Golfo Nuevo, off Puerto Pirámides, is the whale-watching centre. Southern right whales enter the gulf to calve and mate from roughly June to December, and boat trips leave from the village beach — mothers with calves come alongside the boats regularly. From the cliffs at El Doradillo, near Puerto Madryn, whales can be watched from shore in shallow water metres from the beach.

Punta Norte, on the northeastern tip, is where orcas intentionally strand themselves on the shingle to take sea lion pups — behaviour known from only a handful of places on Earth. It happens around the high tides of roughly February to April, requires patience over several days, and is never guaranteed.

Caleta Valdés and Punta Delgada hold the southern elephant seals, the only continental breeding colony of the species. Bulls hold beach harems through the spring, roughly September to November, with the noise and violence that implies.

The interior steppe is easy to overlook and shouldn't be: guanaco, rhea, mara and armadillo are all common along the gravel roads between the coastal sites.

Practicalities

Puerto Madryn is the base, reached by air from Buenos Aires. The peninsula is explored by hire car on gravel roads — distances are long and fuel is only available at the isthmus, so fill up before heading out.

Magellanic penguins nest at Punta Tombo, a few hours south, in one of the largest colonies in South America from about September to March — usually done as a separate day trip rather than as part of the peninsula itself.