Seno Otway penguin rookery

Each spring before 2015, Seno Otway, 70 km north of the city, hosted hundreds of Magellanic Penguins returning to their birthplace to breed. They stopped returning after the construction of a coal mine there. Check with locals before planning a visit. Many travel agencies offered day trips from Punta Arenas that allowed very limited time at the colony, so it's best to visit with your own car.

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Listing from Wikivoyage: Punta Arenas, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Updated 28 Sept 2026. Something wrong? Tell us.

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Museo de Historia Natural Río Seco
Río Seco Natural History Museum
Has an extraordinary collaboration between science and art, to bring natural and cultural heritages together. In 2013, brothers Benjamín Cáceres (a marine biologist) and Miguel Cáceres (a visual artist) assembled animal remnants such as skeletons in an artistic manner. It is housed in industrial buildings of the seaweed firm Algina.
Thu Fri 15:00–18:00Free but donation welcomed
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Museo Nao Victoria
Museo Nao Victoria
A nautically-themed museum that hosts replicas of the Nao Victoria, James Caird, Schooner Ancud and is building the first replica of the HMS Beagle. To arrive take the bus with destination Río Seco from the corner of Chiloé and Ignacio Carrera Pinto in town for $400.
Daily 09:00-19:001,000-3,000 pesos
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Reserva nacional Magallanes
Reserva Nacional Magallanes, located 8 km from the center of town, this national nature reserve is covered by lenga (a species of southern beech, Nothofagus pumilio) and provides a beautiful overview of the city. Administered by Corporación Nacional Forestal (Conaf), here you can explore the beech forest of far southern America. Animals you may see here include foxes, cougars, deer, owls and woodpeckers. There are trekking trails (one of them forming part of Sendero de Chile), most of them easy. There are also picnic spaces and bodies of water. The park is accessible throughout the year, but during winter snowchains are mandatory. No public transportation.
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Espacio Urbano Pionero Mall
Also on the outskirts of the city, the Mall Espacio Urbano Pionero (Pioneer Urban Space Mall) offers three department stores (Falabella, Ripley and La Polar), a food court, various smaller stores, and a "Lider" supermarket.