Fjords of Tierra del Fuego
Four nights on a 200-guest expedition ship, sailing the channels and fjords between the Strait of Magellan and the Beagle Channel. The days are spent off the ship rather than on it: a Zodiac to the foot of a glacier, a beach of elephant seals under the Marinelli, a penguin colony watched from the water, and the run out to Cape Horn where two oceans meet. Everything aboard is included, down to the bar, and there is no telephone signal for four days.
The trip
Day by day
Day 1 · Punta Arenas
Punta Arenas and the Strait of Magellan
Boarding is early evening in Punta Arenas, and the ship is clear of the pier before dark. Dinner comes as the last lights on the Strait of Magellan slide astern and the captain lays in the course south. Ahead is Almirantazgo Sound and four days of water that no road reaches, on a ship carrying 200 people and no telephone signal at all.
Overnight: M/V Ventus Australis or M/V Stella Australis (Dinner)
Day 2
Ainsworth Bay and Tuckers Islets
Morning opens on Ainsworth Bay under the Marinelli Glacier, where a Zodiac puts you on a beach of subantarctic forest and a colony of elephant seals that pays visitors no attention whatsoever. The afternoon belongs to the islets off Tucker, alive with Magellanic penguins and cormorants and watched from the water so the colony is left as it was found. In September and April, Brookes Glacier takes the islets' place.
Overnight: M/V Ventus Australis or M/V Stella Australis (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)
Day 3
Pia Glacier and Glacier Alley
The ship turns into Pia Fjord and stops in front of the glacier itself, close enough that the cracking carries across the water and everyone on deck goes quiet. A short walk on the moraine gives the whole face at once. The afternoon runs the northwest arm of the Beagle Channel, where five glaciers hang one after another off the Darwin range, sailed past rather than landed on.
Overnight: M/V Ventus Australis or M/V Stella Australis (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)
Day 4
Cape Horn and Wulaia Bay
An early crossing of Nassau Bay puts the ship at Cape Horn, where the Atlantic and the Pacific meet and the next land south is Antarctica. The weather, not the schedule, decides whether the Zodiacs can land. The afternoon is Wulaia Bay, green and sheltered, where Darwin's Beagle once anchored and a climb through the forest opens the whole sound below you.
Overnight: M/V Ventus Australis or M/V Stella Australis (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)
Day 5 · Ushuaia
Ushuaia
Breakfast comes in the Beagle Channel with Ushuaia already ahead, and disembarkation is at half past eight in the morning. What follows is yours: a flight north the same day, a few nights at the bottom of Argentina, or the same ship again in the evening if you are carrying on around the loop.
Meals: Breakfast
End of the adventure. Until the next one, bon voyage!
On the ground
Where you stay
- M/V Ventus Australis or M/V Stella Australis (4 nights)
The price shown is for a Cabin B on the lower deck. Cabins on the upper decks and the two larger Superior cabins are available on request; tell us which you want and we will price it for your sailing.
The package
What's included
- 4 nights accommodation
- Meals: 4 breakfasts, 3 lunches and 4 dinners
- All meals on board, and an open bar with no exclusions
- Every shore excursion by Zodiac, with the expedition team
- The cabin for the whole voyage, at double occupancy
Not included
- Flights into Punta Arenas (PUQ) and home from Ushuaia (USH)
- Transfers to and from the ship in Punta Arenas and Ushuaia
- Government port fees, taxes and national park fees, US$160 per person
- Gratuities, which the ship suggests at US$25 per person per night
- Travel insurance, which the ship checks at boarding on the Argentine legs
- Anything charged to your cabin, including the onboard store
Pricing
What moves the price
The sailing date moves this price most: the operator runs three seasons, and the opening and closing weeks of the season cost roughly half what midsummer does. Cabin category and single occupancy are the other two. Government port, tax and national park fees are set by the port authorities, are not in the price above, and are charged per person.
Prices shown are for 2026-2028. Inquire to check rates for future years.
Check my dates
Tell us when you want to travel and who is coming, and a trip specialist replies personally to confirm your dates and put the plan in writing.