san rafael glacier and lagoon

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.