I found out about the Marble Caves (Capilla y Catedral de Mármol) in Puerto Rio Tranquilo, Chile before my trip started and saved it in Google Maps, thinking “There shouldn’t be any problems getting there. It’s well known!” Boy, was I wrong. When I finally sat down to do some research, the most recent information I found was from two years ago, and some of it has changed, so I’d like to share with you all some updated information I found based on my experience to get to the caves in case anyone else is interested. I’m writing this while still in Chile Chico, so hopefully it’ll be relevant for some time! Disclaimer: this will only address how to get there from El Chalten and information that I received.
Step 1: El Chalten to Los Antiguos
First, you need to take a bus to Los Antiguos which is a border crossing town on the Argentinian side. There were two companies selling tickets to this destination, both with semi-cama seats at $2,090 ARS. Chalten Travel departs from El Chalten at 21:00 and arrives at 07:00. They stop offering this service on April 21, I assume due to El Chalten closing for the season after Easter. Marga departs at 21:50 and arrives at 08:25; this bus also offers Cama seats. I don’t know if this service closes, but it doesn’t go every day, so you’ll have to check with the company. The route takes highway 40, but sometimes it’s closed, so the bus has to go around and you’ll arrive later than the stated time (according to the ticket seller at Chalten Travel).
Step 2: Border Crossing from Los Antiguos to Chile Chico
Once you reach the bus station in Los Antiguos, you can purchase a minibus ticket for $200 ARS cash ($250 ARS with credit card) from Los Antiguos to Chile Chico (the border crossing town in Chile), and the journey takes about an hour. I booked through Chalten Travel when I arrived at the Los Antiguos bus station for the transfer departing at 09:15. Marga offers this transfer service as well. You can book this transfer in El Chalten along with your bus ticket, but since route 40 might be closed, the guy suggested we wait until we arrived in Los Antiguos. There are three transfers a day: 08:30, 12:00, and 16:00, I believe. Our ticket said 08:30, but the minibuses for both Chalten Travel and Marga didn’t come until 09:15 which is what the ticket agent in Los Antiguos told us. Although we purchased a ticket from Chalten Travel, the minibus was operated by Turismo Martín Pescador and drops you off in front of their office in Chile Chico. I don’t know where the Marga transfer drops you off.
Step 3: Chile Chico to Puerto Rio Tranquilo
Turismo Martín Pescador sells transfer tickets to Puerto Rio Tranquilo for $14,000 CLP one-way ($28,000 CLP for round trip if you want a transfer back to Chile Chico). Our ride was in a van that departed Chile Chico at 09:30 (Chile was an hour behind Argentina while I was there, so this is 10:30 Argentinian time) and took about three hours. I don’t know if this is the only company offering transfer to Puerto Rio Tranquilo, but it seemed like they time the transfers according to when the border crossing transfers arrive, so my assumption is there would be at least two more. I didn’t see any other companies offering this route, but I didn’t look around town as I wanted to get there as early as possible. If you’re not in a rush, maybe walk around town to see if there are other companies offering this service too. The town of Chile Chico is very empty and there were barely any cars on this route, so I think it would be pretty difficult to hitchhike. The only experience I heard through the grapevine about hitchhiking was that it took a couple guys 4 hours to find a ride for this route. We seemed to be the only people on the street, so that doesn’t surprise me if it’s true.
Step 4: Puerto Rio Tranquilo to the Marble Caves
There were a number of boat operators on the waterfront offering boat tours to the Marble Caves. They all seemed to be the same price and leaving at a couple times: $10,000 CLP departing either at 09:00 or 11:00. The tour we took with Marmol Expediciones lasted about 1.5 hours. There are options to kayak to the caves too which looks like a great experience as the water seemed pretty calm, but I didn’t have enough time.
Step 5: Getting back to Chile Chico/Los Antiguos
The man at Turismo Martín Pescador said that the only transfer back to Chile Chico leaves Puerto Rio Tranquilo at 19:30. It seems odd to me that it’s so late and it’s the only one, but that’s what he told me. Again, maybe check to see if there are other companies offering this service, possibly at an earlier time. Assuming this is accurate, you would arrive back in Chile Chico at 22:30 which is too late to go to Los Antiguos since the border crossing is closed. Plan to spend one night in Chile Chico and cross to Los Antiguos the next day. The transfers with Turismo Martín Pescador to Los Antiguos depart at 10:00 and 15:00 from the main bus station in Chile Chico. It costs $3,500 CLP (about the same price as the $200 ARS in step 2).
DISCLAIMER: Since I was short on time, I opted to do the day trip with Turismo Martín Pescador from Chile Chico, so this is just information I got from the guy. You may be able to see if there is an earlier transfer back to Chile Chico from Puerto Rio Tranquilo since my Spanish is not great LOL.
Day Trip to the Marble Caves from Chile Chico
I ended up booking a day trip from Chile Chico to the Marble Caves for the same day return back to Chile Chico for $40,000 CLP since I wouldn’t be able to make it back in time for the bus from Los Antiguos to Bariloche. We left Chile Chico at 09:30 and came back around 18:30, right in time to check in to the hotel and eat dinner. Taking into account the costs of doing it yourself, you only save $2,000 CLP ($28,000 CLP round trip transfer + $10,000 CLP boat tour = $38,000 CLP). This is a great option if you only want to do the caves and nothing else in the area of Puerto Rio Tranquilo.
Since I’ve mentioned them so much and they seem to be the main operator, here’s Turismo Martín Pescador’s website: http://turismomartinpescador.cl.
Hope this helps!