chitownsam
The boat ride had some beautiful views of the lake and mountains. The walk up to the waterfalls was not overly strenuous and had some great forest landscapes. At the end Lago Cantaros was small, serene and gorgeous. You can take about a one hour walk from the waterfall path to Puerto Blest or a very, very short boat ride. We took the boat ride because I was very hungry and wanted to get something to eat at the Puerto Blest restaurant. There is some major construction going on there. Appeared to be close to finished but who knows when? Currently, Puerto Blest consists of a small snack shop, not a restaurant, with very limited way overpriced food, bathrooms, and a nice picnic area. The tour gives you about 2 hours there - or you can pay extra and take a different boat tour of Lago Frio which I heard wasn't much. Best idea. Bring your own food and drinks and spend much of that extra time walking from the waterfall path to Puerto Blest.
Boogies_11
The organization of the time in Puerto Blest is not the best, but the landscapes are totally worth it!
Verito70
The navigation to Puerto Blest is really amazing. Once there, you have the option to take an additional navigation to Lago Frias. Lago Frias shows an amazing green color as it has traces of glacier minerals. You can watch on this navigation Cerro Tronador and its 3 peaks (the one that belongs to Chile, the international one and the one for Argentina). There's also an international pass to Chile.Once returned to Puerto Blest, the boat will cross to the other coast and you'll be able to walk the 700 steps to see 'Cascada los Cantaros' (3 observation decks at different levels) and the fourth one is lake Los Cantaros, which is also beautiful. There you'll also be able to see a 1500 years old 'alerce' (tree). It's most of the times rainy on this part of the national park, so, make sure you try to select a perfect sunny day to fully enjoy.
danielbN4332QZ
There are several boat rides in Bariloche readily available. But in my opinion, this is the best one. You ride about an hour in the waters of Nahuel Lake until you arrive at Puerto Blest. A small and very peaceful harbor. There you can go WAY UP to a waterfall which is really amazing. (not Iguazu falls, but falls at last!) What is amazing about it is that is up on mountain. After that, you can either have a picnic lunch or eat in the restaurant which has accesible prices.The return trip is fantastic and the catamaran is followed all the way back by albatrosses which eat out of your hand if you wish to feed them.After this boat ride, I would consider some of the other ones.
nataliyan669
was lucky half of the way and enjoyed the hike to the waterfall and the ride on the boat - but most of the time it is raining there and half of the trip could not see a squat. Also there is a nice hike of 3 km between the restaurant and stairs to the waterfall. Good luck with weather!
MarciaA457
The 1500 year old tree is pretty cool and, of course the waterfall and views are amazing. I liked the hour long hike from the port to the restaurant; very educational and a nice little work out to go with climbing the 800 steps!
DLJ2
Some pretty decent scenery on the way, although it was tough to see it past all the people standing up trying to feed the seagulls. Too much time at the end with only a couple places to wander (waterfalls, Lago Frio). We walked the 3km to Lago Frio and were pretty disappointed - no good place to see the lake and when we tried to get a photo from the top of the Turisur boat (the company we paid to get there with) a guy came out and was a real dick about it, walking us all the way off the dock (that isn't public either?) then putting a chain across behind us (maybe that should have been there in the first place?). All in all, a long time and lot of money for a couple good views. Better to be had on day hikes around town.
Peter3101
Puerto Blest is currently a work-in-progress, with lots of building work at the ferry landing stage. There is a cafe about 100 metres up the hill behind, where you can get coffee etc, but better to bring your own. But I doubt if anyone goes to Puerto Blest for itself: most will go for the waterfalls and lake nearby, which, on a good day, are glorious. But spend your time by the waterfalls and on the forest trails, not at Puerto Blest
conatus
As part of the crossing the lakes package from Petrohue to Bariloche, we crossed the Andes and arrived at customs/border control at Puerto Frias before continuing on to Puerto Blest. Views of mountains and lakes along the way were stunning... though I think we were lucky with the blue sky weather! Regardless, it was a sensational day and we'd highly recommend it.
nekoandrita
This was the tour i enjoyed the most in bariloche... Followed by el bosque de Los arrayanes and el tronador. The colors of the water and the landscape are breath taking. This is indeed only a boat trip with no much to do as other reviewers said, but you will never forget how beautiful it is.
artbacis
This full day excursion by boat along Lake Nahuel Huapi is beautiful. You have an hour's boat ride followed by an opportunity to continue on to Lake Frias(?) or to walk on the road along the Rio Frias(?) through the Valdivian rain forest. I would recommend the walk as a change of pace. After another short boat ride there is the opportunity to climb about 700 stairs along a waterfall taking you to its source which is a lake. The lake is surrounded by the snow capped peaks of the Andes along with glaciers and numerous small waterfalls. If the weather is clear, it's a great way to spend a day.
