• Argentina Guide

  • Introduction to Argentina
  • Weather
  • Things not to miss
  • Getting around
  • Entry Requirements
  • Money
  • Public Holidays

• Explore Argentina

  • Around Buenos Aires
  • The Atlantic resorts and the Pampas
  • Córdoba and the Central Sierras
  • The Litoral and the Gran Chaco
  • The Northwest
  • Mendoza, San Juan and La Rioja
  • Neuquén and the Lake District
  • Patagonia
  • Tierra del Fuego

• Cities

  • Buenos Aires
    

Argentina Guide

Patagonia

Puerto Madryn

• Accommodation
• Eating
• Drinking

Spread out along the beautiful sweep of the Golfo Nuevo, PUERTO MADRYN, 425km south of Viedma, is Argentina's diving capital. Though it makes a pleasant place to stay for a couple of nights, its real pull is as a base for trips to the ecological treasure trove of Península Valdés; indeed, the superb Ecocentro, just east of town, makes a great introduction to the area's abundant marine life.

Though Puerto Madryn is the site where the Welsh first landed in Patagonia in 1865, it was not developed until the arrival of the railway from Trelew in 1889, when it began to act as the port for the communities in the Lower Chubut Valley. With the explosion of tourism, Madryn has experienced rapid growth, and the town's permanent population of 65,000 swells significantly early in the year, thanks to its popularity as a summer resort.