Puerto Madryn

Puerto Madryn is where the Welsh settlers came ashore in 1865, and it has grown into a long seafront town on the curve of the Golfo Nuevo. The gulf brings the whales close to the beaches in season. Fifteen kilometres south, Punta Loma is a reserve with a colony of sea lions under the cliffs; further on, at the southern mouth of the gulf, the Punta Ninfas lighthouse looks down on elephant seals, and the estancia of El Pedral has its own penguin colony.

Snorkelling with the sea lions at Punta Loma, which come to play with the swimmers, is one of the most unusual experiences on the coast; in summer, a boat leaves at dawn to find the dusky dolphins. Kayaking among the whales leaves from the town beach. A day or a night at El Pedral, a farmhouse from the early twentieth century on the steppe, adds penguins, elephant seals and the history of the first settlers.

The calendar follows the region's. Snorkelling with sea lions and the dolphin trips are summer activities; the whales come into the gulf in winter and spring.