In shortThe Chilean shore opposite Ushuaia is Isla Navarino, and the settlement on it is Puerto Williams. Licensed companies run cross-channel trips from Ushuaia with a night in Chile, leaving one day and returning the next, and there is also a short crossing to the Puerto Navarino ramp with a road transfer of about 45 km onward. Standard Ushuaia sailings stay in Argentine water.
45 kmPuerto Navarino to Puerto Williams
24 hoursUshuaia port border post
1 h 15 minflight from Punta Arenas
4 hoursArgentine-side sailing, from US$100
What sits on the Chilean side of the Beagle Channel
Look south from the Ushuaia waterfront and the dark line of land across the water is Chile. Isla Navarino and the smaller islands around it form the southern bank, and the settlement there is Puerto Williams. Nothing on that shore is reached by a standard excursion from the Argentine tourist pier: the regular sightseeing sailings out of Ushuaia turn and come home on the Argentine side.
The water between the two shores has been charted since the first survey voyage of HMS Beagle, 1826 to 1830, which covered Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego. Darwin recorded that on 19 January 1833 three whale-boats and the yawl set out into the channel with a party of twenty-eight under FitzRoy. South of the main channel, Ponsonby Sound branches off at right angles; Darwin identified it as the home of Jemmy Button's people, the Fuegians the ship had carried back.
That history is the reason the Chilean side matters more than its size suggests. The Yagán people used both banks long before either border existed, and Ushuaia's municipal tourism board still gives the channel its Yaghan name, Onashaga, which it translates as hunters' channel.
The Yagán museum, the town and the trails behind it
Puerto Williams' main museum is the Museo Territorial Yagan Usi - Martín González Calderón, at Aragay esquina Gusinde. It was renamed and reopened on 10 January 2024, taking over from the former Museo Antropológico Martín Gusinde, and its ethnographic, historical and archaeological collections are built around Yagán culture. Check opening hours and admission locally rather than planning a tight slot around it.
Behind the town the ground rises into the Dientes de Navarino, and the circuit through them is a serious undertaking rather than a stroll from the hotel. Chile's tourism authority rates it high difficulty and gives it about 4 to 5 days, over loose rock, snow and peat bogs, past Laguna del Salto, Laguna de los Dientes and Paso Virginia. Registering the start and the end of the trek at the Carabineros de Chile office in Puerto Williams is compulsory.
- Trailhead: about 2 km from Puerto Williams, across the bridge over the Río Róbalo
- Duration: about 4 to 5 days, rated high difficulty
- Terrain named by the official description: loose rock, snow and peat bogs
- Compulsory: register your start and finish with Carabineros de Chile in town
- Museum: Aragay esquina Gusinde, Yagán ethnographic, historical and archaeological collections
Ushuaia to Puerto Williams: how the crossing works
Some licensed companies run cross-channel trips from Ushuaia to Puerto Williams, and according to Ushuaia's tourism board these normally go out one day and come back the following day. In practice you sleep on the Chilean side, and you need a free slot of at least two days in your itinerary.
The other arrangement is the short hop to the Chilean landing point. Passenger traffic across the channel restarted with the new landing ramp at Puerto Navarino, administered by the Ilustre Municipalidad de Cabo de Hornos under an agreement with the Armada de Chile, with small passenger boats linking Puerto Williams and Ushuaia. Puerto Navarino is not the town: from the ramp it is about 45 km of road to Puerto Williams, so the water crossing is only the first leg.
Departure days, fares and paperwork vary, so confirm them with the licensed company before you build a plan around them. If the boats do not suit your dates, the town is also reached by a subsidised flight from Punta Arenas (PUQ) to Puerto Williams (WPU) of about 1 hour 15 minutes, or by ferry taking roughly 30 hours.
| Way in | Time | What it involves |
|---|
| Cross-channel trip from Ushuaia | Out one day, back the next | Run by licensed companies, with a night on the Chilean side |
|---|
| Short crossing to Puerto Navarino | Varies by company | Landing ramp on the Chilean shore, then about 45 km by road to Puerto Williams |
|---|
| Flight from Punta Arenas | About 1 h 15 min | Subsidised PUQ to WPU service, flown entirely within Chile |
|---|
| Ferry | Roughly 30 hours | Long passage within Chile |
|---|
Passport, border posts, food and weather
Carry your passport, not just an ID card: this is an international crossing with formalities on both sides, the Argentine exit and entry at the Puerto de Ushuaia border post and the Chilean side on Navarino. Argentine immigration at that port post operates 24 hours a day, which is why an early or late sailing is not in itself a problem. Chile also applies agricultural controls on arrival, so ask the company what food you may carry before you pack a lunch.
