Shore Excursion: Magellan Penguins Natural Reserve in Magdalena Island from Punta Arenas
Punta Arenas, Chile
- 5 hours (approx.)
- Pickup offered
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Chilean Patagonia is jam-packed full of natural wonders, but exploring them without your own wheels is challenging. Get in touch with Chile’s ‘wild side’ during this shore excursion to the penguin reserves found on Marta and Magdalena Islands. Marvel at more than 150,000 penguins, along with thousands of Cormorants, Austral seagulls, Antarctic pigeons, dolphins, and sea lions during the visit to these two wildlife habitats. A port pickup upgrade option is also available.
- Discover the wildlife of Magdalena and Marta Islands during a shore excursion
- Increase your chances you spotting wildlife with a naturalist guide
- Scout for dolphins, sea lions, and other aquatic creatures
- Perfect excursion for nature and wildlife lovers
What's Included
- Transfer from our office to boat depart point.
- One hour with the Penguins in Magdalena Island.
- Marta island (without disembark) where you can see sea lions.
- Gratuities
- Transfer to our office (only 8 minutes walking from PRAT cruise port).
Meeting and Pickup
You can head directly to the meeting point, or request pickup
Itinerary
Make your way to the trip operator’s office in the morning to start your excursion. Those who select the optional port pickup transfer will receive a pickup directly from their ship. You’ll then board a ship as you sail through the Magellan Strait, heading to these two islands to explore their unique collection of wildlife.
Start by circumnavigating the perimeter of Marta Island by boat. As you cruise you’ll get a chance to observe the island’s wide variety of seabirds like Skuas, Austral seagulls, and Cormorants, as well as its resident sea lions and “sea elephants.” Make sure to also keep your eyes peeled during the boat ride for local Austral dolphins. You’ll the head to Magdalena Island, where you’ll be able to disembark from the ship for one hour to visit its collection of more than 150,000 penguins.
At the end of the trip, return back to tour operator’s office in Punta Arenas. Those who did not select the port transfer will end the trip here, while those who picked the transfer option will be returned to their cruise ship.
Start by circumnavigating the perimeter of Marta Island by boat. As you cruise you’ll get a chance to observe the island’s wide variety of seabirds like Skuas, Austral seagulls, and Cormorants, as well as its resident sea lions and “sea elephants.” Make sure to also keep your eyes peeled during the boat ride for local Austral dolphins. You’ll the head to Magdalena Island, where you’ll be able to disembark from the ship for one hour to visit its collection of more than 150,000 penguins.
At the end of the trip, return back to tour operator’s office in Punta Arenas. Those who did not select the port transfer will end the trip here, while those who picked the transfer option will be returned to their cruise ship.
1
Punta Arenas
30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
2
Isla Marta
25 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
3
Isla Magdalena
1 hour • Admission Ticket Included
4
Punta Arenas
1 hour 30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received within 48 hours of booking, subject to availability
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Near public transportation
- Not recommended for pregnant travelers
- Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
- Passport name, number, expiry and country is required at time of booking for ALL participants.
- Subject to favorable weather conditions, if canceled due to poor weather, you will be given a full refund.
- This trip can be canceled due to few passengers or poor weather by Punta Arenas Administration even one hour before starting.
- This tour will finish around 3 PM, if you have to return to your ship 3 PM or earlier this is not the tour for you. Please note that by joining this tour, you do so at your own responsibility.
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 60 travelers
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Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 3 days in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
3.4
based on 118 reviews
Judith_T, Feb 2026
On the boat, sit facing front or back of boat. We had our backs to the window and couldn’t see much. They had a TV screen that they kept referring to but anyone could see was reflection from the windows. The island itself is worth the trip. Lots of birds and nit a lot of adult penguins but lots of younger ones. Guide was hard to understand due to talking fast and accent.
Scott_P, Feb 2026
We had a great time viewing penguins and sea lions.
The crew was very helpful and friendly.
The ships were comfortable and well suited to the excursion and seas.
Note: If you are on a cruise ship make sure the ship does not leave port near the estimated tour return time.
We had a people on our tour that had a ship departing at 3:30 pm when the tour was scheduled to get back around the same time. Not smart.
