In shortLes Eclaireurs lighthouse is the red and white tower on a rock islet about 20 km from Ushuaia. It marks the approach to the port, and it is where the short Beagle Channel sailing turns round. One operator's itinerary dates the tower to 1920 and the Monte Cervantes wreck beside it to 1930. Nobody goes ashore on the rock, so every photograph is taken from the deck.
about 20 kmUshuaia to the light
1920Tower date in one itinerary
1930Monte Cervantes wreck
more than 200 kmTo the Isla de los Estados light
What you see at Les Eclaireurs lighthouse
A short tower banded red and white, standing on bare rock in open water with nothing built around it. Ushuaia's municipal tourism board puts it about 20 km from the city, which is what makes it the turning point of the short sailings: the boat runs out past the islets, comes round the rock and heads back over the same water. The light is still in service, marking the approach to the port for traffic coming up the channel.
Dates for the tower depend on which itinerary you read. A catamaran operator's programme gives 1920 for the light and 1930 for the wreck of the Monte Cervantes close by, while a yacht itinerary puts the tower at 1919. No naval authority page settles the difference, so take the figure as the operator's version and expect the guide's date and the leaflet's date to disagree.
The end of the world lighthouse is a different tower
Travellers often confuse these two lighthouses, and the municipal tourism site warns about it on its own Beagle Channel page. The tower the Jules Verne novel made famous is the Faro del Fin del Mundo, out on Isla de los Estados, more than 200 km from Ushuaia and effectively unreachable on a day trip. Nothing that leaves the tourist pier for a morning or an afternoon goes near it.
A replica of that light stands at the Museo Marítimo y del Presidio in town, at Yaganes and Gobernador Paz, open daily from 10:00 to 20:00 with last admission at 19:30. If the Verne connection is why you came, give it an hour there and keep the sailing for the channel light.
| Lighthouse | Where it stands | Distance from Ushuaia | On a day trip |
|---|
| Les Eclaireurs | Islet in the Beagle Channel | About 20 km | Yes, the turnaround of the short sailing |
|---|
| Faro del Fin del Mundo | Isla de los Estados | More than 200 km | No; a replica stands at the Museo Marítimo in Ushuaia |
|---|
Nobody lands on the islet, so the photos come from the deck
You stay aboard for this one. There is no pier and no way ashore on the rock, so the pass is made from the water: the boat slows, swings round, and everybody moves to the rail. The familiar pictures of the banded tower against the mountains are taken from a deck, so step outside the saloon before the engines drop rather than after.
Landings on this route happen elsewhere. One 3-hour cruise puts passengers ashore at Puerto Karelo in the Bridges Islands for a guided walk of about 20 minutes past Yámana shell middens, finishing at a viewpoint; the Isla H version gives roughly an hour on the island trail; a yacht itinerary lands on Isla Bridges. Ice or frost in winter can cancel the landing for safety, and the pass at the light goes ahead anyway.
A small boat for the lighthouse pass
If the photograph from the rail is the point of the trip, the 3.5-hour yacht sailing is a quieter way to make the pass, from US$110 and rated 4.9 ★ (11 reviews).
★ 4.9/5 · 11 reviews
Morning departures and afternoon light
Take the morning sailing if you have the choice. One operator runs the short route at 09:30 and 15:30 and asks passengers to reconfirm because times change; another lists its 3-hour lighthouse cruise as daily all year with both a morning and an afternoon departure, so check the time on the day. Winter gives only about 7 hours of light with averages of 1°C to 6°C, and a 15:30 departure then comes back with the light already going.
In high summer the afternoon slot is a real option: daylight runs to as much as 18 hours and averages sit around 10°C to 15°C, so the later run reaches the tower in low side light. There is a separate argument for the morning. Cancellations are announced officially by the Prefectura Naval, and an early sailing leaves the rest of the day in reserve; for the same reason pier operators tell you to put the navigation at the front of your stay.
The sailings that turn at the light
Not every channel trip reaches the tower. The municipal tourism board describes the standard route as Isla de los Pájaros, Isla de los Lobos and Isla H, with yacht versions also running out to the light, and it lists the Bridges Islands variant as taking in the bird and sea lion islets plus the lighthouse before the landing. Penguin sailings carry on well past it, about 90 km east to Isla Martillo, and take 5 hours or more, so book a short sailing if the lighthouse is what you want.
The route map page on this site sets out where each stop sits along the channel. The two sailings below both reach the water where the light stands, and both ask you to present yourself 30 minutes before the sailing time.
- Navigation with Minitrekking makes the turn at the tower in 4 hours, costs from US$100 and is rated 4.8 ★ (724 reviews). It covers the islets, the turn at the light and a walk ashore, with cafeteria coffee, tea and hot chocolate and no food served on board. Check in at the Patagonia Explorer office inside the tourist port, on Avenida Prefectura Naval Argentina at the corner of Calle Roca.
- Sailing Ushuaia Beagle Channel in a yatch: 3.5 hours, from US$110, 4.9 ★ (11 reviews, so a small sample). Coffee and/or tea aboard, a harbour tax of about US$3 settled separately, boarding pass collected at a small house carrying the boat company's name.
- On the minitrekking sailing, cancellation costs nothing up to 24 hours before the stated departure time, so pinning the lighthouse run to a date now leaves you room to move it.
Questions people ask
Can I do the lighthouse sailing and Tierra del Fuego National Park on the same day?
Yes, and the pairing works best with a morning in the park and an afternoon departure, since the short route runs morning and afternoon all year. Park entry is paid at the gate and no boat fare covers it; under the tariff in force from 1 June 2026 that means AR$40.000 general, AR$18.000 for Argentine nationals, AR$12.000 for students and AR$8.000 for provincial residents, with nothing to pay for under-7s or for retirees holding Argentine DNI. Do not try to stack the park onto a 5-hour or longer penguin trip.
What else is seen on the way out to the light?
The run passes Isla de los Pájaros and Isla de los Lobos, where the tourism board lists cormorants, penguins and sea lions among the island wildlife. Humpbacks pass through this water too: between 2013 and 2024, CADIC-CONICET and WCS Argentina built a photo-identification catalogue holding 191 individual animals. No operator page promises a sighting on the short route, so count any whale as luck.
Is the water rough out at the lighthouse?
Boats on this route work protected inland water, not the open Atlantic. The measurements Darwin left, roughly 120 miles of length and an average breadth of about two miles, describe the corridor the sailings stay inside the whole way to the rock. Wind and spray on the deck are what you dress for; one operator's 3-hour lighthouse cruise uses a heated catamaran with toilets and a cafeteria, so you can step inside between passes.
How far ahead should I fix the date?
Choose your date before you arrive if your trip is short, and schedule the sailing in the first days of your stay. Cancellations here are announced by the Prefectura Naval, and pier operators recommend leaving a spare day so a weather cancellation still lets you sail. The minitrekking sailing allows cancellation at no cost up to 24 hours before departure, which makes shifting the date straightforward if the forecast turns.
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