Weather governs the water. Whether anything sails at all rests with the Prefectura Naval Argentina, which issues the official cancellations, and on a trip you cannot shorten that counts twice: the annual average sits around 6°C, cold and wind are constant, and a single day can serve sun, rain and snow in turn. Local operators give the same advice for any channel trip, which is to put it early in your stay so a lost day still leaves room to sail later. On a two-day crossing with an overnight in Chile, that spare day is not optional.
Budget the trip as what it is: a separate excursion out of the country, with accommodation in Puerto Williams, two border passages and a schedule you cannot compress. It is hard to fit into a three-night stay that also includes the national park, the train and a channel cruise.
The Argentine-side sailing that fits one day
If your dates cannot absorb an overnight in Chile, this 4-hour navigation covers the islets, the lighthouse turnaround and a walk ashore on an island, from US$100 and rated 4.8 ★ (724 reviews).
★ 4.8/5 · 724 reviews
With one day in Ushuaia, sail the Argentine side instead
The standard excursions from the Ushuaia tourist pier stay on the Argentine side. They work the islets a short way east of the port, Isla de los Pájaros and Isla de los Lobos for cormorants and sea lions, and turn at the Les Eclaireurs lighthouse roughly 20 km out, with some itineraries landing on an island for a guided walk past Yámana shell middens. The penguin colony lies in the other direction, about 90 km east. Chile stays a view from the deck.
With only one day to spare, the Beagle Channel Navigation with Minitrekking is the trip to take: 4 hours, from US$100, rated 4.8 ★ (724 reviews). You get the islets plus a landing on foot, cafeteria coffee, tea and hot chocolate aboard with no meal served, and a cancellation window that stays open until 24 hours before the scheduled departure, which is more room to change your mind than an overnight in Chile allows.
If deck space and quiet matter more, the yacht sailing runs 3.5 hours from US$110, rated 4.9 ★ on 11 reviews, so a small sample. Coffee and/or tea come with the sail; the harbour tax of about US$3 sits outside the fare. Either way you are back in town the same day, which the Chilean crossing cannot offer.
Questions people ask
Can I visit Puerto Williams as a day trip from Ushuaia?
No. Ushuaia's tourism board describes the cross-channel trips to Puerto Williams as going out one day with the return on the following day, so an overnight on the Chilean side is part of the arrangement. Plan it as a separate two-day excursion with accommodation booked in Chile.
Do the Beagle Channel cruises from Ushuaia enter Chilean waters?
The standard sightseeing sailings do not. They work the islets near the Ushuaia pier and turn at the Les Eclaireurs lighthouse about 20 km out, staying on the Argentine side throughout. Reaching the Chilean shore requires a licensed cross-channel service and border formalities.
What is at Puerto Navarino?
Puerto Navarino is the landing point on the Chilean shore, where a new ramp reopened tourist maritime transport across the channel. It is administered by the Ilustre Municipalidad de Cabo de Hornos under an agreement with the Armada de Chile. It is not the town: from the ramp it is about 45 km by road to Puerto Williams.
Which border post do I pass through on the Argentine side?
The maritime crossing uses the border post at the Puerto de Ushuaia, where Argentine immigration operates 24 hours a day. You then clear Chilean formalities on the Navarino side. Carry your passport and ask the company what food you may bring into Chile.
Is the Dientes de Navarino trek possible on a short visit?
Not realistically. The circuit is rated high difficulty and takes about 4 to 5 days over loose rock, snow and peat bogs, passing Laguna del Salto, Laguna de los Dientes and Paso Virginia. You must register the start and end of the trek with Carabineros de Chile in Puerto Williams, and the trailhead is about 2 km from town across the Río Róbalo bridge.
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