Three and a half hours by yacht from the tourist pier, past Isla de los Pájaros and the sea lion island to the Les Eclaireurs lighthouse, with a short walk on Isla Bridges when the weather allows.
Updated 29 October 2026
In shortThis Beagle Channel sailing tour is a 3.5-hour trip on a yacht leaving the Ushuaia tourist pier, out through the Paso Chico to Isla de los Pájaros, the sea lion island and the Les Eclaireurs lighthouse, with a short landing on Isla Bridges when conditions allow. Coffee and/or tea are included, a harbour tax of about US$3 is not, and the guide works in English. It suits travellers with half a day free who want a quiet deck and space to photograph instead of a large catamaran.
3.5 htour length
from US$110per adult
★ 4.911 reviews
What this Beagle Channel sailing tour covers
The trip lasts 3.5 hours and starts from US$110, on a yacht rather than a large catamaran. The yacht leaves the tourist pier, crosses the width of Ushuaia Bay with the city laid out at the foot of the Andes, and enters the channel through the Paso Chico.
The route then works round Isla de los Pájaros and the sea lion island, both part of the Bridges archipelago. Birds here include skuas, black-browed albatross, steamer ducks, cauquenes, Cook gulls and grey gulls; on the second island you can tell the one-haired and two-haired sea lions apart from the rail. Les Eclaireurs, about 20 km from Ushuaia, is the turning point and the photograph most people come for, and it is not the Faro del Fin del Mundo, which stands on Isla de los Estados more than 200 km away.
Coffee and/or tea come with the sailing, and a harbour tax of about US$3 is paid separately. The rating is 4.9 ★ (11 reviews), so read it as a small sample rather than a verdict from hundreds of travellers. No part of the route reaches Isla Martillo, so if penguins are the reason you are sailing, take one of the five-hour penguin options between October and April.
The water you sail is sheltered: Darwin described the channel as roughly 120 miles long with an average breadth of about two miles, and the yacht stays inside that corridor the whole time. Wind and spray are the real issue rather than swell, so a windproof layer and a hat matter more than anything else you pack.
Sailing the Beagle Channel by yacht
Small-boat sailing from the tourist pier to Les Eclaireurs, with coffee and/or tea on board and a short stop on Isla Bridges when the weather allows. The boarding pass is collected 30 minutes before departure.
Canal Beagle Views back over Ushuaia and the mountains behind it as the yacht crosses the bay and reaches the channel through the Paso Chico.
Isla de Los Pájaros10 min Ten minutes circling Bird Island: skuas, black-browed albatross, steamer ducks, cauquenes, Cook gulls and grey gulls.
Isla de los Lobos (sea lion island)10 min Ten minutes off the sea lion island, close enough to pick out specimens with one and two hairs.
Faro Les Eclaireurs10 min Ten minutes at the lighthouse about 20 km from Ushuaia, the turning point and the postcard shot. It is widely but wrongly called the lighthouse at the end of the world.
Isla Bridges15 min About 15 minutes ashore, weather permitting, on a short walk to look at the island ecosystem at ground level.
Photos: ours and the tour operator's
What is included
Included
Coffee and/or tea on board
Not included
Harbour tax, about US$3
Meeting point, pickup and cancellation
Meeting point: a small house carrying the boat company's name, where you collect the boarding pass. Arrive 30 minutes before the yacht's departure.
Cancellation: all sales are final, and no refund is available for cancellations.
Channel sailings run all year from the port area on Avenida Prefectura Naval Argentina, and cancellations for weather are announced officially by the Prefectura Naval Argentina. Sail early in your stay so there is room to go another day.
Ages: infant 0–2, child 3–9, adult 10+
Beagle Channel sailing tours compared
The yacht is the small-boat option among these sailings, at 3.5 hours. The two 3-hour catamaran and lighthouse navigations carry more passengers and cost less, the Bridges Islands trip gives you more time on foot ashore, and only the 5-6 hour Isla Martillo catamaran in this table reaches the penguin colony, which holds Magellanic and Gentoo penguins from October to April.
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Sailing Ushuaia Beagle Channel in a yatch (this page)
The sailing lasts 3.5 hours, starts from US$110 and runs all year from the tourist port. Pick a slot early in your stay, so a weather cancellation still leaves you a second chance to sail.
