Parque Pingüino Rey — Attraction in Porvenir

Helpful information: This is the only place in the world you can drive to see king penguins. All other king penguins live on sub-antarctic islands far from any continent. The penguins are present year-round, but tours only happen during the summer. You must reserve your tour ahead of time; we saw people who had traveled for hours turned away at the gate. You can pay on-site with credit/debit card (but you still need a reservation before you come). You can see the penguins in the distance from a fence by the road for free, but the tour provides a much better experience and is totally worth the cost. Our 1-hour tour included two observation points, one was exposed to the wind and the rain, the other was covered and you look through open windows, so be prepared to stand in the wind and rain of classic Patagonian weather. The gate is usually closed and locked. Arrive a few minutes before your tour, and they will open the gate for you, check your reservation, and let you in for payment and a briefing before the tour. The road from Porvenir is almost entirely unpaved, although we could see that paving work is happening, so someday... The drive to Porvenir in the rain covered our car with mud. A Copec employee directed us to a nearby mechanic with a power washer we paid to use. I think our on-site tour guide was also a researcher because she was able to answer our questions about this unique colony of penguins with a surprising amount of detail. Bring a zoom lens. You can hold your cell phone up to the telescopes, but it's really difficult to get pictures this way, so a real camera with a good lens would be better. You are close enough to hear the penguins. The penguins mostly stand around or sleep, so a tripod and time-lapse video make for a fun different way to look at the penguins. The map (see photo) of the site includes an archaeological site, but we did not get to see it. It's remote; there's nothing for at least an hour in any direction, so plan accordingly. There were lots of guanacos by the road on the drive from Porvenir. IMPORTANT: the Tabsa ferry between Punta Arenas and Porvenir is canceled sometimes due to high winds, so plan accordingly. This happened to us and the Tabsa office in Porvenir helped us get a refund, and we drove to the Primera Angostura crossing which was still open. With all the extra driving it took us roughly twice as long. The road from Porvenir to Primera Angostura is almost entirely paved. This is info we would have liked before our visit, so 👍 if...

Amazing opportunity to see King Penguins in natural habitat. We hired a taxi from Punta Arenas for 150k Chilean pesos return, we also had to pay 14k each way of the ferry, there were 3 of us so split 3 ways it worked out a similar price to the full day tour which leaves at 7am, you stop at places/museums we were not interested in and doesn't get back until 9:30pm. It was still 4hrs drive each way but so worth it! I never thought I'd get the chance to see King Penguins outside of Antarctica. This is a very new colony (8 years old I believe) that's growing each year and producing chicks, but understandably very protected, so yes you are quite far away but I can't believe how some people are complaining about that! However it is the first time in over 2 years of travelling that I wished I had a decent camera with a good zoom and not just be phone. I improvised by taking a few shots down the lens of one of the telescopes they have there...

This place is so awesome. We stayed in Porvenir for a few days so we came to see the penguins 3 times, each at different times of the day. The earliest time slot was the best for lighting. The colony of penguins is pretty far away, you can still see, hear, and even smell them, but won’t get good pictures with a phone. One of the days we got really lucky and some penguins were very close to the observation area. Every day it was really windy. It cost us about $15 USD per person. They open the gate a few minutes before your hour starts and give you a briefing. After 1 hour you have to leave for the next group. You make a reservation online and pay when you get there. Every time we went it wasn’t a full group but I’d still make a reservation just in case. The employees were really nice. We had a great time here with...