Walk among the penguins or watch from the boat at Martillo Island

One tour lands, two stay on the water

By road, Martillo Island sits some 85 km (53 miles) from Ushuaia, out to the east in the Beagle Channel. Only one operator is licensed to put visitors ashore. Every other trip, however good, watches the colony from a boat.

That makes the choice simpler than the long list of penguin trips in Ushuaia suggests. You either pay for the hour on foot or settle for the view from the water, and the rest follows from that.

What walking among the penguins gives you

Azul Latina Travel's full day at ~$530 crosses from Estancia Harberton in about 15 minutes and sets you down for roughly an hour with a guide. The birds stand a few metres away, close to your own eye level if you crouch.

The day runs eight hours and also includes a Beagle Channel cruise past the bird and sea lion islands to Les Eclaireurs lighthouse. So the sights the boat tours offer come on the same ticket as the walk.

Viator reviewers give it 4.7 from 54 reviews, and GetYourGuide shows 4.9 from 25. Reviewers mention a guide who helps with photos but holds the group firmly back from the birds.

The price of the landing

The walk costs more than twice the catamaran and comes with conditions. It is non-refundable on GetYourGuide, and the agency needs passport details and a WhatsApp number for every traveler before it confirms.

The departure, 8:30 am or 10:30 am, is confirmed by the agency after you book. On top come a port fee of 6,000 Argentine pesos and the Harberton entry if the estancia is open; our price guide adds it all up.

The tour is closed to wheelchair users and anyone with limited mobility, and to pregnant women and babies under one. If any of that applies to your group, a boat is the sensible choice.

What watching from a boat gives you

Canoero's catamaran at ~$230 leaves from the tourist dock in town and spends five hours on the channel. Before the colony it passes Bird Island and Sea Lion Island, then circles Les Eclaireurs lighthouse, where cormorants crowd the rocks.

It is the most reviewed of the three, with 4.5 from 400+ reviews on GetYourGuide, and GetYourGuide lists it as wheelchair accessible. The crew rotate passengers at the rail so everyone gets a photo, though reviewers mention crowding at the viewing points.

Explore Tierra del Fuego's small boat from ~$150 takes up to 15 people out of Puerto Almanza and gets closer to the shore than the big boats. The trade-off is about three hours in a van for roughly an hour and a half on the water.

Both boat trips run about five hours and cancel free until the day before. They leave from fixed meeting points in town, so a booking made once the forecast looks calm still works.

Which one suits whom

Most travelers can place themselves quickly once they know what matters most to them. A few common cases point clearly one way or the other.

• Eye-level photos and time on foot point to the walk at ~$530
• A tight budget points to the small boat from Puerto Almanza at ~$150
• Limited mobility or a wheelchair points to the catamaran, the one listed as wheelchair accessible
• A cruise stop with an all-aboard time points to a boat that cancels free, not the non-refundable walk
• A tendency to seasickness argues against the catamaran, whose listing says it is not suitable for people prone to it

Cruise passengers have the most to weigh, since the walk takes eight hours with a start time confirmed late. Our cruise-day guide goes through the timings in port.

Flexibility and the wind

Wind decides whether boats sail on the Beagle Channel, and all three trips depend on it. The two boat tours cancel free until 24 hours before, which makes it easy to move a day if the forecast turns.

The walk refunds in full only if the tour cannot be operated. So book an early slot in your stay with a spare day after it. Our wind and cancellation guide explains the terms.

The same birds either way

Gentoo and Magellanic penguins are the two species you see, whether from the island or from the boats. A king penguin turns up now and then, but no tour can promise one; our species guide shows how to tell them apart.

What changes is the distance and the time. On foot you get an hour a few metres from the birds, while a boat gives you a look across the water plus sea lions and cormorants on the way.

Photographers feel the difference most. From a moving deck a long lens earns its weight, while on the island a phone camera is often enough because the birds stand so close.

For a closer look at the landing itself, read about the hour on Martillo Island. Whichever side you pick, nobody touches or feeds the birds.