Sailing the Beagle Channel: My Intimate Journey to the End of the World

There are places you don’t just visit—you feel them. Sailing the Beagle Channel was one of those moments for me. The journey began at the port of Ushuaia, where the boat left the bay and the city turned into a postcard: colorful houses at the foot of mountains that dive into the sea.

Within minutes, we were in historic waters. The Beagle Channel owes its name to HMS Beagle, the British ship that explored it in the 19th century, carrying a young naturalist: Charles Darwin. Knowing that these same waters were once observed by him, while he shaped his groundbreaking ideas on evolution, gave the landscape a different weight—as if the cold wind carried echoes of science and discovery.

Our course took us to the Bridges Islands, where nature’s spectacle unfolded: imperial cormorants painting the rocks white and sea lions basking lazily in the sun. The captain announced that weather was on our side, and we landed on one of the islands. We walked among low shrubs, mosses, and lichens, until reaching a viewpoint that revealed Ushuaia and the Andes like a giant mural.

We continued east to the Les Éclaireurs archipelago, where the lighthouse stands, red and white, a true emblem of the End of the World. I had seen it in countless photos, but standing before it—with the austral wind hitting the boat—was something else. Around it, seabirds circled, and beneath the waters lay the silent remains of the Monte Cervantes, a cruise ship that sank in 1930.

On the return, the channel’s northern coast offered another view: the old Estancia Túnel, the Playa Larga Reserve, and further on, the industrial area marking the city’s growth. It was the perfect contrast between untamed nature and human presence.

Back at the port, I felt I had lived more than just a few hours. I had seen wildlife, history, and landscapes, but most of all, I had sailed the same waters that inspired Darwin—a channel that connects oceans and eras, where science, adventure, and beauty intertwine at the very edge of the world.

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