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An update from Evaneos
Puerto Tranquilo

Puerto Tranquilo (Argentina)

Practical information about Puerto Tranquilo

  • Port
  • Lake
  • Caves
  • Off the beaten track
4 / 5 - One review
How to get there
215km drive from Coyhaique
When to go
From September to April
Minimum stay
One day

Reviews of Puerto Tranquilo

Travel writer
54 travel articles

Puerto Rio Tranquilo is a small village on the shores of Lake General Carrera. Its on the Carretera Austral and the main reason for stopping there is to take a boat trip to see the "marble chapels" on the lake. A must see if you are in Chilean Patagonia!

My suggestion:
If you are just passing through the village and not sleeping there, you can ask the agencies who organise the lake trips to look after your back pack.
Summary:

I arrived at Puerto Rio Tranquilo by chance because the day before I had missed the ferry that was supposed to take me from Puerto General Ibáñez to Chile Chico. So I had no other choice but to travel around the (big) General Carrera Lake.

The day before, I had managed to hitch a ride with a kind driver and I had slept in a small hotel on the road, not far from Puerto Rio Tranquilo. After hitching another ride, I arrived in Puerto Rio Tranquilo in the middle of the morning. I went to find out about boat trips to visit the famous "Capillas de Mármol" or "marble chapels" on the lake. There were no places available until the afternoon so I went for a walk around the village. The weather was good and it was nice walking down the little streets and along the shores of the lake. It would have been even better if I hadn't been carrying my 18kg rucksack on my back!

In the end, I left my pack with the agency that arranged my boat trip. There is a wind, so watch out for sea sickness (even though you are on a lake), you get shaken about a lot and are soon soaked! We went off for about 2 hours on the lake to visit the "chapels". In fact, they are little islets, eroded away until they look like little chapels. The colours change with the sun and the reflections from the water and it's very pretty.

Back on dry ground, the bus had just arrived and everyone got on (it's the only one of the day) , and I still had my tour of the lake to finish...

The marble chapels at Puerto Rio Tranquilo