LAGUNA SAN RAFAEL

San Rafael Lagoon

Región de Aysén
General Carlos Ibáñez del Campo

The lagoon is part of the San Rafael Lagoon National Park, covering an area of 1,742,000 hectares. San Rafael Lagoon was designated as a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 1979.

The lagoon is located at the southern end of the Moraleda Channel, at the foot of the Northern Ice Field and is a small entrance to the Pacific Ocean, around 15 kilometers in length and 10 kilometers in width. Its enormity, the 3,000-year San Rafael Glacier flows into the sea at this point, and undoubtedly is the biggest attraction of the region, known worldwide.

There are many blocks of ice floating in the lagoon, as well as the Valentine's Glacier, and large blocks of ice regularly fall into the water. The tourist ships visiting the lagoon remain in place for about six hours, and the excursions use smaller vessels. There is a wide range of alternatives in taking trips to San Rafael Lagoon, they vary in cost and duration, some plan their trips for the day and others do it for five days. A small pier has been installed here, so that small boats can get to here and people can walk to the base of the glacier. In addition, there are a number of points to observe along the way. From Puerto Chacabuco you can take beautiful trips, embarking on the Aisén Fjord, and continuing through the Costa channel until later reaching Elephants Estuary. The mass of ice that slides into the sea is part of the 1,742,000 hectares of the San Rafael Lagoon National Park, which was declared a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve in 1979. It is located 600 km south of Puerto Montt, in the Moraleda Canal part, at the foot of the Northern Ice Field, where the huge San Rafael Glacier ends. Their ices are more than 300,000 years old and start at 4,058 meters above sea level it at the end of Monte San Rafael Glacier in the southern Ice Fields of the Andes Mountains.

How Much Do We Love This Place?

The Good

It's an area of immense beauty with the remoteness that people expect from Patagonia
There are some of the best fly-fishing lodges
A sailing journey to one of Chile's most awe-inspiring glaciers
You can find lands laden with lush vegetation or layered in fields of ice