Reasons to visit Cape Horn
- Visit one of the most iconic places on the map in the comfort and safety of a modern adventure cruise ship
- See the meeting point of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, a narrow spit of land at the very tip of the island
- Visit the Cape Horn Monument, which acts as a memorial to those marines who lost their lives in these once dangerous seas
- Get your passport stamped at the southernmost tip of the world and meet the guardians of the lighthouse a the end of the world
- Go beyond Cape Horn to explore glaciers and penguin colonies in the remotest parts of Tierra del Fuego
About Cape Horn
Cape Horn from the air
The Cape Horn monument
The island of Cape Horn is part of a small archipelago that makes up Chile’s Cabo de Horno National Park – the southernmost national park in the world.
For centuries, the island and its surrounding seas have carried a fearsome reputation among sailors, who had to ‘round the horn’ while sailing between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It sits at 56° of latitude – in the heart of the Furious Fifties, where big seas and high winds are the order of the day, due to the strong circumpolar current that has to squeeze its way through the narrow gap between the tip of South America and the Antarctic Peninsula.
Cape Horn is named for the Dutch town of Hoorn, which was the hometown of navigator Willem Schouten, who was one of the first to sail around it in 1616. In 1833, In 1833, Captain Robert Fitzroy and Charles Darwin discovered the Beagle Channel, which provided a calmer route around Tierra del Fuego, and also offers the most sheltered approach to Cape Horn used by today’s adventure cruise ships. The opening of the Panama Canal in 1914 finally rendered the old and dangerous route around Cape Horn obsolete.
What to see & do at Cape Horn
The Cape Horn Monument
The Cape Horn Monument is the island’s most iconic sight, and it sits on a low hill, a short walk from the sheltered bay where zodiacs land on the island. The monument is a memorial to the mariners from every nation who perished in the Southern Ocean.
The abstract shapes of the monument evoking stormy seas, which resolve themselves into the life-sized silhouette of a wandering albatross. They are the largest flying bird in the world with a wingspan of nearly 12 feet (3.6m), and navigate the ocean here with effortless beauty.
Touching the monument automatically makes you an honorary member of the International Association of Cape Horniers, who erected it in 1991.

At the Cape Horn Monument
The lighthouse at the end of the world
Cape Horn’s lighthouse has helped guide sailors to safety for generations. Today, it's open to visitors, where you can get a souvenir stamp in your passport.
Tthe lighthouse is home to the island’s only residents: a Chilean navy officer and his wife, who is the ranger for the national park. Their two children also live here, though during term time they go to school on the mainland.
Next to the lighthouse is the tiny Stella Maris chapel (‘Star of the Seas’), which is South America’s southernmost church. It is filled with poignant tributes to the sailors who died in the seas here over the centuries.

Cape Horn lighthouse
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Wildlife
An adventure cruise to Cape Horn offers plenty of opportunities for wildlife watching. The Beagle Channel is a great place to see Commerson’s and dusky dolphins, along with South American sea lions hauled on rocky islets. Black-browed albatrosses are a common sight, along with southern giant petrels and imperial cormorants.
These cruises also visit the Tucker Islets and Magdalena Island, where there are large colonies of Magellanic penguins.
On Cape Horn island itself, keep your eyes open for the rayadito, a tiny endemic song bird. This is normally a forest bird, but a subspecies here has chosen to abandon the mainland to nest in the grass here – one of the toughest birds in South America!

Magellanic penguin
Glaciers
Adventure cruises to Cape Horn between Ushuaia and Punta Arenas, visit some of the most spectacular landscape in South America, touring remote glaciers that are only accessible fromt the sea.
A cruise through Glacier Alley is a highlight, with a procession of frozen blue glaciers poking their tongues into the sea from the Darwin mountain range. Pia Glacier, Águila Glacier and Condor Glacier, are all particularly dramatic, and the cruise gives the opportunity for landings in zodiacs so that you can hike up moraines to explore them at close quarters.

Pia Glacier

What our customers think of Cape Horn
Cape Horn trips scored 4.5/5 from 384 reviews
Review:

Swoop says
While modern ships make it possible to sail to Cape Horn in comfort and safety, sea conditions on the day govern whether you'll be able to land or just do a scenic cruise. While most trips do land at Cape Horn, it's impossible to guarantee: this is a place where Mother Nature calls the shots!
Where to stay at Cape Horn
There is no accommodation on the island at Cape Horn, so it is not possible to overnight there. Instead, you’ll stay in the comfort of your cabin on your adventure cruise ship – a far nicer prospect than that endured by earlier generations of mariners who navigated these waters in the days of sail.

Cabin on an Australis ship to Cape Horn
How to get to Cape Horn
There is only one way to get to Cape Horn: by sea. Visitors call in on the island as part of a five day adventure cruise sailing exploring Tierra del Fuego between Ushuaia and Punta Arenas.
Depending on the weather, it is an overnight trip to sail from Ushuaia through the Beagle Channel to Cape Horn. Ships typically time this voyage to arrive at Cape Horn at dawn to give the maximum opportunity to explore the island.
It is sometimes possible to do a scenic overflight of Cape Horn in a small plane from Navarino Island, flying over the Dientes de Navarino mountain range and Nassau Bay before flying over Cape Horn.

Landing by zodiac at Cape Horn
Cruises to Antarctica
Why not combine your luxury tour of Patagonia with an Antarctic cruise? Most Antarctic voyages begin in Patagonia, setting off from Punta Arenas or Ushuaia - the World’s most southerly city.
Antarctica is like nowhere else on Earth. You can see the White Continent in 6 to 32 days, depending on your budget and appetite for adventure. We offer a wide variety of trips, some of which visit the Falkland Islands and South Georgia, cross the Antarctic Circle or include kayaking, camping and skiing in Antarctica.
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