Whale Watching Tours Of Peninsula Valdes
July 30th, 2011
Puerto Madryn is a city from which you can take side trips to some of Argentina’s best attractions. Of these, a side trip to Peninsula Valdes has got to be the best. The entire region of Peninsula Valdes is a Natural Protected Area and has been protected from human activity by the Argentine Province of Chubut. The region’s best attraction, is the Southern Right Whale.
The Southern Right Whale used to be an extinct whale species. These gentle giants moved at a slow pace, making them easy targets for hunters. Today, Southern Right Whales have repopulated and are no longer extinct. Weighing as much as 40 tons and extending to lengths of as much as 56 feet, about 800 whales show up at the shores of Peninsula Valdes to mate. They do this every year between the months of April and December, after 3 months of feeding at Antarctica. These Southern Right Whales put Peninsula Valdes on the spot as one of the best Argentina tourist attractions.
Peninsula Valdes can only be accessed by road from Puerto Madryn. It is 80 kilometers north of this Argentine city. As soon as you arrive at Peninsula Valdes, you will notice that it is well guarded and even has gates surrounding it. All visitors are charged with a onetime entrance fee of $21.
Within Peninsula Valdes, you will find a small and humble village called Punta Piramides. It is the only place in the peninsula where whale watching tours are available. Whale watching boats leave from the village during the mating season of the Southern Right Whales. An experienced traveler of an around the world travel blog says that tour operators charge each of their passengers $35. Furthermore, this traveler cited that whale watching tours last for an hour and a half and are worth the money because they take passengers real close to the Southern Right Whales at sea.
Entry Filed under: sports leisure travel