The best time to book a Magdalena Island penguin tour
The Magellanic penguins of Magdalena Island are seasonal, and so are the boats that take you to them from Punta Arenas. Roughly from October to March the colony is busy and the tours sail; outside those months there is nothing to book. The king penguins of Tierra del Fuego keep a different calendar.
A colony that empties every winter
Magellanic penguins spend the southern winter at sea and come back to Magdalena Island in spring, usually to the same burrow as before. The boats from Punta Arenas follow them, running roughly from October to March.
Outside that window the island gets no penguin boats at all. If your trip falls in the winter months, the king penguins of Tierra del Fuego are the penguin option left, and we come back to them at the end.
The penguin year on Magdalena
The dates in the table are rough. Penguins do not keep to a calendar. The first and last sailings of the year can move, so check that your boat runs on the date you want.
| Month | On the island | Penguin boats |
|---|---|---|
| October | Adults arrive and dig out their burrows | Season starting, roughly |
| November | Eggs in the burrows, usually; parents take turns at the nest | Sailing |
| December | Chicks hatch, around this month | Sailing, longest days |
| January | Chicks in the burrows, colony usually at its busiest | Sailing, long days |
| February | Chicks growing, colony still busy | Sailing |
| March | Colony thinning toward the end of the season | Last sailings, roughly |
| April | Adults molt and leave by about now | Usually none |
| May to September | Penguins at sea | None |
Most visitors should aim for January and February. The chicks are out of the eggs, and the trail runs through the colony when it is at its fullest.
Spring arrivals in October and November
Early in the season the penguins are busy with their homes. You see birds digging and standing at burrow entrances, with more pairs settling in from one week to the next.
The colony is still filling up, and spring weather on the strait can be raw. It still makes a good visit if your trip falls early, as long as your boat is already running on your date.
Chicks from December to February
Chicks hatch around December, and both parents take turns guarding them and fishing in the strait. By January the colony is usually at its busiest, with adults crossing the path between the sea and the burrows.
These are also the months of long daylight around December and January, with light late into the evening. Long days make it easy to add an afternoon in town, or to fit both penguin species into our two-day plan.
Busy months bring busy boats. Book a few days ahead and pick a date early in your stay, since a cancelled crossing then still leaves you room to try again.
Morning or afternoon, from the town pier
Caminos Tours sails from Muelle Prat at 6:00 am or 12:30 pm, on a catamaran that takes about 1 hour 30 minutes each way. Both times reach the lighthouse trail.
March and April, the colony thins
By March the season is winding down, and it is roughly the last month of sailings. Reviewers on the whale and glacier cruise in March and April saw no penguins at sea, a hint that many birds had already moved on.
Adults molt their feathers before going back to sea, and by about April most have gone. A late trip can still work, but go early in March rather than late if Magdalena is the reason you came.
The early boat or the afternoon one
Wind on the strait is often stronger in the afternoon, which gives the early departures an edge. Solo Expediciones' speedboat at ~$160 starts at 6:30 am, and Caminos Tours' catamaran at ~$170 leaves at 6:00 am or 12:30 pm.
The afternoon Caminos boat suits late risers, back around 6:30 pm. Our speedboat and catamaran comparison goes through both boats, and the guide to cancelled crossings covers what happens when the wind wins.
Whatever the month, dress for cold wind on the water and on the island hill. Summer days in Punta Arenas stay cool, and our packing guide for the wind lists the layers.
If your dates are already fixed
Most people cannot move their trip to suit the penguins, so work with the month you have. In the middle of the season any boat will do, and the main choice is between the speedboat and the catamaran.
At either edge of the season (early October or late March), ask the operator whether the boat runs before you build a plan around it. The listings promise no first or last date, and a thin colony is still better than none.
Whatever the month, the hour ashore follows the same marked trail up to the 1902 lighthouse. Our guide to the walk on Magdalena describes what you see along the way.
In the winter months the strait is quiet for penguin visitors. The king penguin day is then the one way to see penguins from Punta Arenas, provided its ferry sails.
King penguins keep a different calendar
The king penguins at the reserve in Tierra del Fuego are there all year, so the long day across the strait is not tied to the Magdalena season. Their numbers do vary, and one reviewer counted only about 100 in April.
That makes Tierra del Fuego the fallback for winter visitors and a second species for summer ones. If you are weighing one against the other, our guide to the two species helps you decide.