kdsmith7

I recall somebody from the crew saying ships are able to tender there 60-70% of the time. I happened to be incredible calm when we were there on 31December last year.

I would recommend booking at least one other penguin tour -- as the others have said the experience will be different each time. The Falklands was the only stop where we could see king penguins so we ended up doing that after much deliberation with trying to see rockhoppers. I think we made the right call with our tour choice because you are essentially guaranteed to see king penguins but you only have a chance to see rockhoppers -- I heard that a few people did on other tours though. Also, volunteer point wasnt very crowded and we were able to get many pictures with just the two of us and the penguin.

If you are stopping in Puerto Madryn I would strongly recommend the "Exclusive Penguin and Seal Estancia" that Shore Excursion Group offers. I wrote a review on their site but, in brief, it was a small tour where we were able to see from a distance elephant seals, guanacos, rheas, hawks, and up close tons of Magellanic penguins. The Estancia is essentially a bed and breakfast with a 20 minute walk to the beach on a dirt road with penguins all along the way.

Thanks for the question and getting me to remember this two excursions this morning!

Has anybody been to Seal Bay or know how that compares to Volunteer Point? Holland America offers an excursion there for the chance to see gentoo, rockhopper, macaroni, magellanic and maybe king penguins -- we're considering that or the Volunteer Point excursion. I'm not able to find any information about Seal Bay so any input or advice would be appreciated. Thanks!