which direction

[giraffelt]

We are planning on doing a south american cruise in 2013; haven't pick a sailing as yet. I have been told by a sailor friend its better to go around the continent from west to east which means starting in Valparaiso because of the ocean currents. Going from east to west I was told is a rougher sailing.

 

I would be interested in hearing from people who have cruised east to west i.e BA to Valparaiso. Was the sailing rough, high waves, strong winds?

 

Our other consideration is whether to start or end in BA (or Rio) as we definitely want to include a trip to Iguazo Falls. Logistically (luggage) it might be easier to do the Falls at the end of the cruise. Thoughts?

 

thanks for your help

[Fattony]

Has your friend actually been to the area and sailed at each one direction on a cruise ship? We went from BA to Valparaiso. Worst weather, as I believe is typical, depends on storms more than prevailing currents. We hit a storm and fairly high seas going north from Punta Arenas. Others hit weather elsewhere. Or not at all. If you in a big cruise ship, I don't know that prevaiing currents/winds are a big factor. Storms, which obviously affect both, are (IMHO). I'd base the direction on your best dates for travel, flights, times and dates you'd be in each port, etc. Unless you're taking a Iguaçu tour from the cruise line, I don't see how it would be any easier to do at the end vs. the start of the trip. Some people prefer to unwind at the end with side trips. Really up to you. I think you can get around the Chilean entrance fee by going east to west, but I wouldn't make that a determining factor. I have read on this post people being in Rio before or after a cruise and discovering it's around Carnaval and having a hard itme finding hotels (and if they find one, with higher rates and minimum-stay requirements).

[giraffelt]

thanks for the post. my friend is a very accomplished sailor having participated in international yatch races. He has been on a cruise in the area going from west to east. In fact notwithstanding that my friend did the trip west to east they ran into a rogue wave which broadsided the ship, causing the ship to list heavily and caused severe injuries to many passengers - and that wasn't in one of the channels or the straight.

 

Obviously, weather and seas are always the ultimate determining factor. Answering the question of which direction can only be a generalization which could be turned totally on end by the weather encountered. I am still interested in knowing if in general one passage is generally smoother than the other.

[Fattony]

thanks for the post. my friend is a very accomplished sailor having participated in international yatch races. He has been on a cruise in the area going from west to east. In fact notwithstanding that my friend did the trip west to east they ran into a rogue wave which broadsided the ship, causing the ship to list heavily and caused severe injuries to many passengers - and that wasn't in one of the channels or the straight.

 

Obviously, weather and seas are always the ultimate determining factor. Answering the question of which direction can only be a generalization which could be turned totally on end by the weather encountered. I am still interested in knowing if in general one passage is generally smoother than the other.

 

The wave was indeed rogue. We had no such problems. No injuries. Some seasickness during the storm, but that was it.

[no fuss travel]

We went from west to east and found the waters off the Chilean coast to be the roughest. Quite a few people were sea sick on the ship and there was a run on the sea sick hand bands in the gift ship. We did the Falls after the cruise and were glad we did it at the end. We were ready for a bit more activity at that time so we could walk off some of the weight we gained while cruising.:D