san rafael glacier and lagoon

We paid for the Catamaran experience, though I would rather we had gone on a smaller, less expensive boat. The glacier is really gorgeous, but crumbling quickly with a calving once every five minutes or so. They can show you the marks from where it receded since 1999, 2005 etc. Would be great as a trip to inspire kids into going into environmental science or engineering to figure out ways to save natural features like this.

It is indeed a long and expensive trip to get to see the glacier; 6 hours on the boat from Puerto Chacabuco and 180,000 CLP being the cheapest we could find. The boat ride is beautiful though, and the glacier breathtaking. You can go up close on smaller boats as pieces of the glacier fall crash into the sea.. Amazing. HOWEVER - if you are planning on going to Torres Del Paine as part of your trip, I would say don't bother with San Rafael. I thought Grey Glacier in Torres Del Paine was much more impressive; it's absolutely beautiful, you can go a lot closer, it's more accessible and of course cheaper too. You will definitely get your glacier fix if you see just that!

I think the most breathtaking place I have ever seen. I have returned numerous times. The fastest, easiest way to see and enjoy San Rafael safely is by Catamaran out of Chacabuco. This is arranged through travel agents or the Loberia hotel. On arrival a closer experience can be had for the brave, entering the zodiac speed boats and navigating through the ice.

We had almost a full day at the glacier arriving during breakfast while the crew gathered up two open steel boats to take us out to the face of the glacier. Ice flows, seals and falling ice off the glacier kept everyone upbeat and excited. Nobody else out there. We took this trip last year with the Skorpio small ship cruise line out of Puerto Montt. It was fantastic. About 80 passengers on board with a very friendly crew. It felt a bit like travelling in an earlier time but the coastal views of mountains, rain forest, water falls and finally the San Rafael glacier was exceptional. If you like the wild outdoors, that end of the earth feeling and standing on a deck leaning into wind, sun or drizzle then you'll like this one. The food on board was generally good with the odd spike of excellence and then somewhat ho-hum but you eat four times a day. The Chileans still do English style high tea at 4 and supper at 8. Wonderful !