David_B, Feb 2026
Long bumpy boat ride. Almost no penguins on barren island. Uncomfortable boat. Guides were friendly but the long excursion not worth taking.
Matthew_B, Feb 2026
When we arrived at the tour agency at the time indicated on our tickets, we found that the tour we booked did not exist, and so we have requested a refund (pending).
Response from Host, Feb 2026
Thank you for your feedback. We would like to clarify that your booking was confirmed for the 7:00 AM departure time. Situations like this should not happen, but unfortunately, with the very high volume of reservations we handle for this tour — which is the most popular in Punta Arenas — occasional scheduling misunderstandings can occur. That said, your refund was processed on the same morning, so it should not be showing as pending. We always aim to be transparent and reliable, as maintaining our credibility is extremely important to us.
John_M, Feb 2026
It was great fun to walk among the penguins and to see sea lions in their isolated habitat. It was quite a boat ride to Magellanas Island.
Charlene_S, Feb 2026
This trip was awesome! Great boat ride out to Marta Island to see the thousands of sea lions and then another boat ride to see the penguins and lighthouse on Magdelina Island. There we were able to get out and walk among the many baby penguins! It was so cool to see! On the boat they gave us hot chocolate and cookies! Everyone was so nice, knowledgeable and accommodating.
Gerald_V, Feb 2026
The tour operator was disorganized, not allowing people to check in until the listed tour time, and then overselling the space. Four of us had to be taken in a pickup truck, and we got no tour info along the way. Once on the boat, it was a normal tour that showed us many penguins, but then we returned by truck.
Michael_S, Jan 2026
This was a great tour. It was very cool seeing Magellanic penguins up close. The meeting point was only a few blocks from the cruise ship. We road a bus out of town to a boat dock where we boarded a boat to Magdalena Island. Once we arrived at the island we were allowed to walk around for a little over an hour. We skipped the second half of our tour because the water become extremely rough and the wind was blowing strong. It was a wise choice by the tour operator.
We have gone on this tour previously with the same tour operator and they were fantastic! Highly recommend this tour with this operator. Make sure you bring something for motion sickness if you have issues on small boats and definitely bring rain gear because you will get soaked if it's raining. Overall it was fantastic!
Simonetta_M, Dec 2025
A unique experience with penguins, seals, sea lions, and many types of birds. Well organized and great guides.
B_R, Dec 2025
Great boat operator and crew. The conditions of the sea changed drastically after the first stop so we were not able to see sea lions on second island. But no worries since due to many passengers getting sick by rough seas and the crew being very capable we all made it back on time. The third party provider though performed poorly, having very poor communication and treated everybody differently regarding return transfer. Two separate couples in our tour arranged with third-party provider to be sure bus driver returned them to cruise port as first stop. We were on same Cruise, and same cruise port and told the third party provider and they just insisted that we tell the bus driver to take us back to cruise port upon return. Instead the bus driver arranged for the other two parties to have private transfer vehicles take them directly back to the cruise line (had no edit cost). We were left having to wait until others were dropped off before returning us to the cruise line very close to our deadline. Bottom line is the communication with third-party provider is terrible and the way they treat their passengers is not consistent nor equal. For anyone following the instructions they've received from this third party, they all will not be treated the same.
Response from Host, Dec 2025
All passengers can and should tell the driver they will be getting off at the cruise ship terminal. It's free of charge, and we always recommend it. The people checking in at the office aren't the ones who can handle this; the driver can.
Mitch_G, Dec 2025
Seeing the Penguins was great, but to no fault of the tour company we had very rough waters coming back and a few people throwing up. The crew was very accomadating. I will say there was some miscommunication with the crew and getting back in time. If we didn't have rough waters that ended it early, we would have missed our ship. I aske 5 people to make sure we would be back at a certain time and they all said yes, no problem. Lucky for us there was bad weather or it would have been a disaster.
Response from Host, Dec 2025
You can rest assured that you will always arrive on time, but it is advisable to check the return time before checking in.
dhium, Dec 2025
Outstanding stroll among the penguins. Saw a penguin chick emerge of the burrow. Really glad we did this trip.
