Ferry from Puerto Montt to Puerto Natales

The travel to reach the southern part of Chilean Patagonia is complicated if you travel by road. It is possible to drive, however there are sections where there is no road, and the use of ferries is necessary. These ferries go when they can, and it is quite possible that you would be spending days waiting to get the next one. Another way is to drive crossing the border to Argentina, and then back to Chile, and Argentina again, and so on. This is obviously not totally practical given the paper work involved.

We found a third alternative, Navimag Ferry Service. https://www.navimag.com

Navimag Esperanza takes passengers during the spring-summer season between October and March. It is really not a passenger ferry as their main business is freight of heavy machinery, vehicles, petroleum products, medicines and live animals. But we got tickets, and the car could come along as well. They told us early on that it was not a cruise, but a ferry. They also said that we had to be flexible as delays could happen.

We booked a trip for 28 October, 4 days and 3 nights. We had our own cabin, and we would be served 3 meals per day, with free tea and coffee available. The cabin was cleaned daily, and it was a pleasant time both during the days with all the beautiful scenery along the route, and nights with comfortable beds and good showers etc.

Well, that was the theory. In practice it panned out a bit different. The 28 Oct, 7pm departure happened 31 Oct at 4pm. We were checking in 30 Oct, 5.30pm. Harold was still sitting in the car waiting to drive it onboard at 31 Oct, 2am, when the loading staff told him to park the car in the waiting yard, go to the cabin for a sleep, and be back at 10am to carry on waiting. We were scheduled to depart at midday, which we didn't, but by 4pm we finally left.

The food was very good, the fellow passengers nice and friendly, and the only real bother was that there was no alcohol and it was prohibited to even think about bringing your own. Then the entertainment guys expected us to participate in karaoke!

We were held up for 20 hours waiting for the weather to allow us to go out on the Ocean sailing leg. This 12-14 hour stretch on the open Pacific Ocean is always rough, but as the ferry is loaded full of heavy and dangerous goods, it has to be of at least no more than a certain level of waves and wind not to be impossible to go. When the waves were reported to be 5 meters, we moved. It was some 15 hours of very heavy going, and seasickness pills were needed by most. Karin is very sensitive, and it was a nervous time until she realized that the pills sold over the counter at a pharmacy in Santiago were incredibly effective and she had no signs of feeling unwell. A real miracle!

Once back in the narrow and calmer straights we moved on, but very slowly, and we reached Puerto Natales midnight to 5 November, some 5 days late. They let us stay the night and gave us breakfast before we left the ferry in the early morning. Flexibility was needed, absolutely.

The car had a safe crossing, jammed in between huge and heavy vehicles loaded with all sorts. Nothing seemed to have moved, showing just how professional the service is and that the people handling the loading certainly knew their trade.