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Blog - Jim's Thoughts

Chile Tours and Travel Packages

Multiple Destinations / Santiago area / Patagonia / Lake District
Easter Island / Atacama Desert / Expedition Cruises / Fiord Cruises
Biking / Treks / Multisport / Sea Kayaking / Wine Tours

Cruising the Chilean Fiords

Cruising the Central Fiords on the Skorpios II

The route of the M/V Skorpios II, with a capacity of up to 130 passengers, sails every Saturday, returning on Thurdays, from September to May from Puerto Montt, a city located 1,000 kilometers south of Santiago which is accessible by air or land. We will sail 800 miles through gulfs, channels and the Llanquihue, Chiloe, Chonos and Aysen archipelagos, visiting the village of Puerto Aguirre and the mythical city of Castro in Chiloe, until arriving to the spectacular and millenary San Rafael Glacier as well as the Quitralco Fjord. The M/V Skorpios II, built in 1988, has comfortable cabins distributed in 5 decks; all have private bathrooms, Plasma TV and background music. There are cabins with a matrimonial bed or twin beds. On board, you will be able to enjoy pleasant moments with the finest imported and national liquors in the 2 comfortable Bar Lounges with the “Open Bar” modality.

On board the M/V Skorpios II, you will find personalized and kind attention, always with exceptional service in charge of the Kochifas family and its experimented crew, who will award you with warmth and efficiency on a unique and unforgettable cruise. You will be able to enjoy a refined gastronomy, that alternates good international flavors with the best traditional southern Chilean cuisine amongst which you will find several sea foods such as: spider crabs, oysters, choritos, erizos, picorocos, salmons, basses, robalos and conger eels; as well as red and white meats and the delicious and succulent Curanto, always accompanied by the best Chilean wines and the exclusive drinks and beverages in the traditional Skorpios Open Bar

The San Rafael Glacier is, without a doubt, a great spectacle of magic and color with its floes of various shapes and sizes, being one of the glaciers with the most precipice activity in the Patagonia. The National Park San Rafael Lagoon is home to a varied marine fauna and a prodigious flora which live together in harmony and are not altered by the silent sailing of the M/V Skorpios II, whose magic can be perceived with greater astonishment when navigating in the safe Hercules (special excursion ice-breaking crafts), towards this Glacier of 2,000 meters width and towers of 70 meters of altitude, to live in the overwhelming sensation of the millenary... then, between this amazing floes, captivated, it is inevitable to toast with twelve year old whisky and this astonishing 30,000 year old ice.This glacier, baptized as San Rafael by Spanish Jesuit Don Juan Garcia Tao, who discovered it in the year 1620, is considered worldwide as the closest glacier to the line of Equator that lowers to the ocean. This Chilean National Park, declared the worldwide reservation of the Biosphere by the Unesco in 1978, is born in the Northern Ice Field over the Andes Mountain Range and crosses 15 kilometers from the San Valentin Mount until depositing its’ ice in the tranquil waters of the San Rafael Lagoon.

The Fjord of Quitralco, is an old Glacier surrounded by mountains and and exhuberant vegetation and is unique in its kind. Here are found the Thermal Baths and these are exclusive for the passengers of Skorpios. Here you have the possibility of taking baths, trips by boat, walks in the middle of the untouched forest and fishing. The area was declared in November 1996 a Sanctuary of Nature by the Monument Park association of Chile.

The Skorpios navigation track, includes stops at fisherman villages Puerto Aguirre and Queilen. Castro, the capital of Chiloe is another stop where tourists may buy wood crafts and wool at the artesans fair. The fauna and flora at these latitudes is unique - sea lions, seagulls, ducks, quetros, chilcos and small dolphins called toninas. They will fascinate those who love and respect this natural environment.

Saturday: 12.00 noon, weigh anchor from Skorpios Terminal in Puerto Montt. Sailing through the Llanquihue archipelago. Catch sight of Calbuco city. Ancud gulf, archipelago of Chiloe and Corcovado Gulf crossing at midnight.

Sunday : 08.00 hrs. navigation through the Moraleda and Ferronave channels. Arrival at the fishing village of Puerto Aguirre at 11.00 hrs. 12.30 noon continue sailing through Ferronave, Pilcomayo and Costa channels. At 21.30 hrs. approximately, anchor at Hualas cove or Punta Leopardos, 20 nautical miles from the San Rafael Glacier.

Monday : 07.30 hrs. crossing of the San Rafael Lagoon entrance and Tempanos channel. 09.00 hrs. the ship enters the Lagoon and anchors at 2 kms. away from the Glacier. Boat excursions among multicolored icebergs, if the weather allows to. 15.30 hrs. the ship gets closer to the Glacier. 17.00 hrs. set sail to the Quitralco fjord.

Tuesday : : 08.00 hrs. berth at the Quitralco pier. After breakfast, passengers can take hotspring baths were the water temperature is at 32ºC and 30ºC, in covered and outside pools. If the weather allows to, boat excursions in motor boats through the inside of the fjord. 19.00 hrs. sail towards Chiloe, navigating through the Moraleda and Perez Norte channels.

Wednesday: 08.00 hrs. Corcovado Gulf crossing. In this area, if the conditions allow to, there is a possibility of watching humpback whales and blue whales. Continue to sail through the oriental coast of the Chiloe island, Yal channel, Castro stream, arriving to this beautiful city at 15.00 hrs. Disembarkation to visit this place. 22.00 hrs. set sail towards Puerto Montt through Lemuy, Dalcahue and Quicavi channels. Farewell party, Captain's dinner, dance.

Thursday : 08.00 hrs. Docked at the Skorpios Terminal pier in Puerto Montt. 09.00 hrs. breakfast, disembarkation and passengers' transfer.

NB: The times and schedule indicated may be altered due to climatic reasons or forces beyond our control.

Sailing Dates for 2010-2011 season:
LOW SEASON - Sept. 4,11,18,25 Oct. 2,9,16,23,30, Nov. 6,13,20,27, Dec. 4,11, March 5,12,19,26, April 2,9,16,23,30
HIGH SEASON - Dec. 18, Jan. 8,15,22,29, Feb. 5,12,19,26
Special Sailings - Dec. 24, 31

2010-2011 Rates per person, double occupancy in US$

Children's rates: from 1-5 years old = free when sharing bed. From 6-11 = 50% discount when sharing cabin with parents.
Payment : 50% deposit, balance due 60 days before departure.
Boarding Tax: $12 per person