Since I live in Chile and work in the tourism industry, I did extensive research before deciding how and when to go to Laguna San Rafael and its glaciar. Instead of taking the expensive Skorpios cruise or other companies like Navimag that start in Puerto Chacabuco, we decided to take the new, shorter route from Bahia Exploradores. It is much cheaper (about USD300 per person, including transportation from your hotel in Puerto Rio Tranquilo) and allows you to get to the glaciar in 3 hours only, so if you are short of time, you can do the excursion in just one day instead of 2 days minimum with the others (although taking a two-day tour and sleeping in the forest near the glaciar allows to see more things). It is worth it.As of now, there are only two companies offering excursions from there: Emtrex and Destino Patagonia. All the others sites you will find offering excursions from Bahia Exploradores go through them -and can be more expensive. We went with Destino Patagonia, as they were the first ones to answer my emails (quick email response is important to me) and were friendly and helpful in their reply.Enough of introduction, let's go to the thick of it. Destino Patagonia's driver picks us up at our hotel at Puerto Rio Tranquilo (the closest town from Bahia Exploradores) at 7am, then drives us to Valley Exploradores with his SUV. The road is quite bumpy and I'm glad I'm not driving, so that I can enjoy the stunning landscape around us, with lakes, numerous waterfalls, impressive mountains and glaciars. At 9am, we cross the Exploradores river in a boat (they still need to build a bridge there) and we continue on another van for a minutes on the other side. We finally make it to the pier and get into a tiny boat, where only 6 clients + 2 pilots and our guide can fit in the small cabin. Don't expect comfort: as I wrote before, this is a more adventurous route, and it's better to have waterproof clothes and shoes on.There starts the route to the lagoon San Rafael, which takes about 3 hours. Unfortunately the weather is bad so we cannot get out of the cabin much. It also gets very bumpy at some point because of the waves and strong winds (this is definitely NOT recommended for people with neck or back problems). This is also something worth knowing beforehand: since we are on a tiny boat, there is the possibility that the weather is too bad and we have to return -and you cannot really know it until the boat reaches the fjords (we start from a river). In such cases, 90% of the excursion is refunded.The weather is very cloudy and it rains sporadically, so we cannot really appreciate the beauty of the fjord around us, but once we reach the laguna with all the blue icebergs and the big glaciar, it is spectacular, even with the rain. Because of the bad weather, we cannot picnic on the piece of land next to the glaciar and have to eat inside the boat. The food, however, is unexpectedly good. Then we get close to the big wall of ice and spend about an hour observing it. Amazing beauty, and quite impressive when big pieces of ice dramatically fall on the water.There is a bit of frustration though: first, the guide's English is just ok, and he doesn't give many explanations about the glaciar's formation, the colors, etc. Second, we cannot get as close as the zodiacs coming from Skorpio's and Navimag's boats. These get really to the foot of the glaciar, while our tiny boat cannot. But it is still a great experience. And instead of having the classic drink in a glass with a piece of ice from the glaciar, our guide does something more creative: he picks a big piece of ice, carves a hole in it with his knife, and pours directly the whisky in it. Great idea! As we return, the weather clears up and we can appreciate better the beauty of the area, with the fjords and cascades, and see a couple of penguins and sea lions on the way.Conclusion: This is still a very new route, so there are a few flaws that can be corrected with time and experience (the level of English, the lack of explanations, maybe a better boat that could get close to the glaciar...). But the fast is friendly, it is by far the fastest and cheapest option, and you get actually two excursions in one, as the 2-hour road trip from the village of Puerto Rio Tranquilo to Bahia Exploradores features stunning landscapes, with lakes, numerous waterfalls, impressive mountains and glaciars. Simply one of the most beautiful landscapes in Chile -and I've seen many!

We were at San Rafael for a 2 day trip with Destino Patagonia, sailing with a small boat from Bahia Exploradores in 2 hrs to the laguna. First afternoon we walked to the look out points over the glaciar. We had blue skies and nice temperature, which meant we could sit and watch for a few hours. Absolutely stunning to see the glaciar calving; pieces of the ice wall broke off every few minutes, with at the certain time a whole section disintegrating. The icebergs popping up from ice falling into lagoon and from ice breaking off underwater is such a weird thing to see, it all seems to happen in slow motion in front of your eyes. Next day we went kayaking on the lagoon, great to see these wonderful shapes and colours of icebergs from closeby. Unfortunately it was raining and cold, which made it less fun.

Stayed two nights in Hotel Loberias del Sur Chacabuco, comfortable accommodation good restaurant. Place to launch from for boat tour of San Rafael Glacier. Catamaraes Del Sur is a full day tour leaving 7am in the morning, returning by 9pm. Breakfast, lunch and snacks provided. If your not a Salmon lover take a few snacks no facilities to buy anything on board. Plenty of food great staff and most amazing natural wonder to visit. Well worth the time. At the site of the glacier you travel on small zodiac boats closer to the glacier. Totally awe inspiring adventure, the sounds and sights are a must. Long day for younger kids. Take warm clothes, beanie scarf. Water proof ponchos are provided on zodiacs. Good camera is a must?

In 2012 my wife and I took Scorpios III (the newest ship in the Scorpios Cruises fleet) and cruised to the San Raphael glacier in the company of Scorpios II, the first time the two ships had sailed together. We were the only English speakers on the ship but that made no difference. The crew, the service and the meals were first class. The all day open bar was a treat. But all this paled into insignificance once we reached the glacier. The bay leading to the glacier was full of icebergs of all sizes floating in crystal clear water ranging from white to green and magnificent blues. Colours you will never see anywhere else. We spent a few hours bashing our way through the ice in a small reinforced boat stopping to get 20,000 year old ice (it is like dark blue glass to look at) and drinking it with 12 year old Scotch. Yes it is expensive but an absolute candidate for anyone's bucket list. DO IT you won't regret it.

