About 75 km from Ushuaia, where the Beagle Channel narrows and Chile sits right across the water, a handful of wooden and tin houses, moored boats and king crab traps piled along the shore come into view. This is Puerto Almanza, the southernmost fishing village in Argentina. On the other side of the water you can see Puerto Williams, on Navarino Island.
For us, it is not just another dot on the map: it is where we set out to see penguins on a small boat. It is also one of the best places in the country to do something very simple and very hard to match: eat fresh king crab by the sea, served by the people who caught it.
Where is Puerto Almanza
The village sits at the mouth of the Almanza River, on Almirante Brown Bay, on the northern shore of the Beagle Channel, between Estancia Remolino and Estancia Harberton.
To get there from Ushuaia, you take National Route 3 and then two provincial roads: Route J, which runs through forests, peat bogs and lagoons, and Route K for the last 5 km. It is about an hour and a half's drive.
A place where the world gets smaller
Arriving in Almanza feels a bit like arriving at the edge. The channel in front, the mountains behind and the forest reaching almost down to the water. Across the channel rise the mountains of Navarino Island, and on calm days the Beagle is so still that the boats seem to float on a mirror.
There is no city noise and no rush. There are houses scattered along the shore, smoke rising from a chimney and boats coming back with whatever the day brought. You feel far from everything, and to a large extent, you are.
Walking along the shore, it is easy to imagine what Ushuaia must have been like in its early days: a handful of houses facing the channel, people who chose to live where hardly anyone wanted to, and the sea as the only way to make a living.
First, the border
Before the village existed, a sawmill operated on this shore during the 1940s and 1950s. But those who came to stay did so for another reason: the border.
In 1966, the Argentine Coast Guard (Prefectura) set up a post to watch over a stretch of the channel that was in dispute with Chile, and it is still in operation today. A year later, in 1967, the Argentine schooner "Cruz del Sur" was fishing for king crab near Gable Island when a Chilean patrol boat ordered it to leave.
Tension grew until the 1978 conflict. From that time remain the cannons that still point toward Puerto Williams, and today there is also a presence of the Argentine Navy.
A tribute facing the channel
Part of the country's recent history also passes through these same waters. In November 2017, the submarine ARA San Juan sailed from Ushuaia bound for Mar del Plata, its home base. To reach the Atlantic, it sailed the Beagle Channel past Almanza. Days later, contact with the vessel was lost on the high seas, with 44 crew members on board. The submarine was found a year later on the floor of the Atlantic.
Key fact: that is why the school in Almanza is named "44 Héroes ARA San Juan" (44 Heroes of the ARA San Juan). A tribute from the place the submarine passed on its last voyage.
"44 Héroes ARA San Juan" school, in Puerto Almanza.
Then came the fishermen
The civilian village is much more recent. In the 1980s, a fisherman named Rafael Quesada, who worked for a company based in Ushuaia, settled here when there was nothing. With nowhere to sleep on land, he and his partner Walter Jordan built a tin house with materials they gathered little by little.
The first civilian settlers arrived in the 1990s, and in 2001 a group of fishermen settled permanently. Why come to live so far away? For work:
- Being close to the fishing grounds. Setting out from Ushuaia meant long trips there and back, in small boats and on a channel that changes fast. Living here, the traps are minutes away.
- Safer navigation. On windy days, getting back to Ushuaia could be dangerous. From Almanza, the trip back is short.
- A fresher product. King crab loses quality with every hour and every mile. Living just meters from the water, it comes out of the sea and is processed right away.
- Space of their own. While the port of Ushuaia grew with cruise ships and larger vessels, Almanza offered an open shoreline where each fisherman could set up his own workplace.
And so, what started as a stopover became a village. Today Almanza is a small community of a few dozen families who live off the sea, and not just off king crab. Artisanal fishing includes king crab, southern stone crab (centollón), róbalo (Patagonian blennie) and shellfish, and it is done with small boats and traps, the same way it was decades ago. On top of that there is aquaculture: mussels are farmed in the Beagle Channel, with an operating base in Almanza, and some families run small-scale trout farms. In winter, which here is long and harsh, the families who chose to live by the channel year-round stay on.
King crab: the taste of the Beagle
If there is one product that defines Almanza, it is king crab (centolla). It is one of the most prized crustaceans in the world, and here it is caught by hand, from small boats and with traps.
What makes the experience unique is not just the product, but where and how you eat it. In Almanza there are no big restaurants: there are fishermen's homes that open their doors, tables overlooking the channel and king crab that often came out of the water that very day. Over time, the families themselves realized that travelers were willing to make the trip from Ushuaia to taste it at its source. That is how the Ruta de la Centolla (King Crab Route) was born, a circuit of the village's food ventures.
Eating king crab in Almanza means looking out at the Beagle, seeing the boats that brought it in and having Chile on the other side of the window. Few meals in Tierra del Fuego have such a strong sense of place.
Key fact: practically all the king crab caught in the Beagle is eaten on the island. Tasting it here means tasting it at its source.
King crab fresh out of the Beagle Channel, in Puerto Almanza.
From Almanza, off to see penguins
Puerto Almanza is also the gateway to Martillo Island. The island lies about 60 km from Ushuaia, very close to the village and facing Puerto Williams, and two penguin species breed there:
- Magellanic penguin: thousands arrive in spring to breed and leave at the end of summer.
- Gentoo penguin: a small colony that stays all year round, and the only breeding colony of this species in mainland South America outside the Falkland Islands (Malvinas).
Setting out from Almanza lets us sail on a small boat with very small groups, much closer to shore than on a catamaran. It is an intimate, calm experience that respects the animals.
Want to visit Puerto Almanza? Sail with us on a small boat to Martillo Island, or combine penguins and king crab on the same day.
Book: Puerto Almanza & the King Crab Route
Book: King Crab Route & Penguin Watching
Quick questions (FAQ)
Where is Puerto Almanza?
About 75 km from Ushuaia, on the northern shore of the Beagle Channel, facing Puerto Williams (Chile). You get there via National Route 3 and provincial roads J and K.
Is it the southernmost village in Argentina?
Yes. It is the southernmost settlement in the country and the southernmost fishing village in Argentina.
How did Puerto Almanza come about?
First came the Coast Guard in 1966 to watch over the border. Then, between the 1980s and 2001, artisanal fishermen who wanted to live close to the fishing grounds gradually settled here.
What do people do in Puerto Almanza?
Artisanal fishing (king crab, southern stone crab, róbalo and shellfish), mussel and trout farming, and more and more, food and tourism.
Can you eat king crab in Puerto Almanza?
Yes. Several fishing families serve king crab and other seafood with views of the channel.
Which penguins can you see setting out from Almanza?
Magellanic penguins in season (spring and summer) and gentoo penguins all year round.
Can you combine penguins and king crab on the same day?
Yes. We have a trip that combines the boat ride to the penguin colony with the Ruta de la Centolla.
Written by the Explore Tierra del Fuego team.