The Grey Glacier boat trip, step by step

The boat and who runs it

Turismo Lago Grey owns and sails the Grey III, a catamaran whose main cabin seats 98 passengers, with an outside deck as well. It runs the 3-hour trip up the lake to Grey Glacier, an outlet of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field that ends at the north end of Lago Grey. Most transfer tours on this site put their guests on this same boat, so reselling changes the price and the day around it, not the sailing. What a Grey Glacier tour costs lays the versions side by side. Guides on board speak English and Spanish.

Checking in and walking to the boat

Check-in is at Hotel Lago Grey, 1 hour before departure. Reviewers warn that the time you choose when booking is this check-in time rather than the departure. The captain confirms at check-in whether the sailing goes ahead, so this is where you learn about the wind.

From the closest car park you walk 3 km (1.9 mi) along Grey Beach, about 45 minutes on sand and shingle. The operator says the difficulty depends on the weather, and a headwind off the lake makes it feel longer. One reviewer skipped most of it by riding a shuttle toward the Río Pingo area. Transfer guests on Torres del Paine Adventure's tour walk about 35 minutes. If you are deciding how to reach the hotel at all, From Puerto Natales, transfer or drive covers the road.

Out to the ice and along the face

The first hour is open water. The lake is a milky grey-blue from glacial flour, rock the ice has ground to powder. Icebergs that broke off the front drift past on their way south. Then the boat slows near the glacier and spends roughly an hour along it. The operator puts the face at more than 82 feet (25 m) tall, and the ice meets the lake in several fronts split by rock. One reviewer saw all three tongues on a clear day.

Nothofagus Patagonia's listing gives a useful timetable for the morning boat. It leaves at 10 am and is back around 12:45–1 pm, 2 hours 45 minutes in all. Somewhere along the way the crew serves a pisco sour or a calafate sour over glacier ice, included in the fare. Reviewers say the second half of the sailing leaves time to eat a packed lunch, since the listings mention no food on board. Torres del Paine Adventure's listing adds that the boat stops at Refugio Grey for hikers, which is how some W Trek walkers ride one way, as Grey Glacier on foot describes.

Calving, if luck is with you

Ice breaking off the face and crashing into the lake is the moment everyone hopes for, and nobody can promise it. Some sailings see a slab fall; many see none. Count it as a bonus. What the trip does give you, weather allowing, is the scale of the face up close and the deep blue of old, compressed ice.

Deck or cabin

The wind comes straight off the ice field, so the deck is colder than anywhere you stood on shore. A sensible pattern is to warm up in the cabin on the way out and head for the deck once the boat reaches the face. A few habits help.

• Head out as soon as the boat slows at the glacier. The rails fill up, and the side facing the ice changes when the boat turns;
• Hold your phone or camera with both hands and use a strap. Gusts arrive without warning;
• When the lake is choppy, the cabin is the steadier place to sit, and spray reaches the bow;
• Wear a hat and gloves even in summer; what to wear and bring has the full list.

When the wind says no

The operator may suspend sailings for weather, and the wind on Lago Grey is the usual reason. Patagonian wind is strongest in spring and summer, which the best time to see Grey Glacier goes into. If Turismo Lago Grey cancels for weather or a mechanical problem, GetYourGuide refunds you in full. The operator does not cover your other costs, though, such as a rental car or a night nearby, so a flexible plan helps.

Who should think twice, and booking ahead

The sailing does not suit wheelchair users or anyone with limited mobility, mostly because of the beach walk. A Viator reviewer in a wheelchair could not reach the boat. Torres del Paine Adventure's version also rules out guests with heart or breathing problems and warns that the walk is sometimes into a strong wind.

Viator says the ParaViajantes version is booked on average about 66 days ahead, so in the busy months reserve early and lean on the free cancellation. If you want the boat with pickup from town, Howlanders' cruise with pickup, from ~$220, is cheaper than the other transfers, but its catch is that it is non-refundable. Go Patagonia's day from Puerto Natales, from ~$296, adds the park's viewpoints to the sailing over about 11 hours. Its catch is that no one has reviewed it yet.