On the first full day of our stay in Patagonia we did a half day tour to Isla Magdalena, a small island near Punta Arenas and home to thousands of Magellanic Penguins. We booked our tour with Solo Expediciones and were very happy with the package they offered. The tour is not cheap, it costs about € 90 per Person but it includes the bus transfer to the boat as well as some hot beverages with Cookies. The tour is offered daily from October to April (depending on the weather conditions).
After a one-hour sail through the Strait of Magellan, one can hop of the boat and walk around the existing paths on the island. Walking outside these paths is strictly forbidden, as you would obviously be disturbing the wildlife. However, penguins are crossing your way all the time so there is really no need to. The round trip on the island takes you all the way to the island’s lighthouse where you have an amazing panorama over the island with its penguin colony as well as seagulls and other marine birds.
After the walk, where you spotted around 1.000 penguins that are all equally cute, you go back on the boat to take a little tour to Isla Marta, where you can see a small colony of sea lions. If you are lucky and the weather is fine, you can take a short walk on the island. Unfortunately, when we did the tour the sea was quite rough so for security reasons we had to view the island from the distance. When on the sea you might even get lucky and sight some Austral Dolphins, Overas Toninas (which are a kind of dolphins) or even whales.
We really enjoyed the tour despite the bad weather we had. If you decide to book the tour as well make sure to bring some warm cloths, as it can get pretty cold and windy.
