The Beagle Channel is located in the wild and seemingly inhospitable land of Tierra del Fuego. At it's eastern end, the Beagle Channel forms part of the Chilean-Argentinian border, which was set some hundred years ago. The ownership of the Beagle's three small islands has long been in dispute, but the issue was resolved when the islands were awarded to Chile in 1985.

The Beagle Channel is where many Antarctic cruises set sail on their way from the port of Ushuaia all the way down to the South Shetland Islands.

It's also a challenging but fun place for kayaking. Kayaking trips tend to focus around Gable Island, where you can paddle to come face to face with sea lion colonies, see penguin rookeries and, if you're lucky, spot whales. Nearby natural landmarks include Mount Darwin, Tierra del Fuego's greatest peak that many climbers attempt to ascend, and Cape Horn. The Beagle Channel's nearest entry point on the Argentinian side is the small port town of Ushuaia, near to where Darwin would have stayed when he visited Tierra del Fuego on board the HMS Beagle in 1831.