Beagle Channel or National Park in Ushuaia?

DH and I will be on the Crown Princess next January and our port stop in Ushuaia is from 12 noon -8pm. We are debating between taking a small boat excursion around the Beagle Channel, which would provide close up views of the islands, wildlife, the lighthouse, etc. It is about 4 hours and costs $63 pp.

The other option we are considering is a private tour through the national park, end of the world highway, Martial glacier, etc, and then up to the lakes region north of Ushuaia. This would be all day and we would see a lot of the surrounding scenery. The cost for this is $320 for the car and driver for both of us. Since it will be just us and the driver, he will take us wherever we want in the time we have so we can change things up if we wish.

Even though the sea option is much less expensive than the land option, we are trying to not decide based on cost since we have only one day here and want to make the most of it. There isn't time to do both, unfortunately. I'm wondering if we will see enough of the Beagle Channel from the cruise ship that a small boat would not be the best use of our day. Those of you who have cruised to Ushuaia, if you have only one day there, is it better to do a water excursion or a land excursion?

Thanks for any and all suggestions!

DH and I will be on the Crown Princess next January and our port stop in Ushuaia is from 12 noon -8pm. We are debating between taking a small boat excursion around the Beagle Channel, which would provide close up views of the islands, wildlife, the lighthouse, etc. It is about 4 hours and costs $63 pp.

 

The other option we are considering is a private tour through the national park, end of the world highway, Martial glacier, etc, and then up to the lakes region north of Ushuaia. This would be all day and we would see a lot of the surrounding scenery. The cost for this is $320 for the car and driver for both of us. Since it will be just us and the driver, he will take us wherever we want in the time we have so we can change things up if we wish.

 

Even though the sea option is much less expensive than the land option, we are trying to not decide based on cost since we have only one day here and want to make the most of it. There isn't time to do both, unfortunately. I'm wondering if we will see enough of the Beagle Channel from the cruise ship that a small boat would not be the best use of our day. Those of you who have cruised to Ushuaia, if you have only one day there, is it better to do a water excursion or a land excursion?

 

Thanks for any and all suggestions!

We agonized over the same choices on our South America cruise this past January. After reading that sea conditions are very unpredictable in the channel, and we may end up committed to a trip in a small boat in rough waters, we decided to go the safe route with a trip to the National Park. We're not sorry we did so....it rained part of the day, with typical strong winds, and a trip on a little boat would not have been much fun! We saw enough of the channel from our cruise ship and quite satisfied. Hope that helps.

Sam

Thanks, Sam, very helpful! I hadn't considered that the weather might make a boat trip unpleasant, and you'd think I'd have thought of that since I get seasick. It's also good to know that you felt you got a good look at the Beagle Channel from the ship. Do you mind mentioning who you used for your park excursion? Thanks!

Thanks, Sam, very helpful! I hadn't considered that the weather might make a boat trip unpleasant, and you'd think I'd have thought of that since I get seasick. It's also good to know that you felt you got a good look at the Beagle Channel from the ship. Do you mind mentioning who you used for your park excursion? Thanks!

I don't mind at all, as my entire group of eight were very happy with the service. We dealt with Edgar at http://www.tourguideushuaia.net. They've received quite a few glowing reviews both on the CC boards and on Trip Advisor, so we had no hesitation booking with them. Edgar offers several options for a park tour. I can't remember the name of the guide we were assigned, but he was great.

I don't often check on this thread, as we've already done South America...just happens I checked today out of curiosity to see what's going on :)

We compromised and did some of both. We took the Celebrity excursion that included Beagle Channel (on a catamaran) that ended up docking near the National Park. We then visited some of the National Park, including the famous southmost post office. It was a good tour.

We were in Ushuaia a few days before and after our trip to Antarctica.

We rented a car one day and drove to the park. It is OK but nothing particularly special. We took a couple short walks and drove everywhere there were roads.

Another day we took the Pira tour to Martillo island and Haberton Ranch. We saw three species of penguins: Magellenic, Gentoo, and two Kings. To get there we took a short ride on the Beagel Channel. Haberton Ranch has a museum with many wonderful fossils (skeletons) of local marine life. It also has a great view of the channel and the Chilean town of Puerto Williams.

Pira Tours are the only company allowed to have people land on Martillo island. Walking among the penguins was wonderful.