Backcountry kayaking in Patagonia

While Torres del Paine is braided with hiking trails through dramatic mountain scenery, views of the park are equally as spectacular from the waterline. From its rivers and lagoon, to glacier-fringed lakes bobbing with icebergs, the kayaking here is amazing: and you won’t have to share the views with anyone else.

Camping on the shoreline, there are a variety of ways to experience Torres del Paine by kayak: Two day down the Serrano River towards Puerto Natales, a three day Serrano and Grey River itinerary, including the mighty Grey Glacier and an extended four day Ice Route kayak adventure, deep in the wilderness of Bernardo O’Higgins National Park as well as Paine itself.

As its name suggests, the Chilean Lake District is a region that feels designed to be explored by kayak. This is a place where the rivers are overlooked by snowy volcanoes so cartoonishly perfect it’s as if a child drew them, and the fjords are dotted with isolated beaches where you can watch dolphins from your tent – or as you paddle among them.

Our hiking and kayaking in Cochamo itinerary shows the region off at its best, with kayaking on the Petrohue River, and then onto the immense Reloncavi Fjord, which is rich in marine and birdlife, waterfall cliffs tumbling straight into the sea, and hot springs deep in the Alerce Andino National Park. 

Kayaking along Patagonia’s Atlantic coastline in Peninsula Valdés is like nothing else in the region. This is about exploring hidden coves and empty beaches far from any road, and having some of the region’s best wildlife encounters at the same time – all of which can be done on our Peninsula Valdés Wildlife Kayaking itinerary. 

The beaches here throng with colonies of South American sea lions, and kayaking with them is a delight, especially from the new year when the pups swim curiously among visitors.

Even more breathtaking, from June to December you can kayak with southern right whales, who come to the Peninsula to breed: one of the most humbling wildlife encounters on the planet.