Argentina Guide
Tierra del Fuego
The Beagle Channel
No trip to Ushuaia is complete without a voyage on the legendary Beagle Channel, the majestic, mountain-fringed sea passage south of the city. Most boat excursions start and finish in Ushuaia, and you get the best views of town looking back at it from the straits. Standard trips visit Isla Bridges, Isla de los Pájaros and Isla de los Lobo, looping around Faro Les Eclaireurs, sometimes erroneously called the Lighthouse at the End of the World – that title belongs to the beacon at the tip of Isla de los Estados – on their way back. Boats depart from the Muelle Turístico, where you'll find agents' booking huts: recommended vessels include the Barracuda, offering good-value, informative tours (daily 9.30am & 3pm; 3hr; $80), and the Tres Marías (daily 9.30am & 3pm; 4hr; $110, including hot drinks), a quiet motorized sailboat ideal for small groups, whose trip includes trekking on Islas "H", to see Yámana shell middens. Other companies offer catamaran and sailboat trips for $95 to $140.
Longer boat trips head further along the Beagle Channel: west to Bahía Lapataia in the national park; east to Estancia Harberton and the penguin colony on Isla Martillo; or south to Puerto Williams on Isla Navarino. Ideally, Bahía Lapataia is done as part of a combination tour, with one leg overland – a service offered by both Rumbo Sur and Tolkeyen, whose trips (daily 10.30am; 6hr; $125) visit the lighthouse and islands en route. Their boat-only return trips to the Magellanic and Gentoo penguin colony onIsla Martillo include a tour of Harberton (Tolkeyen Mon, Wed & Fri 9.30am; Rumbo Sur Tues, Thurs, Sat & Sun; 9hr; $170). Another trip runs between Bahía Ensenada and Lapataia in the national park.
On boat trips, look out for seabirds such as the Black-browed Albatross, the thick-set Giant Petrel, Southern Skuas and the South American Tern, as well as marine mammals such as sea lions, Peale's dolphin (with a grey patch on its flank) and the occasional minke whale.
For an alternative perspective, Ushuaia Divers ( 
02901/444701, 
www.ushuaiadivers.com.ar ; $170 a day) runs diving trips into the channel to look for centolla and sea lions amongst the seaweed forests.