Lobo Larsen . Puerto Madryn
Our first morning in Puerto Madryn, Argentina we rose early, (early as in the same hour the clubs empty out in Buenos Aires,) and enjoyed the breakfast at Hotel Tolosa before driving along the boardwalk to Lobo Larsen, for what was promised to be a unique adventure.
Lobo Larsen is a diving outfitter (beginner to advanced) in addition to offering a unique excursion: The opportunity to swim with “Los Lobos del Mar,” or Sea Lions.
Weeks earlier I had stumbled upon their video, watched for about 15 seconds, and decidedly closed it before immediately sending them an email with my dates in Patagonia. Unlike most activities I plan out to the letter, I wanted to be as surprised as was possible.
Upon arrival we suited up for our combination sea lion adventure and dive trip. We hopped aboard a jeep and rode about 10 miles around the rocky coast to a boat on a small dock. While boating out about a mile we saw a few groups of sea lions on the rocky shore. Their flapping around and groaning reminded me of a similar boat ride eight years earlier, watching whales, puffins and glaciers in Alaska’s Resurrection Bay, while the boat captain with two prosthetic arms pointed out groups of sea lions and jokingly muttered how noisy and smelly they were. (He was paid by the state to do population counts during his trips.) Now here I was, again in a small town during the off season, but almost to the geographic end of the opposite hemisphere – and this time about to go swimming with these big noisy guys.
A minute after we donned the snorkels and masks they were around us. I had assumed that to “swim with the sea lions” meant we would see them in very close proximity. However I had no idea the experience would be so immensely interactive. Imagine going to the park and 10 friendly dogs scramble up to you frolicking, licking and begging to play. Now imagine you and all the dogs are in the water, and the pups are giants and weigh 250 pounds with huge brown saucer size eyes and foot long whiskers. Just writing that months later makes me smile.
“Los lobos” rolled and bobbed around our small group for as long as we were in the water, constantly nudging us, thumping into us ascenting from their dives, and even nuzzling up to our faces, studying us for a moment and swimming away. One playfully gnawed at my arm – thankfully their mouths and teeth are small in relation to their bodies. They were so animated and friendly that by the end of our time in the water we could pick out some of the individual and most playful pups.
It was exhilarating.
This area of Patagonia is one of the few places in the world where people can actually swim with sea lions, since other locales are populated by sharks that prey on the little guys. Note to families: There’s a small museum in Puerto Madryn. It has an excellent marine and fauna exhibits, but also a video showing the sharks’ sadistic predatory behavior to the sea lion pups. After a sea lion swim I recommend skipping it and pretending nothing brutal ever happens in nature.
After our swim, which lasted about 34-45 minutes, we cruised to another part of the ocean and each of the 10 or so people in our group did a quick scuba dive. Having done diving in the Caribbean, off the Yucatan coast, the murky Atlantic wasn’t at all comparable, and since I wasn’t certified the folks at Lobo Larsen didn’t want me diving solo. (Conversely in Mexico so long as I prove I don’t freak out and know the signals many operators will let me dive and just follow me around ensuring myself and my gear stay safe.)
The dive was an enjoyable experience nonetheless, and after my dive I chose to relax and sit in the ocean outside the boat. I figured I don’t often get to just float around in the Atlantic, much less stare are the rugged coast of Patagonia from the ocean.
The staff is among the friendliest people in Argentina I’ve met. Passionate about their work and knowledgeable. I can’t think of anything more exciting and different to do if visiting Puerto Madryn, well maybe one other thing.
Doing it: Puerto Madryn is two hours south of Buenos Aires by plane. Aerolineas Argentinas flies to Trelew, about 30 miles away. Tour companies are plentiful but I recommend a car. We used Budget, located at the Trelew airport.
Avenida Roca 885, Local 2 Puerto Madryn, Chubut, Argentina