Thomas_S, Mar 2025
The boat ride there was long and rough ! We were only allowed to spend 15 minutes on the island because the weather was so bad that the Captain was worried about getting back to port ! The first mate told me they should have never brought us there ?
Timothy_S, Mar 2025
We were instructed to go to their office, upon arrival we entered to find a young woman and young man seated behind a desk. The young woman proceeded to inform us the tour was cancelled due to 35 persons from our ship cancelling the previous evening. Although suspicious sounding it was obvious we weren't going on this tour. I asked if any of their competitors had similar offerings. The woman wrote a name on a paper and handed it to me. I asked if she would contact them and she tried to call but did not get through. As we headed out another couple from our ship came in. We were about 100 meters down the road when we heard the door slam as the couple left the office. The man from the office ran out yelling. When we returned to the ship I checked my email and had 2 messages from viator. One was the cancelation notice: "Sorry. We're sorry to inform you that the 10 AM sailing on January 30 has been canceled due to expected weather conditions. Thank you for your understanding! We will full refund you." The date was March 16, not January 30, and it the weather was clear with almost no wind. This completely contradicted their explanation for the cancelation. The second email stated: "Mr. $%@&^!, the boat office administrators are going to the Police to make a complaint for assault and attack on the office structure. Please be aware that they will contact you. Sometimes people can’t continue with the cruise ship." I replied that it was the couple that entered the office after us that slammed the door. I heard nothing else from either viator or the operator aside from the solicitation for this review. We did received a prompt refund, however I was haunted by thoughts of Chilean authorities apprehending me at a future port of call or at the airport.
Response from Host, Mar 2025
The tour was cancelled due to the winds. It is to take care of the passengers. The cancellation of the other people is for the same reason.
Timothy_B, Feb 2025
It will depend quite a bit on the weather, of course, and you might not be able to go. When we got to the office, they at first said that it wasn't looking so good and might be cancelled. However, we did go and it turned out to be a great experience, though the wind was quite strong. At the top of the hill, it was so strong as to make it difficult to negotiate, but wasn't so bad elsewhere. We got great views.
Peggi_W, Feb 2025
Sébastien was a fantastic guide. Not only did we see the penguins but other wildlife as well. And after having cookies and hot chocolate we made it to Marta Island to see the seals!
Shaun_C, Feb 2025
Not alot of penguins to see as all the baby's have gone so check before you book! Also we didn't get to see any sealions as the sea was too rough and we had to divert so be prepared for disappointment if weather not great
Michele_P, Feb 2025
Very interesting outing to the Magdalena islands lots of Magellan penguins albatros and other birds We saw a few whales along the way ! Very worthwhile also visited Martha Island and the sea lions from the boat great pictures ! Sébastian was a great skipper !
Donald_S, Feb 2025
We checked in at 10:00am but didn’t actually board our boat until after 11:00am because we had to wait for our boat carrying a morning tour to dock & disembark.
The crew was very friendly and safety conscious throughout the tour.
We were shown pictures of a wide variety of birds we may see. In fact it was seagulls & penguins.
We thought the tour would be a longer walk when in fact, it was basically walking up to the lighthouse & back down the hill to our boat.
I don’t know if the Park officials limit the tour to one hour but with the time wasted before we actually got aboard- we could have spent more time on the island to enjoy the birds.
We did enjoy seeing a pod of dolphins on the way to Magdalena island & a colony of Sea lions on a different Island before heading back to Punta Arenas.
Gillian_D, Feb 2025
Our 10.00am tour was cancelled at 6.45am due to weather conditions. This was too late to book onto another company's 8.00am tour which still went ahead - they had a fantastic time.
The refund however was very prompt.
Response from Host, Feb 2025
If you have received a complete refund of your payment, I don't understand how it's possible to rate with 1 star when the tour hasn't even been taken. The safety and security of our guests is our top priority.
Chuck_V, Jan 2025
That you get to see penguins up close. In addition you get to sea lions and if you are lucky you may even see a seal pup.
Hans_G, Jan 2025
This is a short bus and then one hour boat ride to an island penguin colony. We had great weather and fantastic pictures since the penguins are only 2 meters away. It was too windy to see the sea lions.
