arriving early also gets you a better seat by a window. Keep a small dry bag for your phone and camera, because spray reaches the open deck on a windy crossing.

Finally, treat the weather as part of the deal. Several listings say the tour depends on conditions, and one names strong wind and low tide as reasons it may be changed or cancelled. Book the penguins in the first days of your trip, leaving room for a second try, and keep the whale day for a calm forecast if you can.

Pick your date