Excursion to Punta Tombo Penguin Reserve from Puerto Madryn

Amazing place. We saw so many penguins up close, including lots of penguin chicks, a hawk, southern mountain cavy and Patagonian hares. Easy walking, mostly on boardwalks, some gravelled walks. This was an excursion from Puero Madryn. The long bus ride was worth it!

Absolutely amazing experience walking through this area full of penguins and their cute little babies! The trip was well organized, we received good information and everything flowed smoothly. The focus was just on the penguins, no other visits along the way, which was what we were after.

There were many penguins. We also saw guanacos, hares and mules. In my opinion, so much travel is wasted to go only 2 hours to the penguin colony.

Don't book tour for Punta Tombo or other Puerto Madryn tours on the web! There are plenty of tour business in Puerto Madryn, and they are open all the time, also late at night in the weekends. You can book trips with a bigger bus, a minivan or private car. The cost when booking locally is less than half the price from booking on the web, via Tripadvisor. I booked the Punta Tombo tour on the web and paid 170 USD. The tour was then in turn arranged by a travel agency, RipioTurismo in Buenos Aires which did not communicate, did not respond to mails and had a Spanish only switchboard (I don't speak Spanish). I anyway figured out from the web site, I would be picked up by a local guide at 7.15 from the hotel. No-one came to pick me up however and by 9 I went with another Punta Tombo-tour, arranged on the spot by a guide who was picking up another couple of people. I paid 60 USD for a day with an excellent English-speaking guide in a mini-van. So Madryn is easy-going and you don't need to worry to arrange beforehand. There are plenty of tours to choose from and not expensive. Don't book tours online through Tripadvisor/RipioTurismo since they may rip you off as happened to me.

This was one of the best excursions we went on during our month-long trip. It was a cloudless sky and 80 degrees, not the type of weather that you think about when you think about penguins. The first few penguins we saw looked very hot and miserable, many were standing under the bridge walkway just to get in the shade. Once we got to the ocean and saw the penguins in their natural habitat of the ocean, they looked totally different, happy and very active. There were thousands of penguins, mostly on the beach but also up on the hillside and everywhere we looked around their little dug out cave which was just deep enough to get them out of the direct sun and give the babies some shade as well. The babies and young penguins looked so cute, in the hour and fifteen minutes that we had I am sure I took several hundred pictures. The best area is on down where the bridge separates and one goes to the inlet and the other goes to the ocean overlook, be sure to do both directions. Go to this part first because it is by far the most photogenic and you have limited time if you are on a tour. Most of your pictures will be taken at the most distant point. That way you can judge how long it will take you to get back to the busses. It is a wonderful spot and although expensive it is worth every penny of it.