Punta Arenas penguin tour prices, extras included
The cheapest penguin day from Punta Arenas is also the longest, ~$119 for about 15 hours of van rides and ferries to the king penguins of Tierra del Fuego. The two Magdalena Island boats sit close together at ~$160 and ~$170, and the whale cruise tops the list at ~$365. Below are the five side by side, then the costs the fares leave out.
Five penguin days side by side
The table lists the five tours on our home page at their regular "from" price per person on GetYourGuide. The figure on the booking page can shift a little with the date you pick, so treat these as a starting point and check the booking page for your date.
| Tour | From | Length | Transport | Group | Start point | Included |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solo Expediciones, Magdalena and Marta (our pick) | ~$160 | 5 h | Bus, then a speedboat | Up to 60 | Solo office, José Nogueira 1255 | Boat, coffee, bilingual guide, island entry |
| Caminos Tours, Magdalena catamaran | ~$170 | 5–6 h | Catamaran from the town pier | Up to 50 | Muelle Prat, 6:00 am or 12:30 pm | Boat, guided walk, bilingual guide |
| Solo Expediciones, whales and glaciers | ~$365 | 12 h | Bus, then a boat | Up to 80 | Solo office, 4:00 am | Breakfast, lunch, a snack, coffee |
| Go Patagonia, Tierra del Fuego | ~$119 | 15 h | Van and two ferries | Not stated | Hotel pickup | Transport and pickup; check the listing for the reserve entry |
| Caminos Tours, Tierra del Fuego small group | ~$140 | Full day | Van and ferries | Up to 13 | Hotel pickup, 7:00 am (urban area) | Ferry and boat tickets, island transport, bilingual guide |
All five cancel free until 24 hours before departure. On a strait where the wind decides whether boats sail, that flexibility matters more than the few dollars between two similar fares.
The two Magdalena boats cost about the same
Solo Expediciones' speedboat trip at ~$160 and Caminos Tours' catamaran at ~$170 sit within a few dollars of each other. Both give you about an hour ashore among the Magellanic penguins, so the difference lies in the crossing.
Solo's fare adds a half-hour loop around Marta Island, home to over 1,000 sea lions by the listing's count, and keeps you on the water for less time. It holds 4.6 from 700+ reviews on GetYourGuide, and the price covers the island entry and coffee on board.
Caminos sails from Muelle Prat in town on a modern catamaran, about 1 hour 30 minutes each way, and skips Marta. It scores 4.7 from 73 reviews. Our speedboat and catamaran comparison goes through the two hulls in detail.
Neither boat fare buys a meal. Solo's reviewers mention hot drinks and snacks on board. Caminos lists meals and drinks as not included, so eat breakfast before you leave.
Penguins and sea lions for one fare
Solo Expediciones' five-hour trip with a guided walk on Magdalena Island, then a loop past the sea lions on Marta. Island entry and coffee are in the price.
King-penguin days are cheap per hour and long overall
Go Patagonia's Tierra del Fuego day at ~$119 is the lowest fare on this site. It is also a 15-hour day, much of it in a van or on the ferry, for about an hour at the King Penguin reserve.
Whether that fare includes the reserve entry is not clear from the listing, so check it before you book. Lunch is paid on the day in Porvenir or Cerro Sombrero, and the listing asks for cash.
Caminos Tours' small-group day at ~$140 takes no more than 13 people, with hotel pickup at 7:00 am. Entry to the reserve costs 18,000 Chilean pesos, paid at the gate by card or in cash. You also bring your own packed lunch.
Add the entry fee and the cheaper day ends up closer to the small group than the headline fares suggest. The full Tierra del Fuego guide walks through the route, and our species comparison helps if you are still choosing between the two kinds of penguin.
The whale day costs most and feeds you
Solo Expediciones' whale and glacier cruise at ~$365 is the dearest trip here by a wide margin. It runs about 12 hours from a 4:00 am start and puts breakfast and lunch in the price, plus a snack with coffee.
It is a whale trip first, with Magellanic penguins only a possibility along the way. Reviewers on March and April trips saw none, so do not book it as your penguin day. It holds 4.8 from 300+ reviews on GetYourGuide, and our whale cruise guide covers the route.
What the fares leave out
The listing price is rarely the whole cost of the day. These are the extras that turn up most often, so set aside a little cash for them.
- Lunch on both Tierra del Fuego days, bought in Porvenir or Cerro Sombrero or packed from town
- Cash for that lunch, since card signal can fail out on the island
- The 18,000-peso reserve entry on Caminos' small-group day, and possibly on Go Patagonia's
- A hotel transfer to Muelle Prat for Caminos' catamaran, sold as an extra
- Tips for the guide and crew, which Caminos lists as not included
- Seasickness tablets from a pharmacy in town before any boat day
Solo's Magdalena trip shows no hotel pickup on its listing and ends at the main square. If your hotel is far from the center, budget for a taxi back.
Cancelling and paying later
Free cancellation up to 24 hours before departure applies on all five tours. GetYourGuide also lets you reserve now and pay later on Solo's Magdalena trip and on the whale cruise.
Booking for the first full day of your stay leaves room to move the trip if the wind closes the strait. Our guide on cancelled penguin boats explains what happens then.
Planning both species? A Magdalena boat plus the small-group king-penguin day comes to roughly ~$160 and ~$140 per person before lunch and the entry fee. The two-day plan puts them in order.