From Puerto Natales: transfer or drive?
Look at the map before you look at prices, because the pier is a long way from town. Hotel Lago Grey, where the Grey III passengers check in, sits roughly 2 hours from Puerto Natales, part of it on gravel. You can drive there yourself for the ~$130 sailing, or pay a tour to carry you both ways. This guide sets the two side by side, with the walk to the boat and the timing that catches people out.
Two ways to the pier
Every Grey III sailing checks in at Hotel Lago Grey, deep inside Torres del Paine National Park, and the boat is the same whichever way you arrive. What changes is the day around it. Drive, and you pay ~$130 for the 3-hour sailing and set your own hours. Take a transfer tour, and a minibus collects you in Puerto Natales and brings you back for roughly twice the money.
The park buses that carry hikers from town are a third route. None of the listings we compare covers them, so check a timetable against your check-in time before you count on one.
The road to Hotel Lago Grey
The tour listings give 1.5–2 hours each way between Puerto Natales and the hotel, and roughly 2 hours is the figure to plan around. Part of the route is gravel, and reviewers of the park day tours mention dusty, potholed stretches. In a rental car that means slower going than the distance suggests. On a transfer it means a long sit in a minibus, twice.
Drivers need a park ticket bought in advance, since the listings say to buy it before you go, and Torres del Paine park tickets and rules explains it. You can enter by the Serrano gate, the one Nothofagus Patagonia's van uses on its way to the boat. Allow the full 2 hours plus time at the gate, then the walk from the car park. If you have a flight the same day, one reviewer advises allowing 2 hours each way and leaving slack on top.
Driving yourself to the 3-hour sailing
The cheapest seat on the water, Turismo Lago Grey's sailing from ~$130, includes no transport at all. You check in at Hotel Lago Grey 1 hour before the boat, and reviewers point out that the time you pick when booking is that check-in time, not the departure. Plan the drive around it, not around the sailing.
Between the car park and the boat lies a 3 km (1.9 mi) walk along Grey Beach, sand and shingle, about 45 minutes each way and slower into a headwind. One reviewer took a shuttle from the hotel to the Río Pingo area instead and walked a short way from there, so ask at check-in whether it runs on your day. The sailing itself lasts about 2 hours 45 minutes. A guest who boarded at 12:45 pm was back on the beach at 3:35 pm, which puts you at the car in the late afternoon with the drive to town still ahead.
Riding a transfer with the sailing
Torres del Paine Adventure's navigation with transport, from ~$300, is the classic way to do it. A minibus collects you at your hotel in Puerto Natales, and after check-in you walk about 35 minutes along the beach to the boat. You sail with a pisco or calafate sour, then walk back to the Río Pingo cafeteria car park, where the van waits. The day runs about 8 hours, and you bring your own packed lunch.
Its reviews are the softest of our six. Transport scores 4.1, and one guest's "bilingual" guide spoke little English. A solo traveler from the UK thought it pricey for what amounts to a minibus and a boat ticket, though she was glad she went, since few operators offered the trip from town.
A minibus to the Grey III and back
Torres del Paine Adventure picks you up in Puerto Natales for an 8-hour day with the beach walk and the Grey III sailing in the middle, from ~$300 (often shown at about $285). Cancel free until 24 hours before, and pay later if you prefer.
Two cheaper transfers, each with a catch
Isla Yu Patagonia's cruise tour, from ~$259, covers the same ground for less, with a driver-guide on the road and a second guide on the catamaran. Pickup is from your accommodation in Puerto Natales only, so it will not meet you at the airport or a bus stop. The other catch is a short record, five reviews so far.
Howlanders' cruise with pickup, from ~$220, is cheaper again and offers four pickup times, at 6 am, 7 am, 9:30 am or 12:30 pm, which lets you choose between a morning and an afternoon boat. Groups run up to 20, and a 45-minute walk along the shore is part of the day. Its catch is that the booking is non-refundable, a gamble on a lake where the wind decides whether the boat leaves.
Getting more from the van
If you are paying for a transfer anyway, look at what else the day could hold. Nothofagus Patagonia's day with the boat and the viewpoints, from ~$300, is priced close to tour 2 and spends the afternoon at the park's viewpoints after the 10 am boat. Pickup is at 6–6:30 am, and groups are five people at most. If the boat matters less to you than the scenery, Torres del Paine Adventure's park day, from ~$68, walks the Lago Grey beach among stranded icebergs and skips the sailing. One day in Torres del Paine with Grey compares the two at length.
Which way suits you
- Drive if you already have a car and want the cheapest sailing. Gravel and a long day behind the wheel are the price;
- Take a transfer if you would rather nap than steer, or if you have no car. The minibus roughly doubles what you spend;
- Take a full park day with the boat if this is your only day in Torres del Paine. You see much more for about the transfer price, with a pickup at 6–6:30 am.
Whichever you choose, dress for a cold deck and a windy beach, as what to wear and bring sets out. The best time to see Grey Glacier covers the wind that cancels sailings, and what a Grey Glacier tour costs adds up the park ticket and the extras for each option.