Best excursion to see penguins on HAL's South America Passage

[Doc Mom]

Hi,

We're doing HAL's South America passage from Valparaiso to Buenos Aires on Oct 27, 2014. Can you please recommend which port/shore excursion is best for seeing hundreds of penguins together?

[senorjim]

Check the Zaandam roll calls for Jan 11 + 30, 2015. There are a few ideas for private tours there.

Jim

 

 

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[spikecat]

We took a tour of a penguin colony in Punta Arenas,Chile. It was about and hour from the ship and we saw about 25 penguins march from the sea to their boroughs. Very cute.

[comcox]

On Zaandam this past February we called in at the Falklands. We saw hundreds of penguins including 4 different breeds on our private tour.

[KirkNC]

If you are going to the Falkland's you want to go to Volunteer Point. Thousands of penguins. We used Patrick Watts, much cheaper than the HAL tour. either way, sign up early as it will fill up quick.

[Keith1010]

In Punta Arenas sign up to go to Ottway Bay.

 

The Falklands is great too.

 

My advice is to select more than one port to see the Penguins so you are not disappointed if due to weather the ship is not able to make it to one of the ports.

 

Keith

[DrTee]

I agree the Falklands are definitely the best--with Patrick Watts. Up cl0se and personal (a little too?) with the penguins, and lots of them.

 

And I also agree to have a Plan B in case you can't get to the Falklands, as is often the case.

[RuthC]

In Punta Arenas sign up to go to Ottway Bay.

Agreed. This is the absolute best place if you want to be sure to see penguins. The ride out is mostly over a bumpy road (coming back, too ;)), but is worth the discomfort.

You can walk out a boardwalk and see penguins in and around their burrows. Then, as you keep walking you come to the sea. You can stand in a pavilion and see thousands of penguins splashing around and playing in the water, as well as all over the beach.

There is a HAL tour out there that gives you an hour at Otway on your own. I have also seen taxis arrive with tourists.

 

Another option at the same port is Magdalena Island. The walking is tougher, but it is an excellent experience from all reports.

 

The Falklands is another possibility, but the chances of getting into the island are not as good as getting to Punta Arenas. Do not count on this being the one place to see penguins up close in their own environment.

[kazu]

Agreed. This is the absolute best place if you want to be sure to see penguins. The ride out is mostly over a bumpy road (coming back, too ;)), but is worth the discomfort.

You can walk out a boardwalk and see penguins in and around their burrows. Then, as you keep walking you come to the sea. You can stand in a pavilion and see thousands of penguins splashing around and playing in the water, as well as all over the beach.

There is a HAL tour out there that gives you an hour at Otway on your own. I have also seen taxis arrive with tourists.

 

Another option at the same port is Magdalena Island. The walking is tougher, but it is an excellent experience from all reports.

 

The Falklands is another possibility, but the chances of getting into the island are not as good as getting to Punta Arenas. Do not count on this being the one place to see penguins up close in their own environment.

 

Just to add what RuthC wrote (and I agree with it all), we have been to Magdalena Island and it was a nice experience. We did HAL tours for all of the penguin experiences (did several) and they were well done. Those that know me, know I prefer private tours but this seemed the best way to go and we weren't sorry. We did private tours in other ports like Buenos Aires and a private transfer from Santiago to Val.

 

Do NOT count on the Falklands. We weren't able to go sadly and many haven't. If you do get to go consider yourself very lucky and honestly, you don't get tired of seeing the penguins as there are different types.

[RuthC]

Do NOT count on the Falklands. We weren't able to go sadly and many haven't.

I've missed the Falklands, due to weather, two out of three trips---so the odds aren't good.

It's a long way to go, so don't put all your hopes on one tour, especially if that one tour is the Falklands.

Book a penguin tour in more than one port, if possible, and improve your chances. If you make more than one tour, you did well! :)

[Loreto]

Magdalena Island in Punta Arenas was an amazing experience on our Zaandam Holiday cruise Dec. 2013. Thousands of penguins walking in front of you, posing for you....we couldn't believe it! In the Falklands we took the North Pond penguin excursion with HAL. It was over 5 hours long and we saw a lot of the island. The high point was the Gentoo Penguin rookery....thousands of these handsome birds and young. There were even some King Penguins among them. It would have been great to go to Volunteer Point, but the ride was a draw back.

