For foreigners and many Argentines, Puerto Madryn is the gateway to coastal Patagonia’s wealth of wildlife; the Golfo Nuevo’s sheltered waters and sandy shoreline have also made it a premier beach resort. In January and February, sunbathers, cyclists, inline skaters, joggers, and windsurfers irrupt onto the balnearios along the Costanera Avenida Brown, while divers seek out reefs and wrecks as the shallow waters warm with the season.

Madryn’s tourist season only weakens after Semana Santa until July, when Península Valdés’s great right whales help fill hotels and restaurants. Conscious of its ecological birthright, Madryn promotes itself as an eco-friendly destination; its new Ecocentro complex, focused on maritime conservation, is a positive development. Meanwhile, though, souvenir stores and chocolate shops have turned parts of the waterfront into tourist traps, and bright-green suburban lawns have worsened the city’s water deficit.

Stimulated by the Muelle Storni (commercial pier), the Aluar aluminum plant, and the fishing fleet, three decades of rapid growth have almost obliterated Madryn’s Welsh heritage except for street names. On the positive side, cultural life has blossomed with a university campus, theater, and cinema. Since the 2002 devaluation, many visitors have been Chileans.

Puerto Madryn (pop. 57,571) is 1,308 kilometers south of Buenos Aires, 65 kilometers north of Trelew, and 1,219 kilometers north of Río Gallegos via RN 3. It is 673 kilometers east of Esquel via RN 3, RN 25, and RN 40, 719 kilometers southeast of Neuquén, and 896 kilometers from Bariloche.

Getting There

Commercial flights traditionally land at Trelew, 65 kilometers south. Recently, though, Chile’s LAN has opened a twice-weekly summer route from Santiago to Puerto Madryn’s Aeródromo El Tehuelche (tel. 02965/451909) via Puerto Montt and Punta Arenas, and may also operate in the winter whale-watching season. Andes Líneas Aéreas (Avenida Roca 624, tel. 02965/451256) flies to and from Aeroparque, while LADE (Avenida Roca 119, tel. 02965/451256) has sporadic southbound flights to Comodoro Rivadavia, and northbound flights to Neuquén and to Aeroparque.

Madryn’s Terminal 12 de Julio (Dr. Avila s/n, tel. 02965/451789, term12jun [at] infovia [dot] com [dot] ar) stands directly behind the old terminal (and former railroad station). It has frequent service to Trelew with Línea 28 de Julio (tel. 02965/472056), plus extensive regional and long-distance connections. Mar y Valle (tel. 02965/450600) goes to Puerto Pirámides at 8:50 a.m. daily; in summer and during whale-watching season it adds a 6 p.m. departure.