Puerto Madryn

A laid-back city, Puerto Madryn’s Tourism is booming.In fact, Puerto Madryn is now one of the fastest-growing cities in Argentina. Mostly used by foreign visitors, the coastal street, Avenida Roca, is lined with restaurants, bars, and hotels. Locals tend to patronize establishments at least 1 block inland. The wide beach is great, with frequently calm waters that make swimming possible from mid-December to mid-March.

Although, Puerto Madryn is just the entrance to visit Peninsula de Valdez, a Natural Protected Area where you can see the Southern Right Whales that swim past here once verged on extinction (they earned their name because they move slowly and float easily, making them “right” for hunters). Today, these gentle giants gather to mate in these bays just off the peninsula from April to December. They each weigh 35 to 40 tons and measure about 17m (56 ft.) long. About 800 whales show up each year, after feeding in Antarctica for 3 months. Whale-watching trips almost always bring visitors within meters of these very social whales. It’s a rare and moving experience.