 

I do agree, allow several excursions for penguin viewing just in case the Falklands are missed. The day we were there we had sun, wind rain and hail....wild weather!

 

Karen

[Harry1954]

We just completed this in February ... if you are lucky enough to stop in the Falklands .. book Volunteer Point - but you must do it as soon the ship confirms they are stopping there. It fills up in milliseconds.

It is by far the most penguins you will see on this trip. The King penguins are really fun in particular ..and as others have mentioned, there are other types of penguins there too.

harry

[serendipity1499]

In Punta Arenas sign up to go to Ottway Bay.

 

The Falklands is great too.

 

My advice is to select more than one port to see the Penguins so you are not disappointed if due to weather the ship is not able to make it to one of the ports.

 

Keith

 

We've seen the Penguins in both Punta Arenas (Ottway Bay) & the Falklands, but as others pointed out, many times the ship can't get into the Falklands due to rough seas..

 

Enjoy your cruise..

[Doc Mom]

Wow... I'm from Australia, so different time zone. And I woke up this AM and found your great responses... I think I will book Magdalena, but have Otways as back up if Magdalena is not possible in Punta Arenas. I will also contact Patrick Watts regarding volunteer point in the Falklands. Thank you very much.

 

Comcox, which private tour company did you use at the Falklands?

[DrTee]

I'll add that the two-and-a-half hour ride out to Volunteer Point is by far the most interesting ride I've ever taken. The topography is unique, the drivers are entertaining, and there is always something unexpected.

[Storylady]

If you are going to the Falkland's you want to go to Volunteer Point. Thousands of penguins. We used Patrick Watts, much cheaper than the HAL tour. either way, sign up early as it will fill up quick.

 

I have been lucky enough to make two trips around South America both times on the Prinsendam. We have been to the Falklands, Puento Arenas (Otway Point) and Puerto Madryn.

 

The best penguin viewing is definitely Volunteer Point in the Falklands.You will see King Penguins, Gentoo and Magellanic Penguins!!! The King penguins are the most photogenic and the colony is huge. There is about 1000 Kings raising approx 500 chicks at the point. How many you see will depend on the time of the year. We spent most of our time with the King and the Gentoo colony as it was very windy with blowing sand where the Magellanic Penguins holes were located. We also knew we would see them at Otway Point.

 

Keep in mind (those going on a private tour), that the HAL tours go off the ship first before any of the private tours. And because of the wind and the swell, tendering can be stopped at anytime. Several of the CC member's took Patrick's tour, but their time with penguins was cut short due to the time they got off the ship. If you are on the Zaandam, you might not have that trouble unless they only use two tenders due to the situating the ship to protect the tenders at the platform.

 

I really enjoyed our time with the Magellanic at Otway. You will have about an hour at the reserve and the trail is nice. The colony on Magellanic Island is the biggest, but there is more blowing dirt on the island than Otway which is all grass. Also going to Otway you might see Rheas and Condors.

 

We also took the trip to Puerto Madryn. If you don't like long rides, I wouldn't recommend Puerto Madryn. We had a two hour ride in each direction and only one hour at the reserve. We were suppose to have two. We were there is February and the penguins seemed stressed and there appeared to be some dead chicks. The food supply is moving out of the area and it takes longer for the parent to get back to feed her chick. The snack lunch on the HAL tour was the worst that I have had on any tour. We took HAL as the long drive to and from plus a short port call wasn't worth being on a private tour. My DH would have been stressed to the max!

Edited May 29, 2014 by Storylady
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[Christine Frances]

We found the best tour is out of Ushuaia called Pira Tours http://www.piratour.net/en/excursiones/ver/47-walking-with-penguins.html

 

You go to a private Island and only 20 people are allowed at a time. You are almost tripping over the penguins:) No tour buses and hundreds of people - just you and the penquins! It was a magical experience. You have to book early though due to the small capacity. Friends managed to get a hold of them mid April and they were shutting down for the season but they may have someone checking emails.