Hands down the most spectacular, awesome, impressive thing I have ever seen. Must be experienced in real life; videos don't even start to convey the majesty and power of it all. We saw some people's necks risked while we were there when the Glacier calves. I was so glad to be on the Skorpios Cruise. The owner brings absolute safety and beauty to you, with great food and a lovely trip there and back. I am not adventuresome, so that was important to me. Amazingly beautiful Glacier - completely worth the trip.

Unforgettable watching a calving glacier for a couple hours. This is a very expensive trip though. Had been a decade ago on a 75% off (last minute, $3,200 for two) 8-day trip to Antarctica (saw lots but no calving glaciers that I remember) on a ship that had it all: a brand new Norwegian ice breaker; great, varied buffet meals; lectures by historians and scientists all day long for all of our non-landing days in Antarctia. So we frankly expected more of the Skorpios II. First of all, the crew was fantastic and did everything to make passengers (just over 100) very comfortable. But we expected ample buffets and food instead rather indifferent "served" food. We were surprised that there were very few "foreign" travelers, almost everybody were Chilenos or Argentinians, obviously of some resources. It would really help if the Skoprios had some informed lectures about flora and fauna and history. Second, if they once had buffet meals, they should reinstate them. Obviously I would have been much happier had this journey cost $2,000 or 3,000 for two, instead of more than $4,000. There are other ways -- cheaper but perhaps more adventurous to get to see this glacier. Look at three or more guide books and study (harder than I did) before you get on the airplane for Chile.

This was a trip that I had dreamed of for years and years. I knew the glacier was remote and amazing and finally we shelled the money for the 5 day Skorpios trip. The ticket was expensive, but then, there are no cheap ways to get there and you go through a lot of incredible desolate and remote fiords before you get there.The glacier is incredibly beautiful, and the experience in the boats where they put you so that you can approach the icefloats and the glaciers wall (as close as 400 meters), is incomparable. Ok, the crew chips ices from the floats and they pass glasses with the ice and liberal amounts of whisky, and that makes it sweet. The ice floats are incredible; some of them not only intense blue but almost transparent. Others have been carved by the wind and water to beautiful shapes. We also saw a leopard seal basking on a float. She didn't seem to care too much about the noise and the thousands of snapshots. The weather was crappy, but it did not seem to make the spectacle any less thrilling and it does bring out the colors in the ice. I hope I can attach a couple of pictures.Other highlight of the Skorpios trip was the day spent in the Quitralco fiord. There the company has the management of some hot springs and that was fun. The fiord itself is full of islets and the water is really calm, almost like a mirror. The hills are covered by untouched forests and the little hike up the trail to the viewpoint is totally worth it. The lunch there was the best of the trip; roasted lamb so delicious that the memory waters my mouth. Otherwise, the meals in the ship, were blah at best, though the last night, the dinner was quite spectacular with all sort of fantastic seafood as well.Otherwise, the cruise itself had good and bad points. Good: great cabin size and the biggest bathroom I've had in a cruise. Good service, open bar all trip long (ok, that got my husband into trouble one day), friendly staff, open access to the bridge and the engine room. The bad, as I said, blah meals most of the time, hot cabins and dining room (sometimes, stifflingly so), not very well informed guides.I think that the operation would greatly improve if the cruise directors would be better informed (sometimes they made embarrasing mistakes like saying that the blue color of the ice was due to difraction-help me god, that is the wrong physical explanation) and others, they simply missed the opportunity to highlight flora and fauna and history of the region. They were just not knowledgeable. Sometimes, they were a bit tacky too.So the place gets 5 stars, the Skorpios 4

We were on board the Skorpios 11 cruise for 5 days- the highlight being a day in the San Rafael Lagoon. We boarded a smaller vessel in the morning and sailed so close to the glacier that it was breath taking. The sound of the cracking as the glacier moved, the boom as sections fell, the colour of the fissures - it blew us away. Later the bigger boat moved up to the glacier and we stared at it for hours - mesmerising. Moving through the ice and icebergs was also wonderful & provided even more photo opportunities. Thank heavens for a cloudy day as the colours were intensified. Hundreds of photos later....Markers have been placed on the rocks to mark the iceberg - 1979 > . Unfortunately the glacier is receding dramatically - who says there is no global warming?

