Full-Day Gable Island Eco-Adventure in the Beagle Channel
Description
The most encompassing full day tour in Ushuaia. It departs from Ushuaia eastward on National Route No. 3 and then on route "J". Once on the coast of the Beagle Channel, preparations will begin to paddle in inflatable canoes towards Gable Island. Rubber boots, over-pants, and life jackets will be used. We will paddle through the channel as the native people did for thousands of years until we reach our refuge on Gable Island. There, we will enjoy a hot lunch with a good Patagonian wine, soft drink, and mineral water. After a coffee, the hike begins to explore this uninhabited island, where we will experience the true feeling of knowing the End of the World. After the hike, a motorboat will be taken towards Martillo Island. From the boat, penguins can be sighted at their breeding site for 20 minutes, and then we will continue sailing towards the mainland, where the vehicle will be waiting to take us back to Ushuaia.
Tour Options
Itinerary
From our office, or from your hotel, we leave Ushuaia to visit the eastern part of the peninsula. The attractions we will enjoy during the activities we propose will make for a unique experience of the wildest area in the Beagle Channel.
This place offers the first glimpse to a very different area when compared with others to the West, be it Ushuaia or the National Park. We are now close to the starting point of our canoeing activity!
We will paddle through the channel as the native people did for thousands of years until we reach our refuge on Gable Island. This experience is to be lived instead of written about!
Our stop here will add to this full-day active and adventurous tour the opportunity to see the penguins on the beach, from a ver close distance, a few metres away from our boat docked on the beach.
This is the place where you will get to see what's the end of the world all about. During the next hours we will go for a hike in a pristine landscape, after an excellent lunch cooked on site.
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
Please wait in the hotel lobby 10 minutes before your scheduled pickup time. Drivers will wait no longer than 5 minutes after the scheduled pickup time. This tour does not pick up travelers from the seaport nor from the airport. For any changes in itinerary or schedule, please consider the private tour option.
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Not recommended for travelers with spinal injuries
- Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
- Not recommended for pregnant travelers
- Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
- Children must be accompanied by an adult
- Vegetarian, vegan, and coeliac options available, please advise at time of booking if required
- Operates in all weather conditions, please dress appropriately
- Minimum drinking age is 18 years
- Minimum age is 5 years
- Cruise passengers cannot join this regular tour, and must choose a private service instead, so as to accommodate to the cruise's schedule.
- For any changes in itinerary or schedule, please consider the private tour option.
Reviews(55)
A whole day of amazing experience, with multiple activities. The scenery views, the canal, and the penguins were an awesome experience.
Thank you so much, Marek, for sharing your experience! Gable Island is one of our favorite spots, and it makes us so happy to know you enjoyed it as much as we do. You're more than welcome back for your next adventure! Saludos Canaleros :)
Tour was amazing. Facundo is very knowledgable, funny, and a great communicator. He clearly knows the ecosystem there above and beyond the average tourguide and we learned a lot along the way. The balance of activities was great, lunch was superb, and of course, the penguins were amazing!
Thanks a lot for sharing your feedback! We love hearing that you had a great time on the Isla Gable tour. We'll be waiting for you whenever you're ready for another visit!
Don't let my review title intimidate you. But you WILL be doing a significant amount of exercise, on land and on water! They picked us up at about 9am in Ushuaia. Once they have picked everyone up, the day starts off with a 1:15 drive to the east edge of Tierra del Fuego, then you walk about 15 minutes to get to the start of the paddling. The paddling segment is in a group kayak for about 2 miles, in a setup like white-water rafting - everyone gets a single-ended wooden paddle, and we're seated along the sides of the large inflatable kayak. The tour company provides waterproof pants and boots, and stores your own shoes and any bags in dry-bags they transport for you. At the end of the kayaking (takes about 1 1/2 hours), you have a delicious, fresh fish lunch they prepare for us, and rest for about an hour. Then it's time for another hike, this one is about 3 miles long through stunning scenery through an uninhabited island. Wear good hiking boots, recommend water resistant/waterproof if possible. Then you get into a boat and they take you to an isolated beach where the penguins are hanging out. You watch from ashore for a good half hour or so, and the guides were great about "circulating" where people stand so that everyone on the boat gets a good front-row view of penguin action! We saw Magellanic and Gentoo penguins this time. At the end, the boat then takes you to your final stop, and the tour van takes you back into Ushuaia. It was a great day. We didn't get back to our hotel till close to 7pm. We really enjoyed learning from our guide, Facundo, who is a Tierra del Fuego native! Great tour and highly recommended!
Wow, what a review! Thank you so much, Erica, for sharing your experience with us. Gable Island is one of our favorite places, and we love that you enjoyed it as much as we do. We’ll be waiting for you with open arms for your next adventure, warm regards from the deep south!
We did three tours with Canal Lakes and Fun. This tour, the Full Day, and two 4x4 vehicle tours to the National Parks and the Lakes area. Every tour featured excellent communication, organization and equipment. All the guides were friendly and knowledgeable. The Full Day Tour is a great day out. After an hour ride we geared up in boots and water proof pants and jackets. We paddled for 90 mins through gorgeous Tierra del Fuego scenery to our lunch spot. The views were spectacular and we enjoyed fish and local mussels for lunch. We relaxed and the group broke up into two hikes of two and a half hours and a flatter one hour hike. A boat picked up both hiking groups and we went to see the penguins. We were close to them and we had plenty of time to appreciate them. The boat continued to an interesting Tierra del Fuego outpost where a small bus picked us up to head home. A full, interesting and varied day. Highly recommend working with Canal Lakes and Fun.
Thank you so much for sharing your experience with us! I’m so glad you got to enjoy all three experiences, each one is truly one of a kind. Greetings from the End of the World!
Canal is a very professional and efficient tour operator. They have a great variety of options that expose visitors to many aspects of the beauty in Tierra del Fuego. The guides are extremely knowledgeable, friendly and are all bilingual. Their treks offer epic views and once and in a lifetime experiences. Canal is a 5 star company in every way. I recommend them to anyone who wants to experience the magic of Patagonia from a base in Ushuaia.
Excellent full day small group experience. Guides were very knowledgeable and the pace of the day was perfect. Great lunch prepared on site in the great outdoors. Very nice hike on Gable Island. Day ended with an up close and personal visit with the penguins of Marilou Island
This was as described as all other reviews. If you only have a day, do this tour. The tour Guide Valetine was so great. He was very kind and very knowledgeble. The penguins were so cute. And really you don't need to walk on the island. They are all really close and you can get great photos. So glad I trusted the reviews and signed up to the tour.
We traveled to Ushuaia for the 4th time to do this tour, for me at almost 87 years old, it was now or now. The experience and value it had for me and my wife, Rosa, exceeded what was expected. The kindness and service given by Santiago and Aldana from our first contact by phone from Buenos Aires 2 months before and once in Ushuaia, was unbeatable. During the Tour we received the same quality of service and kindness from Olmo, the main guide, Pablo, the secondary guide who was my guide (because of my age) during the 8K walk on Gable Island, Pato, the driver and chef. the excursion and, Mauri, the canoe manager. THANK YOU A THOUSAND TO THE WHOLE CANAL GROUP.
Had a phenomenal experience with Canal Tours in the Gable Island and Beagle Channel trekking and canoe excursion. Santiago was a perfect guide. Very friendly and informative and organized. Sol was a great driver. Mauro and Olmo were also wonderful guides with the canoe. I highly recommend this experience and these guides!
The most knowledgeable guide we've had on our entire 2 week trip! Was a lovely time and got to spend an entire day adventuring around
