Making the most of Comodoro Rivadavia
Use these notes to shape a realistic day ashore, then confirm any time-sensitive information for the date of your call.
Arriving at the port
Cruise ships berth within a 10 minute walk of the town.
Comodoro Rivadavia has relatively few visitor sights, although the Oil Museum, San Martin Street, local windmills and Villa Rada Tilly's beaches are all worth seeing.
The city is now a major centre of the privatised oil industry. After being badly affected by the recession in 2001, this boomtown recovered with an elaborate casino, smart shops and high-performance cars on its roads.
Getting around
Climbing 212m to the viewpoint above Cerro Chenque in the city centre reveals views across Golfo San Jorge.
The free Circuito Ferroportuario urban rail tour leaves the tourist office and follows a route around port containers, warehouses, workshops and historic installations.
Several tour operators organise visits to Bosque Petrificado Sarmiento, the petrified woods, and Cueva de las Manos.
Nearby places
A few kilometres south of Comodoro Rivadavia is the seaside village of Rada Tilly, along with the Punta del Marques Hill viewpoint overlooking the settlement and the sea-lion rookery.
Discovered in 1927, Petrified Woods J. Ormachea contains enormous 65 million-year-old fossilised trunks reaching 30 metres long and two metres across. Its dry, rocky landscape supports xerophilous plants, prehistoric conifers and dead palm trees.
The remarkable rock art inside Cueva de las Manos, or Cave of the Hands, has an admission price of AR$50 and opens 9am- 7pm. It became a Unesco World Heritage site in 1999.
At Río Mayo, visit a working estancia that breeds and protects guanaco in semi-captivity. Guanaco are among the most characteristic members of South America's 'camelidae' group at the continent's far southern end.
Food and shopping
San Martín, between Mitre and Belgrano Av, is lined with upmarket boutiques and shops.
Money
The Argentine Peso is a volatile currency.
Read the currency-exchange guidance for Argentina.
Staying connected
Spanish is spoken.