Puerto Madryn Travel Forum

Greetings,
We plan a tour of Peninsula Valdez for a couple of days in November - staying at Puerto Madryn and visiting the various animal reserves. I would appreciate some advise of the following questions are: (1) is this a good time for such tour, (2) can we find in Puerto Madryn local travel agents for it or we should arrange it in advance, say in Bariloche, or perhaps the best idea would be of renting a car and driving around (3) what are the recommended ways of arriving there from Bariloche – bus (how many hours and how frequent) or, again, renting a car.
Thank you,
Marius

G'day Marius, I will be in Peninsula Valdes around early-mid December with my girlfriend. We intend to stop off there on our way to Buenos Aires after spending 3 weeks trekking in Patagonia. We too were thinking about going through Bariloche first - all by bus (car rentals aint cheap).

I had not planned it any more than that, though we are going to camp in Valdes. I have been told it is a pretty special place. We may have missed the whales though, who head further south during the summer.

I have the latest Lonely Planet for Argentina which is a great spot to start!

I too would like to know all about Pen. Valdes and the best way to see it and the animals.

Cheers
Nick

Hi Nick.
Valdez should indeed seems to be a good place for ending your Patagonia trip. My plan is fairly similar to yours, but I'll be doing it in November, slightly before the main tourist season.
By now, I've learned that flying to Puerto Madryn costs about the same as travelling by bus (some 14 hours from Bariloche), so that's what I will do. I also understand that there are plenty of travel agents in Madryn.
What it your Patagonia intinerary?
Cheers,
Marius

November is still a good time to see the more common Southern Right Whale (Ballena Franca), but the Killer Whales (Orcas) are more active in February and March. You can arrange boat trips out of Puerto Pyramides on the Peninsula to see the whales (there is also a nice camping area there).

There are tour companies in P. Madryn that will take you around the Peninsula, but renting a car would give you more flexibility, and as long as you have a good map, you should be o.k. There is an AVIS rental car office in Trelew, where most flights now arrive.

If you want to stay on the peninsula itself, there are a couple estancias futher out (El Faro at Punta Delgada and La Ernestina at Punta Norte) where you can have the whole peninsula to yourselves, along with hosts who can show you the penguin and sea lion rookeries on their properties.

Thank you, Rob. These sound like good advises.
I plan of staying there a couple of day, so I am not sure if I'll have enough time for watching the Whales. How would you advise me to use these 2 days there?
--Marius

The whale-watching boat trips from Puerto Pyramides only take 1-2 hours, so you can easily do one or more excursions in a single day. Wildlife viewing is the main (virtually the only) activity on Peninsula Valdes. In addition to the whales, you can see all kinds of birds (including Penguins and the Lesser Rhea - similar to the Ostrich), and mammals. In Puerto Madryn you will find other activities, including a new and very nice Eco-Center that provides the visitor a good overview of the natural riches of the area.

Peninsula Valdes is a great place.
If you rent a car, I just advise you to REALLY drive slow (respect speed indications), because of driving too fast we had an accident and had the car broken...
We were luckily safe but had to pay a lot for the car and missed most of Peninsula Valdes.
We still saw whales with their babies, really impressive.

And about the camping: I went there in early august and at this time there was no shower in the camping, so we went in an hotel.
Hopefully they'll be working in November 'cause tourist season begins from September-October there.

Thanks all for this great information. The camping and the estancias particulary interest us, we would like to be close to nature. Is there any need to book ahead if we were to camp or stay at the estancias, are there many camp spots.

Thanks everyone
Nick

I am planning to stay on the peninsula for a couple of days in march, watching the stranding killer whales at Punta norte. Has anyone done that? How far do they keep you from the beach? (Close enough to cover with binoculars?)

Do I need a car to get there or can I take a bus?
How long will it take me from Puerto Piramide to drive north?
Does anyone have a sugestion for the estancias? Can I just drive there? Can I camp outside if they are filled up?

Hello Robert,
Back in November we saw there a couple of killer whales touring the waters for prey. We took a tour from Puerto Madryn (there are plenty of them there), and driving on the main road, fairly far away from the scene. BTW, when we started the tour, he said that the chances of seeing killer whales, are fairly remote in this part of the year. Anyway, suddently our guide spotted the whales and had the driver stop the minivan. We watched the scene through binoculars for some 10 minutes, but since we were on a schedule, it wasn’t enough time to wait for a kill.
Back to your question, if you only want to catch a glimpse of the killer whales, as well as watching the other fauna, then taking a tour from Puerto Madryn is probably your best bet, since renting a car in that area is quite expensive. On the other hand, if you want to do some more serious watching while possible catch a kill and all the time you have available is a couple of days, then renting a car is probably your only practical choice.
Cheers,
Marius