Kawesqar National Park

Kawesqar was created in 2019 out of the former Alacalufes reserve and covers around twenty-eight thousand square kilometres of fjords, channels, islands and ice off the western Patagonian coast - one of the largest protected areas in the Americas. It is named for the Kawesqar, the canoe people who lived in these channels for thousands of years, moving with fire in their boats, and whose population was reduced to a handful by disease, displacement and killing after European contact; a small community remains at Puerto Eden. The marine waters between the islands were made a national reserve rather than part of the park, which allows salmon farming there.

Highlights

• Twenty-eight thousand square kilometres - fjords, channels and ice.
• Created in 2019 - from the former Alacalufes reserve.
• Named for the Kawesqar - the canoe people of these channels.
• Waters outside the park - a national reserve where salmon farming is allowed.

When to go

December to March. Several days by vessel.

Good to know

There is no road access and no infrastructure - visiting means a ship. Weather here is among the wettest and windiest on earth.

Nearby

Puerto Eden is inside the channels; Puerto Natales is south-east.

Key facts