Port overview
Port of Ushuaia at a glance
Gateway to Antarctica.
Sunrise 5:38, sunset 20:59 local time on Nov 5 (15 h 21 min of daylight)
Cruise ships in Port of Ushuaia today
- In port now
- 0
- Ship calls, since Jul 2026
- 0
- Ships seen
- 0
- Cruise lines seen
- 0
observed tracked since Jul 1, 2026; we capture most, not all, calls. How we track ships
The national port agency describes the Port of Ushuaia as a multipurpose terminal for cargo and passengers; its main pier is 550 m long and 28 m wide. The pier is a jetty-type (espigón) pier with two berthing faces, north and south. The port issues the berth assignment 24 hours before the ship arrives. The pier is multipurpose: the port rules say it serves passenger, cargo, fishing, military and other non-commercial vessels. The port sees more than 500 international cruise calls a year.
One pier, several ships
Every vessel must declare its planned pier operations at least 48 hours before entering. When several passenger ships share a day, the port rules say they must berth and start disembarking passengers with enough time between them to avoid congestion on the pier. A provincial tourism institute report says the port can work three large ships (over 500 passengers) and two or three mid-size ones (101 to 299) at the same time. It also says a 104 m extension of the pier is already in use.
Getting to and from the airport
The provincial tourism institute calls Ushuaia the main sea gateway to the Antarctic continent, and its 2024-25 estimate counts about 465 Antarctic calls by 47 ships. The provincial tourism board puts the airport about 5 km from the centre of Ushuaia; the national Tierra del Fuego page gives 4 km south of the city. Year-round direct flights run from Buenos Aires and take about 3.5 hours. The tourism board lists taxis and remises at the airport.
From the pier into town
The municipal tourist information offices stand opposite the port and at the airport. Three urban bus lines run in the city, operated by the state company Ushuaia Integral. The municipality publishes an interactive route map and a PDF map of the lines, and the map did not yet include line C when we read it. The city bus fare was 1,280 pesos on 27 May 2026, and the bus company Ushuaia Integral proposed a rise to between 1,500 and 1,550 pesos. The latest taxi tariff hearing we found is dated 10 December 2024, so we quote no taxi price. The provincial tourism board says cruises on long South American itineraries stay in the city from a few hours to two or three days.
Catamarans and the passenger fee
The port includes a pier adapted for tourist catamarans, which the national agency says lets local excursions run independently of the operations of larger vessels. The port charges a passenger fee of USD 22.00 per passenger on vessels over 50 m in length; the tariff lists lower rates for local vessels and exempts crews and some other groups. Cruise passengers who paid it do not pay the catamaran passenger fee for excursions booked from the port terminal.
When the ships come
The cruise season generally runs from late September to early April. One long weekend in December 2025 brought 13 cruise ships and 3,071 passengers to the port.
Ushuaia call counts and pier times
When several passenger ships are in port the same day, the rules require them to coordinate disembarkation with the terminal's operations sector.
- Port type
- Turnaround Port
- Time zone
- Argentina Standard Time
- Terminals
- 2
- Annual passengers
- 500,000
- Max ship length
- 320 m
- UN/LOCODE
- ARUSH
Facilities
- Hotels Nearby
- Taxi Available
How this page is made
Ship calls come from WakeRadar's AIS tracking (date range shown above). Facts were checked between 2026-10-26 and 2026-10-29 against the sources below, which are Argentine national, provincial and municipal government pages, plus findelmundo.tur.ar, the site run by the provincial tourism institute (INFUETUR). The text is reviewed by the WakeRadar editor.
Sources
- https://www.argentina.gob.ar/economia/agencia-nacional-de-puertos-y-navegacion/sobre-el-puerto-de-ushuaia
- https://www.argentina.gob.ar/sites/default/files/2026/02/if-2026-68833634-apn-upuagp_1.pdf
- https://www.argentina.gob.ar/sites/default/files/2026/04/anexo_7633167_1.pdf
- https://uploads.infuetur.gob.ar/2024/08/Informe-Temporada-de-cruceros-2023-2024.pdf
- https://www.ushuaia.gob.ar/noticias/las-oficinas-de-turismo-municipales-brindaron-atencion-a-mas-de-32-mil-visitantes-durante-enero
- https://www.ushuaia.gob.ar/noticias/balance-positivo-para-el-turismo-en-ushuaia-durante-el-fin-de-semana-largo
- https://www.argentina.gob.ar/tierradelfuego/llegar
- https://findelmundo.tur.ar/es/ushuaia/recomendaciones/como-llegar-a-tdf/1012
- https://www.ushuaia.gob.ar/recorrido-colectivos
- https://www.ushuaia.gob.ar/noticias/la-municipalidad-de-ushuaia-llevo-adelante-la-asamblea-tarifaria-del-transporte-publico
- https://www.ushuaia.gob.ar/noticias/acta-de-asamblea-tarifaria-de-taxi
Harbour facts
- Harbour size
- Small
- Harbour type
- Coastal (Natural)
- Shelter
- Fair
- Largest ship
- 317 m (1,040 ft) long
- Channel depth
- 1.8 m (6 ft)
- Tide range
- 2 m (7 ft)
- Pilot required
- Yes
Source: NGA World Port Index (Pub 150), October 2026 edition.
Cruises from Port of Ushuaia from $3,845
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