Ice hiking and kayaking at Grey Glacier
If you want your boots on the ice itself, exactly one tour does it, and it asks more of you than a ticket. The Grey ice hike starts from a base camp at the end of a trail, with no van from town, so you plan a night at Refugio or Camping Grey around it. Two kayak trips put you on the water instead, each with a catch of its own.
One tour puts you on the ice
Every boat in these guides shows you Grey from the deck, and none of them lands passengers on the glacier. The one exception is Howlanders' ice hike on Grey, from ~$365, sold on Viator and guided from Bigfoot Patagonia's base camp on the shore of Lago Grey. Like the 3-hour boat it comes with no ride from Puerto Natales, and unlike the boat, no road reaches its start. We found no ice hike anywhere that is sold with transport from town. If the catamaran is what you pictured, the Grey III sailing, step by step walks through it. This page is for people who want crampons on their boots or a paddle in their hands.
How the five hours go
You meet at the Grey base camp, about 10 minutes' walk from Refugio Grey and Camping Grey, for an 8:30 am or a 2:30 pm start. A zodiac carries the group across the water for roughly 20 minutes to a beach near the ice. From there you walk for about an hour over the moraine, the loose rock and gravel the glacier has shoved up along its side. At the edge of the ice the guides give a safety briefing and hand out crampons and ice axes.
Then you get about 2.5 hours on the glacier itself. The listing names crevasses, meltwater streams, small lagoons and ice caves, with tunnels where the ice allows. Afterward comes a snack and a hot drink, then the walk and the zodiac back. The whole outing lasts about 5 hours and covers roughly 3 km (1.9 mi). Groups top out at 12, and Howlanders grades the difficulty as high.
One recent reviewer gives a feel for the pace. After breakfast at the Grey hostel at 7 am and the short walk to the base, the group went out with two guides. They did not go very far onto the glacier, the reviewer says, but they drank from a stream running across the ice and were back by about 12–12:30 pm, with time for lunch before walking on to Paine Grande. Expect a guided taste of the glacier rather than an expedition.
The night at Grey you have to plan
The hike starts where no road goes, so the timing hangs on where you sleep. For the 8:30 am start you spend the night before at Refugio Grey or Camping Grey. For the 2:30 pm start you spend the night after there, since you come off the ice around 7:30 pm. Howlanders does not list that night among what the price covers, so book the bed or the tent pitch on your own.
In practice that turns the hike into one day of a W Trek or an O Circuit rather than an outing from Puerto Natales. Refugio Grey sits on the W, a long half day on foot from Paine Grande, and our guide to Grey on foot covers that trail and the viewpoint above the ice. According to Torres del Paine Adventure's listing, the Grey III also pulls in at Refugio Grey to serve hikers, so trekkers can spare themselves the walk in one direction. If you are not trekking anyway, the walk in and out stretches a five-hour activity into two days, and the river kayak further down this page may suit you better.
Who should book it, and who should not
Howlanders accepts ages 14 to 65, and the listing rules out anyone with back or heart problems. You need strong fitness, mostly for the moraine, where the footing shifts under you for about an hour on the way in. On the ice the crampons give you grip, but you are still on your feet for hours on an uneven surface in the cold. What to wear and bring to Grey has the layers for that.
The booking terms are gentler than the walk. Cancellation is free up to 24 hours before, and you can pay later. Howlanders confirms your place within 48 hours, so wait for that before you reserve the refugio. The park entrance is not included. Three reviews so far, all five stars, is a thin record. Viator says travelers book this hike about 92 days ahead on average, the longest lead time of any Grey trip we compared, and it only runs from September to April, so check which months suit Grey before you build a trek around it.
Five hours on the ice from the Grey base camp
Howlanders' hike crosses by zodiac and climbs the moraine to give you about 2.5 hours on Grey in crampons, from ~$365. Cancellation is free until 24 hours before, but sort out your night at Refugio or Camping Grey first.
Kayaking among the icebergs on Lago Grey
Howlanders' kayak trip in front of Grey Glacier, from ~$250, sets out from the same Bigfoot base camp. You paddle double kayaks for about 2.5 hours, roughly 6 km (3.7 mi), through a bay of floating ice toward the glacier's east face, passing a meltwater waterfall on the way. The guides hold the group at a safe distance from the front, because ice can break off it without warning, though no trip can promise you will see it fall. Groups go up to 12, and the outing runs about 3–4 hours in all.
Its catches are bigger than the hike's. The booking is non-refundable, so a bad forecast or a twisted ankle costs you the full price. It needs the same night at Grey, since nothing takes you there from town. And its 4.2 average from five reviews is the lowest rating of the thirteen tours we compare.
Down the Grey River from Puerto Natales
The one paddling trip with a pickup in town is Paddlegonia's Grey River kayak tour, from ~$670. The van takes about 2 hours each way, and on the water you spend about 3 hours covering roughly 16 km (10 mi) of river between the Pingo sector and the Grey bridge, paddling downstream with small icebergs drifting alongside. Paddlegonia supplies dry suits and ACA-certified guides. Groups stay at eight or fewer, and no one under 13 can join.
The catch is the price for something this new. It costs roughly five times the 3-hour sailing and has no reviews yet, and the park entrance comes on top. The route also runs downstream from the lake, away from the glacier's face, so treat it as a paddling day in the park rather than a close look at the ice.
Which one fits your trip
If you are walking the W or the O and sleeping at Grey anyway, plan around the ice hike, and keep the lake kayak as a second idea for a calm day once you have accepted that it cannot be refunded. If you are based in Puerto Natales with one free day, neither base-camp trip works, and your choice is the river kayak or a boat.
The 3-hour Grey III sailing, from ~$130, takes you along the face of the glacier for a fraction of either price, and getting there from Puerto Natales covers the drive. For the full bill with the park ticket added, see what a Grey Glacier tour costs. To fold the boat into a day of viewpoints, read one day in Torres del Paine.