Beagle Channel cruise

Since cruise ships sail through the Beagle Channel to get to Ushuaia - what do you see scenery-wise on a catamaran cruise that you can't see from the ship on the sail-in? I am debating doing a Beagle Channel cruise because it seems somewhat redundant. We'll be on a small boat cruise the following day in Punta Arenas to Isla Magdalena, and that is of greater importance to me.

If we don't go on a Beagle Channel cruise, that's 2.5 hours we can spend doing something else - like visiting the Maritime Museum.

When the ship leaves Ushuaia to go to Punta Arenas - does it continue through the Beagle Channel or reverse direction and go out the way it came in?

The main difference with the Catamaran trips is they take you right up against the lighthouse and seal islands (seriously wiffy on the nose!!) and some go to a couple of wrecks that stick out above the water line and also to Martilla Island where the Magenellic penguins are. Each time I have come in on an icebreaker or expedition ship I havent seen any of those things other then the lighthouse in the distance.

If you are taking a small boat cruise the next day elsewhere in the channel maybe stick with that and head to the museum in Ush - I rushed around that in 4 hours ! Its really good because as well as being about the prison history itself its also about polar discovery history and so many other things in the wole region. So it covers heaps in a single location. And all the signage is in spanish and english so it it set up well for english speaking visitors.

The main difference with the Catamaran trips is they take you right up against the lighthouse and seal islands (seriously wiffy on the nose!!) and some go to a couple of wrecks that stick out above the water line and also to Martilla Island where the Magenellic penguins are. Each time I have come in on an icebreaker or expedition ship I havent seen any of those things other then the lighthouse in the distance.

 

If you are taking a small boat cruise the next day elsewhere in the channel maybe stick with that and head to the museum in Ush - I rushed around that in 4 hours ! Its really good because as well as being about the prison history itself its also about polar discovery history and so many other things in the wole region. So it covers heaps in a single location. And all the signage is in spanish and english so it it set up well for english speaking visitors.

Thanks for your response. I can live with seeing the lighthouse from afar! I usually don't book boat tours in ports unless the smaller boat goes somewhere the cruise ship doesn't - like the boat to Isla Magdalena in the Strait of Magellan. I'm trying to balance history/culture, beautiful scenery, and wildlife on this trip, and I think we'll get our fill of wildlife viewing in Puerto Madryn, the Falklands, and Punta Arenas.

We'll be in Ushuaia from 7:00-4:00. I booked the ship's 4-hour national park tour for first thing in the morning, so that will give us just over 4 hours to do other things - like visit the Maritime Museum

Thanks for your response. I can live with seeing the lighthouse from afar! I usually don't book boat tours in ports unless the smaller boat goes somewhere the cruise ship doesn't - like the boat to Isla Magdalena in the Strait of Magellan. I'm trying to balance history/culture, beautiful scenery, and wildlife on this trip, and I think we'll get our fill of wildlife viewing in Puerto Madryn, the Falklands, and Punta Arenas.

 

We'll be in Ushuaia from 7:00-4:00. I booked the ship's 4-hour national park tour for first thing in the morning, so that will give us just over 4 hours to do other things - like visit the Maritime Museum

That timing should work well for you - with ample time for lunch between the two excursions. And yes I concur re the balance. You will see some Magenellics on FI so no need to pay for a catamaran to see them in Ush and you will get a big view of the channel heading in and out. So have a history/culture afternoon !!

Just to clarify, the catamaran cruise does not let you get off on Martillo Island. The only way you can disembark is through tours given by Pira tours in Ushuaia which are highly limited and must be booked in advance. They only allow 20 people off on the island at one time so you do not get the crowds of tourists at some of the other ports and the experience is much more intimate and unique.

Martillo Island is the only South American port other than Pt. Stanley where you can see the colorful Gentoo penguins and if lucky, even a king penguin or two, not just the Magellanic.

The main difference with the Catamaran trips is they take you right up against the lighthouse and seal islands (seriously wiffy on the nose!!) and some go to a couple of wrecks that stick out above the water line and also to Martilla Island where the Magenellic penguins are. Each time I have come in on an icebreaker or expedition ship I havent seen any of those things other then the lighthouse in the distance.

 

If you are taking a small boat cruise the next day elsewhere in the channel maybe stick with that and head to the museum in Ush - I rushed around that in 4 hours ! Its really good because as well as being about the prison history itself its also about polar discovery history and so many other things in the wole region. So it covers heaps in a single location. And all the signage is in spanish and english so it it set up well for english speaking visitors.

Also, our ship arrived in Usuaia so early that we missed seeing the Beagle Channel on our ship.

Also, our ship arrived in Usuaia so early that we missed seeing the Beagle Channel on our ship.

Did your ship go out the way it came in, or did it continue through the Beagle Channel to the Pacific Ocean?

Did your ship go out the way it came in, or did it continue through the Beagle Channel to the Pacific Ocean?

No, we didn't go through the Beagle Channel again.

No, we didn't go through the Beagle Channel again.

From Ushuaia - you have to exit through the Beagle Channel... one direction or the other.

Just to clarify, the catamaran cruise does not let you get off on Martillo Island. The only way you can disembark is through tours given by Pira tours in Ushuaia which are highly limited and must be booked in advance. They only allow 20 people off on the island at one time so you do not get the crowds of tourists at some of the other ports and the experience is much more intimate and unique.

 

Martillo Island is the only South American port other than Pt. Stanley where you can see the colorful Gentoo penguins and if lucky, even a king penguin or two, not just the Magellanic.

Hence why I only said "to" the island and made no references to landings. If they had asked about penguin specific tours I would have broadened the advice out to include the excellent Pira tour which I've done twice and loved both times.

From Ushuaia - you have to exit through the Beagle Channel... one direction or the other.

That is what I thought before our cruise. There is another passage to Punta Arenas without going back through the Beagle Channel.

That is what I thought before our cruise. There is another passage to Punta Arenas without going back through the Beagle Channel.

Aha! I'll have to look more closely at my Patagonian & Fuegian Channels map!

One really does need to look at a detailed map to follow the convolutions of the routes through this area.

The Beagle Channel is aligned east - west between Tierra del Fuego (to the north) and other islands, including Isla Hornos where Cape Horn is located (to the south). There are additional islands west of Tierra del Fuego. For cruise ships travelling from the Atlantic to the Pacific side, the normal route is to enter the eastern part of the Beagle Channel (often approaching the eastern end of the channel from the south after visiting Cape Horn), travel west to Ushuaia, and then continue west along the western part of the Beagle Channel, including the transit along "Glacier Alley".

After exiting the western end of the Beagle Channel into the Pacific Ocean, ships follow a curving but generally northward route through Cockburn and Magdalena Channels, which separate the western side of Tierra del Fuego from additional islands to the west. Magdalena Channel connects to the Strait of Magellan, which separates mainland South America (to the north) from the aforementioned islands. Ships en route to Punta Arenas travel north from Magdalena Channel through the central part of the Str. of Magellan to Punta Arenas.

From Punta Arenas to the Pacific, ships follow the Str of Magellan south and west between the mainland and islands.

As noted, one really needs to look at a detailed map... In any case, this is a very scenic route whether or not one tries to keep track of one's position.

John