FULL DAY KING PENGUIN COLONY (privé tours)

The tour takes up the whole day but to us was well worth it since our main goal was seeing king penguins. Our guide and driver worked hard and made the day enjoyable and worthwhile.

Very good experience, the penguins are very cared for and even when they are far away, they have telescopes to see them well, The tour made sure that we arrived on time and that we would have lunch, we finished at a good time, I recommend bringing earmuffs and a hat because the wind is very, very strong in Penguin Bay, and also a camera with a good zoom.

Excellent experience. Visiting the reserve is truly an experience! It's a must-see! Very comfortable trip! 100%

I enjoyed the opportunity to see the King penguins but the time allotted at the park was only 1 hour. The guide at the park could have been more inclusive when speaking to the group. Learing about the island Tierra del Fuego was thorough. We had extensive drive time to see the geography and wildlife. My private tour guides for the day were great. Louis was an excellent driver. We felt safe with him. He was very funny. Francisco was our tour guide. He was very accommodating and knowledgeable of history of the island, wildlife and the indigenous tribes. Great conversations had during time spent together. These two gentlemen were awesome. Would seek them out in future! Viator could have done better with the description and time lines on their site for clarification purposes.

Excellent experience. The tour company was very communicative about pick-up time, confirmation of details; extremely professional. The guide (Francisco) was absolutely fantastic. He was incredibly knowledgeable about the whole area, which we learned about on the long drive, on the ferry ride, at the penguin colony etc.). From him we learned so much about the wildlife in the region, the economy, agriculture etc. We asked him a lot of questions and he was very patient with us and gave great, thorough answers. The penguin colony is wonderful in that it is very protected, so you feel like the people actually care more about the well-being and preservation of the penguins and the environment than about easy profit. On one of the ferry rides we crossed the Strait of Magellan which was spectacular - with dolphins, a whale, and swimming penguins. It was an incredible day and well-worth both the money and the time. The landscape is breathtaking.

Visiting King Penguins was in our top two day trips of the two week vacation in Patagonia, the other one being a day trip to Torres del Paine National Park. The video I took of a toddler penguin trying to get its mom's attention is my favorite from the trip.

The pinguiens was there, but few and no other animals. All such activities are two expensive in Argentina and Chile, too expensive for the locals also, and to many restrictions on movements. These tours have been the only downs on our three months trip to A and C. In my country you do not pay to visit national parks. No gusto.

We booked the trip to see the King Penguins as the highlight of our visit to Punta Arenas. We tried several times to contact the travel agent to confirm the arrangements but they never responded. The tour guide did not have much local knowledge and was not from the area. We were absolutely shocked when we were told that the $600 we had paid excluded the entry fee and had to pay about $40 additional cost. It is very unprofessional to offer a tour to see King Penguins and not include the entry fee so you can see them. It is not the additional cost that annoys it is the fact that it is not mentioned anywhere on the booking confirmation or tickets both of which had a heading for exclusions. There were supposed to be snacks included but all that was offered was a small packet of dried fruit and nuts. Not really much of a snack. We would recommend using another agent if you want to see the King Penguin.

This review is separated into the tour company and the actual tour itself: Tour Company - It was fairly difficult to get a hold of them to confirm our booking, but once we did, they were able to confirm our tour. They were on-time with our hotel pickup. This is not a private tour, but there were only two couples. The driver was very professional. The tour guide spoke English pretty well and was very friendly, although it was one of his first expeditions. Snacks were not provided, but that would be a nice touch given the long day. All in all, I think they were professional and friendly, and so they probably would get 4 stars. The King Penguin tour - In summary, I give it 2 stars because it is a long day, mostly in the car, and the scenery was not as nice as expected. The tour began with a 2 hour ferry ride across the strait. The ferry was comfortable but crowded. There were some refreshments on board, but you should bring your own. Sea sickness is not an issue as the ferry is multi-deck and carries vehicles too. After arriving in Porvenir we went to a small museum that had some interesting artifacts of the indigenous people and the history of Porvenir. It was an interesting but small museum. We then ate lunch for about an hour. The drive to the King Penguin colony was another 1.5 hours (at least) and most of the drive was on a dirt road. The views on this route were pretty interesting as most of it was along the coast. We also saw some Guanaco on the way there. The King Penguin colony is nice, but you only get within 50 yards of the penguins. The experience is not as immersive as the Magdalena Island tour. On the way back we drove another route through Tierra Del Fuego. This was another 2-3 hour drive to another port. Part of the appeal of this tour is to see Tierra Del Fuego, which is why I booked it. However, the drive is not very scenic at all. Beside some Flamingos, guanaco and sheep, there was not much to see. The second ferry was a short one. We then drove another 2-3 hours home. This drive was more scenic along the coast and foothills. We also saw Rhea and a fox, which was cool.