The day trip to the glacier of Laguna San Rafael was the main reason we went to the Loberias del Sur hotel in Puerto Chacabuco, way down the south of Chile. The company that owns the hotel also runs this one day trip on their large catamaran ships.The ship was parked in a beautiful cove right in front of the hotel. They picked us up very early in the morning and drove us to the ship. Breakfast was served while cruising out of the inlet.Weather wise we had a top notch day; brilliant sun and no wind whatsoever. According to the ships personnel that happened not more than twice a year.The voyage through the straits was very beautiful; amazing vegetation, large mountains, birds large and small, they even slowed down the ship as we passed a large family of seals so we could photograph them. Large chunks of ice appeared in the water as we approached the icefields… and suddenly we were there.The ship was parked some distance away from the glacier. Large inflatable boats were lowered from the ship and all of us were taken over for a closer look. As we sat on the boats staring at this amazing view, large pieces of cliff would degage and fall into the water with a big noise and the pilot of the craft had to drive the boat away to avoid the wave created by the falling ice.In the afternoon we started back to the hotel. Unlimited open bar with all kinds of top notch liquors was served, live music and another meal was made available.All the pictures shown in this review were taken by my wife and I. Of all the many trips we have taken in our lives this must be one of the most unforgettable ones. If you have a chance in your life to make this trip, do not hesitate a minute and do it.

We did a sea kayaking trip to the Laguna San Rafael in March 2006. Juanfe was a great trip leader taking care of the logistics and the official permits. He researched the route extremely well and knew exactky where and when to do a crossing. He is very good kayak leader, but could improve on the catering (we had the same meal every day). We kayaked ~300km in 9 days and reached the glacier on the second to last day. It was amazing to finally see this gigantic ice wall and to kayak around little ice bergs. On the last day we walked up to the glacier, unfortunately in overcast conditions. The kayaks YAK expeditions provided were good, though not new, with some leakage problems. We took our own lifevests.If you decide to go on this trip be prepared for some hardship: We kayaked ~7h each day, with lunch being nuts, raisens and chocolate gobbled down while sitting in the boats, on our trip it rained every single day except one and we were wet all the time, except from the 8 hours in the sleeping bag at night. Sea conditions were mostly ok, we stayed ashore for half a day when it was too windy and had one exciting day with high follwing seas. Some campsites had to be cleared of vegetation before we could find enough space to pitch a tent. This trip was a real adventure, uncomfortable while being on the trip but great in hindsight.

We travelled with Navimag on their four night/five day voyage from Puerto Montt on the Puerto Eden. The glacier is definitely worth seeing and the approach on small boats amongst the ice flows was unforgettable. We were lucky with the weather both at the glacier and en route and so were able to make the most of the impressive scenery, including the erupting volcano near Chaiten, and wildlife - seals, altbatrosses and other birds. On the return journey, Navimag provided a coach tour to Puerto Aisen, a local waterfall and a 'barbeque' lunch, all of which were good. The atmosphere on board was good and passengers were able to visit the bridge as well as take part in various activities. The captain was good and very hands on. However, the boat was quite old and not kept very clean. The two of us shared a four bunk cabin with its own shower room. It was all pretty basic and the food on board was adequate at best. We sat on deck for long periods but when the weather was bad, there was nowhere else quiet and comfortable to go. The staff were OK but no effort was made to communicate in anything other than Spanish so we relied on fellow passengers. You get what you pay for - I guess it was just about OK for the price.