Balmaceda Glacier

Northwest of Puerto Natales, after several hours of sailing across the Última Esperanza Sound, the fjord narrows and the wall of Mount Balmaceda (2,035 meters) comes into view. Hanging on its slope, held almost miraculously against the rock, is the Balmaceda Glacier: a tongue of blue ice that never reaches the water, yet feeds it with every block that breaks loose and falls into the void.

What you're looking at

Balmaceda is a hanging glacier, meaning it doesn't descend all the way to the sea like tidewater glaciers. Instead, it ends in a cliff of ice suspended on the mountainside. It belongs to Bernardo O'Higgins National Park, the largest protected area in Chile, a maze of fjords, islands and channels that almost nobody travels in full, fed by the Southern Patagonian Ice Field.

Its front is retreating, and old photographs show it much closer to the water than it is today. That contrast is part of the conversation on board: you're facing a climate archive that changes shape decade by decade, with the occasional roar of cracking ice as a soundtrack.

How to get there

Only by water. There's no road, no trail, no vehicle access to Balmaceda: the only way to see it is by sailing from Puerto Natales or from the Puerto Bories pier, following the fjord northward. Along the way you'll often spot cormorant colonies, sea lions resting on the rocks and waterfalls pouring down the walls after a rainy day.

A visit to Balmaceda is almost always combined with a landing near the Serrano Glacier, where a trail of about one kilometer through Magellanic forest leads to a viewpoint facing the ice. There are half-day and full-day sailings; some continue up the Serrano River by boat toward the Torres del Paine sector, a different way of entering the park.

Season and what to bring

The usual window runs from October to April, when there are more daylight hours and departures are more frequent. In winter, operations are considerably reduced. At any time of year, the sailing depends on the wind and the state of the fjord: it's normal for a departure to be adjusted or suspended due to conditions, so it's worth leaving some slack in your itinerary and not saving it for your last day in Natales.

• Waterproof windbreaker and layers: the boat deck is the best place to watch from, and the wind blows there.
• Hat and gloves, even in January.
• Footwear with good grip for the trail to Serrano, which can be muddy.
• Sunscreen and sunglasses: the light reflected off the water and the ice is intense.
• A cloth for your camera or phone, for the drizzle and the spray.

There is an entrance fee for Bernardo O'Higgins National Park; check the current rate when you book, since CONAF sets it.

If you'd like to add this sailing to your days in Puerto Natales, at GreatChile we handle the half-day and full-day departures to Balmaceda and Serrano, and we can help you fit them around your arrival in or departure from Paine. Write to us and we'll work it out together.