[monina01]

we would have loved to do Pira tours in Ushuaia but unfortunately the ship was not long enough in port. Ushuaia Always seems to be a very short stop. We saw so many penguins in Punta Arena's (Magdalena Island) and Falklands (Volunteer Point), and also we booked a trip in Chiloe and saw some there, but that tour is only a "drive by" with a speed boat.

 

For impressions of the tours in Punta Arena's and Falklands, if you are interested, I put a video-slideshow together, on YouTube and Vimeo (YouTube sometimes blocks due to copyright music so Vimeo is backup). It gives you an idea of the amount of penguins. This was in early February by the way.

 

Punta Arenas:

or http://vimeo.com/channels/insesa2013/75142435

 

Falklands: link:

or http://vimeo.com/channels/insesa2013/73994573 Edited May 29, 2014 by monina01

[Loreto]

we would have loved to do Pira tours in Ushuaia but unfortunately the ship was not long enough in port. Ushuaia Always seems to be a very short stop. We saw so many penguins in Punta Arena's (Magdalena Island) and Falklands (Volunteer Point), and also we booked a trip in Chiloe and saw some there, but that tour is only a "drive by" with a speed boat.

 

For impressions of the tours in Punta Arena's and Falklands, if you are interested, I put a video-slideshow together, on YouTube and Vimeo (YouTube sometimes blocks due to copyright music so Vimeo is backup). It gives you an idea of the amount of penguins. This was in early February by the way.

 

Punta Arenas:

or http://vimeo.com/channels/insesa2013/75142435

 

Falklands: link:

or http://vimeo.com/channels/insesa2013/73994573

Your videos are fantastic and accurately portray what it is like! I relived our great penguin experiences.

Thanks!

Karen

[Storylady]

we would have loved to do Pira tours in Ushuaia but unfortunately the ship was not long enough in port. Ushuaia Always seems to be a very short stop. We saw so many penguins in Punta Arena's (Magdalena Island) and Falklands (Volunteer Point), and also we booked a trip in Chiloe and saw some there, but that tour is only a "drive by" with a speed boat.

 

For impressions of the tours in Punta Arena's and Falklands, if you are interested, I put a video-slideshow together, on YouTube and Vimeo (YouTube sometimes blocks due to copyright music so Vimeo is backup). It gives you an idea of the amount of penguins. This was in early February by the way.

 

Punta Arenas:

or http://vimeo.com/channels/insesa2013/75142435

 

Falklands: link:

or http://vimeo.com/channels/insesa2013/73994573

 

I loved your video of the Falkland Islands which was my best experience with penguins. You are so lucky to have gone to Volunteer Point. I was hoping on our last trip that they would cancel Puerto Madryn, but they didn't. I would have loved to go to Volunteer Point again!

 

What program did you use to create your video slide-show? It I was one of the best slide-shows that I have seen posted on CC!!

[monina01]

Your videos are fantastic and accurately portray what it is like! I relived our great penguin experiences.

Thanks!

Karen

 

very welcome....I just love those penguins!

 

What program did you use to create your video slide-show? It I was one of the best slide-shows that I have seen posted on CC!!

 

thank you...Volunteer Point was simply amazing...I'd love do go back there someday.

 

I use Cyberlink Power Director 12. I tested a couple of others before I settled on this one and I like it very much. Had to get a new laptop especially for it though as my old one could not handle it...too slow :)

[Storylady]

very welcome....I just love those penguins!

 

 

 

thank you...Volunteer Point was simply amazing...I'd love do go back there someday.

 

I use Cyberlink Power Director 12. I tested a couple of others before I settled on this one and I like it very much. Had to get a new laptop especially for it though as my old one could not handle it...too slow :)

 

Thanks very much for replying. I will check it out.

 

We saw Humbolt Penguins off Lima, Gentoos in Antarctica, and the largest colony of Magellanic Penguins near Puerto Madryn. But none of them compare to the Kings at Volunteer Point. Plus the ride is the adventure as your video so clearly show!!

Edited May 30, 2014 by Storylady