North Face or South Face: Which Perito Moreno Boat?

The north face is the glacier’s front on the Canal de los Tempanos, below the walkways; its boats leave from Puerto F. P. Moreno, at the walkways’ foot, and run along the wall for an hour. The south face is the front on the Brazo Rico side; its boats leave from Bajo de las Sombras, a landing on the road about 71 km from El Calafate. If you are spending the day at the walkways, take the north-wall boat: Southern Spirit Lago Argentino’s El Calafate: Perito Moreno Glacier Boat Tour with Guide is from US$50 for the hour (checked November 2026), with several departures a day. If you are driving, or want to stand beside the ice on the shore as well, the south side from Bajo de las Sombras is the one.

Pick a date to see the departures on sale. Free cancellation runs until 24 hours before.

The two sides on the map

The names follow the water. Puerto Moreno, at the foot of the walkways, is on the Canal de los Tempanos, seconds by boat from the glacier’s northern face; Hielo y Aventura S.A’s boats from Bajo de las Sombras sail the Rico arm along the south face. The Administracion de Parques Nacionales lists the Moreno Spirit for the north face and the Safari Nautico for the south.

Side by side

GetYourGuide prices, checked November 2026; Bross Travel's on 3 December 2026, 20 January and 27 March 2027. Timetables and pesos prices from Southern Spirit Lago Argentino’s and Hielo y Aventura S.A’s own sites, read November 2026; the GetYourGuide calendars show the times on sale.

The north wall

Southern Spirit Lago Argentino's boat runs for an hour along the north wall from Puerto F. P. Moreno, with a Spanish and English guide, and fits around a day on the walkways because the port is at their foot. On its own site the company sells the same hour as the Moreno Spirit, with up to 260 people on a sailing. Bross Travel's north-face boat leaves from the same Puerto Moreno and sails the full width of the north face; check in at least 20 minutes before, because a boat that has left does not come back for latecomers.

The south face

Hielo y Aventura S.A's Nautical Safari sails the Rico arm for an hour and stops about 400 metres from the south wall, and the crew hands round small pieces of iceberg to touch. It carries a wheelchair-accessible tag, and rain does not cancel it. The same company’s Blue Safari crosses the same water, lands you for an easy 1.5 km walk along the shore to the glacier’s south side, then sails very close to the south face; that one is 3 hours from the port, from US$117.

Bajo de las Sombras is about 71.1 km by road from the centre of El Calafate, about 79 minutes, and 6.1 km short of the walkways car park, so a south-face boat and the walkways fit in one day by car.

Which side for whom

Prices, ratings and review counts from the listings (GetYourGuide checked November 2026). Operators price by date and season, so treat the figures as the shape of the market, not a quote.