Dress warmly and arrive early in the morning at a centrally located meeting point in Punta Arenas where a minivan takes you to the city pier. Located 32 km northeast of Punta Arenas, in the middle of the Strait of Magellan, Magdalena Island is a must for animal lovers, because the island hosts the greatest colony of penguins in the continental region. This island is a protected area since 1982, year in which it was renamed “Los Pinguinos Natural Moment”. It has an interesting ecosystem with more than 60,000 couples of penguins, which come during the summer in order to reproduce as well as other kinds of birds, such as cormorants and Andean seagull.
You will reach the island after a boat ride of about 40 minutes. Once disembarked, you will have about one hour to walk around and take pictures. You may complete the visit by reaching “The Lighthouse” environmental interpretation center where information about the history of the strait and the ecological richness of the islands is provided.
