Ushuaia Piratour Penguin Watching: Ultimate End of the World Adventure Guide 🐧

If you come to Ushuaia but don’t go to Antarctica, Martillo Island is the best destination to see penguins. The island belongs to a private farm owner, and Piratour is the only travel agency authorized to land on the island, with only 80 people allowed to land each day. If you want to get up close with the penguins, this is the only choice.

⭐️ Itinerary: Depart from Ushuaia, take a minibus to the farm (1-hour drive) ➡️ Visit a marine animal skeleton museum (30 minutes total) ➡️ Take a boat to Penguin Island (20-minute boat ride) ➡️ Walk on the island (1 hour), observe penguins up close (there are two types of penguins on the island) ➡️ Return to Ushuaia by boat and minibus.

⭐️ Regarding tour options, there are two:
1️⃣ Walk with Penguins (see Figure 2)
🕙 Duration: Half-day trip, departs at 14:30
💰 Cost: $240 per person (adults), $144 per person (children aged 3-11)
2️⃣ Walk with Penguins + Beagle Channel Cruise (see Figure 3)
🕙 Duration: Full-day trip, departs at 7:00 in the morning, first to Penguin Island, returns to Ushuaia at 13:30, departs for Beagle Channel at 15:30, destination is the lighthouse at the end of the world
💰 Cost: $320 per person (adults), $192 per person (children aged 3-11)
⚠️ Need to contact the travel agency in advance for a quote (quote valid for 48 hours, the above prices are from early November for reference only), foreign tourists can only pay in advance via PayPal in US dollars, and upon arrival at the farm, an additional 35,000 pesos per person must be paid in cash (this really feels like a rip-off).

⭐️ Tips:
The wind on the island is very strong, so make sure to dress warmly. No food is provided throughout the trip, so bring your own drinking water and snacks.

⭐️ Personal experience:
🌈 [Highlights] You can get very close to the penguins, and see their cute behavior while incubating eggs and building nests (you can see the video of baby penguins in my previous post). You can also see both penguins and the lighthouse in one day, with a reasonable schedule.
🌈 [Drawbacks] It’s really expensive!

For the full-day tour, you need to get up very early (assembly at 6:30 in the morning).
🌈 The cost of tourism in Argentina has increased significantly this year. If you book the full-day penguin and lighthouse tour, it costs $350 per person. If you haven’t seen penguins before, it might be worth considering, but if you’ve already seen them elsewhere or plan to go to Antarctica, this price is quite off-putting.

🌈 Regarding the issue of needing to book in advance mentioned in other posts, I booked just one day in advance, and it didn’t feel very crowded that day, possibly because it wasn’t peak season yet. If you really want to go, try to book in advance.