William_H, Jan 2025
Excursion was not worth the cost Over priced since you could only go to the Island . Not well organized from the start. Refreshment was a water jug with paper cups. Could not hear the guide during the trip over to the Island. Most if not all did not tiip because of the shorten trip. Would not advise to book this trip.
Lyubov_S, Jan 2025
Good trip, but l feel not so good during small catamaran.I feel motion sickness during that time.Catamaran was very speedy.
But penguins were very cute!
chris_b, Jan 2025
We were assured we would get back to our ship (Oceania Marina) by 3:30 only to be told by the woman at the check in desk that the boat (actually the public ferry) would not return to the pier until 6:30. 10 of us on Marina are furious as we were totally mislead by the tour operator (who does not even live in Chile) and now we are fighting to get a refund on our bookings! Do not use Viator or obviously this tour company or you might miss your cruise ship boarding time!
Response from Host, Jan 2025
This tour never ends after 3.30 PM because it was created exclusively for people arriving by cruise ship to Punta Arenas. The schedule is clearly specified in the tour description. It is not good to get carried away by comments outside the office, many times it is from other competitors trying to hunt our clients.
44 passengers of your cruise ship enjoyed the tour that day.
Jacki_S, Jan 2025
We were advised, when we showed up for ticketing, that there was no possibility that the tour would return before our 3:00 all aboard deadline. Since we didn't want our ship to leave without us, we didn't take the tour. There was nothing in any of the promotional materials that indicated the length of the tour, nor were we asked, when we originally booked, what time we had to return to our ship.
Neither Viator nor the tour provider will recompense the cost of the tour, which was nearly $480 CAD for the two of us. Because the tour actually returned at 2:30, apparently we should have taken the chance.
I do not recommend that anyone take this tour. Book with someone who will guarantee a return time.
Response from Host, Jan 2025
This tour never ends after 3.30 PM because it was created exclusively for people arriving by cruise ship to Punta Arenas. The schedule is clearly specified in the tour description. It is not good to get carried away by comments outside the office, many times it is from other competitors trying to hunt our clients.
The safety of our passengers is paramount.
Peggy_M, Dec 2024
The bus that took us to the dock was fine. We waited in the dock for more than 1 hour, standing, with no seat and no cover. Because of the late arrival of the boat, we missed going to see the sea elephants. Money for value? No.
Response from Host, Jan 2025
Sorry, it is impossible for us to control the wind or the tide. The main thing is always the passenger's safety. If the ride starts an hour later it is not as important as the safety of the passengers. Still the hour walking with the penguins was surely fantastic.
Raffaele_M, Dec 2024
The experience on Isla Magdalena was great. You get to see penguins up close and in their habitat. They are best little creatures.
However our opinion of the tour operator is poor. They started the tour more than one hour late. Then they tell us we can't go see the sea lions because we don't have time.
I would recommend the tour but not with this tour company
Response from Host, Jan 2025
"The experience on Isla Magdalena was great. You get to see penguins up close and in their habitat. " thank you for that.
Dmitry_Y, Dec 2024
Very impressive
Good organization
Tank you very match
I suppose continue to use your services in the future
alex_w, Dec 2024
Showed up at providers office and manager connected me with a younger lady to lead me to the bus to the boat. After 5 blocks we arrived at area with all spanish speaking people. We asked the lady if this was the penguin cruise and she said it was a free walking tour in Spanish. We hustled back to the office and a younger lady at counter said the boat had already left. We were unhappy and after 5 minutes an elderly man came out and said we should just wait. Fortunately another couple ran a half hour late and we were driven a half an hour to the boat. We then waited over an hour for a boat to arrive. Upon leaving the dock we were told we would not be seeing the sea lions at Marta island. After an hour boat ride in incredibly choppy seas we arrived at the penguin island. It was a fantastic island but we were hustled around in about an hour before returning to the bus. five and a half hours to see the penguins for one hour and beat up by the banging of the boat on the waves. Worth seeing but with a different operator. FYI, others on this boat paid only $118 for the same trip.
Response from Host, Jan 2025
I'm glad it was great to spend an hour with the penguins despite the initial misunderstanding.
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Attractions in Punta Arenas, Chile
- Punta Arenas Cruise Port Tours & Tickets
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