Burke642013
I agree with most of the reviews posted recently. It really is just a very slow boat ride and you must purchase the second part of the trip otherwise you will just sit at Puerto Blest for 3 hours doing nothing. The ticket price should include both but it doesn't. It's absurd to think any visitor would find that interesting and they should know it. There are several photographers on the trip that do a nice job and really push selling them which I don't mind since we wanted nice pictures of our whole family. Problem is I bought all of ours photos which were supposed to get put on a disc with their best pictures of the area, but they are not on the disc. So basically I bought a disc of generic pictures that I could have taken.. To be clear I do not believe it was intentional, they have the equipment and clearly had the skill but they were rushing to burn many discs and in my case, my family pictures got left out. Very annoying once I got home of course but not much i can do now. If you a buy pictures on a disc ask them to pop in the disc and make sure your photos are in fact there where you can find them.
DiEdwards
We had a wonderful experience and having been nervous to do the whole crossing to Chile because of reviews, I would now definately do the crossing if we went again. Very well organised, although it may get a bit slow at the border, but such helpful people on the boat even though we had no spanish. Views amazing although best to book once you know the weather forecast. Thanks to Edwardo on the boat. Bariloche a definate must if you ever go to Argentina, so much to do.
malter2010
I'll try to be objective here:1) the places, Puerto Blest and + Cascada Los Cantaors & Lago Frias (we paid extra to go see Lago frias, where the water turns milky green): both beautiful, but not much to do really once you're there....the boat to puerto blest takes you through amazing landscapes, and you get to feed the seagulls too, that's nice2) the company that owns the boats, terrible organization: the trip to Lago Frias took forever, like 1 hour wait in the boat with all of us ready to leave, because they use that service to cross people from Chile to Argentina, so basically for them, that part of the trip is a taxi drive to get people from one country to the other. I'd not pay for the second part of the trip, but if you don't, you need to wait like 3 hs doing nothing in puerto blest, so not sure what is the best option thereIf you have any questions, please feel free to send me a PMCheers
David68_11
Three years ago we went on a wonderful holiday to South America, the highlight of which was supposed to be a 2-day trip through the Andean lakes by boat and bus from Puerto Varas in Chile to Bariloche (via Puerto Blest). Unfortunately, the weather was appalling with very low cloud throughout and rain most of the time - as a result we saw practically nothing. It was only afterwards we discovered that this weather is the norm (about 250 days a year we were told!). However, we decided that we would like to revisit the Bariloche area and go on a boat trip if, and only if, the weather appeared to give us a much better chance of some views. We were very fortunate that one of the four days that we were staying near Bariloche proved to be one of the best of the year (or so our hotel receptionist told us). Hence we booked a trip from Puerto Panuelo near Llao Llao along the western part of Lago Nahuel Huapi to Puerto Blest, plus an optional add-on of a short cruise on Lago Frias. The good weather and the fact that it was Sunday meant that the boat was pretty crowded, making it advantageous that we had booked a couple of days earlier. The trip to Puerto Blest was magnificent with the sun beating down on the tree-clad mountains fringing the lake, giving many photo opportunities. Before we landed at Puerto Blest (which is basically one hotel and very little else!) we did a detour to disembark for a walk up the impressive Los Cantaros waterfall and to Lago Cantaros with its spectacular reflections. After a short break for refreshment at Puerto Blest Hotel, we were picked up by coach for the short drive to Lago Frias, and the most spectacular views of the snow-covered Cerro Tronador from the tourist boat on the lake. Afterwards, we retraced our steps to Puerto Panuelo, noticing how the colours had changed with the different angle of the sun. By the time we returned to our hotel we had hardly seen a single cloud - we were certainly lucky second time round.There are just a couple of points to bear in mind - the trip is largely within the national Park and a fee (100 pesos, I believe) is payable before leaving Puerto Panuelo, in addition to the cost of the trip, and it is worth considering taking refreshments with you, as the food on the boat is relatively limited and the time at Puerto Blest is quite short if you are going to Lago Frias.