This is the highlight of Coastal Patagonia. It's where one goes to see giant southern right whales and orcas, elephant seals and sea lions, penguins, and a multitude of bird species.
The Peninsula Valdés is undoubtedly the biggest attraction around Puerto Madryn and best recognized for the migrating southern right whale - May to December. However, given that whales don't make advance bookings, the date the stragglers finally push-on is not fixed, so even if you arrive late in the season it's worth enquiring whether there are any laggards hanging around. To get there and see everything, the easiest option is to go on a tour typically around P$45 for a full day. Alternative options are to rent a car with a few other backpackers, or rent a bike and camping equipment! If you're renting a car and don't want to end up paying the insurance excess, drive carefully, as it's easy to slide out on the gravel road. The entrance fee for the national park is P$30 for foreigners - no additional fees for cars. Depending on the season, the tours may take one circuit or another. If you're doing it alone, stop by the tourist office and confirm with them the best direction to take, so as to get the most out of your trip. If you're organizing your own tour of the Peninsula the highlights are:
El Doradillo
If you're lucky you can get your first spotting of a whale here. Walking down the beach alongside them is extraordinary. By keeping up a steady walking pace you can literally walk alongside a pair of whales some 30m away. It is a moving experience as you watch them breach and tail.
Puerto Pirámides
It's the only tourist village on the peninsula, about an hour by car from Puerto Madryn. The ever popular boat trips leave from here. During whale season, boats are leaving the whole day. Although none of the guides on the boats can guarantee anything, after all the whales are not circus-trained, you do end up getting within a couple metres of the whales as they slide in underneath your boat. If you're lucky, like we were, you'll see one of these giants heave its entire body out of the water. The resulting splash is stupendous. From September it's possible to see both whales and dolphins on the same trip. In December, when the whales abandon the tourists for greener pastures, you can still pass by to see the dolphins and sea lions. Tours for 1-1 ½ hour on a boat cost about P$50 per person.
Punta Norte
Killer whales have teeth! You can see these guys from February to April, and October to November. Although you might be sitting on the rocks peacefully for days, you still might not see one of those National Geographic shots of a 9m orca leaping out of the water to munch down a sea lion or a fluffy penguin. On the other hand you will spot an orca, you will have photos of one, and you won't regret the experience.
They're predominantly black, except for a white abdomen and a back fin with a white spot behind it, which is used for its identification. Feeding habits are pretty broad, just like any well travelled backpacker. Their diet includes fish, sea lions, sea tortoises, seals, sharks and penguins.
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Caleta Valdés
It's about 50 km south of Punta Norte. Elephant seals are here the whole year round, but in August and March the number is much higher. This is another place where orcas hang-out between September and November. You'll also find some small penguin colonies here between September and April. There should be signs pointing you towards the penguin colonies.
Punta Delgada
About 70km from Puerto Pirámides, on the peninsulas southeastern corner, you find Punta Delgada (thin point). It's a good place to see sea lions as they're here all year round. From August there are Elephant seals. They're polygamous, so the males arrive first to set up their harems, with the females arriving at the beginning of September. In October and November some large colonies of elephant seals are visible from the cliffs. There are free guided tours to go to the beach, so you can get close to them. If you're lucky, you get to see a good fight between two male elephant seals.
Isla de los Pájaros
You can't get here. Apparently you can see the birds from a high powered telescope but we never did. The “Island of the birds” is some 800m north of the Isthmus and if you pay for a telescope or if you've brought a pair of super high powered binoculars you'll see the black neck cormorant, the bigua, the cook gull, the white heron, and the witch heron. |
