Puerto Montt sign by the tender dock

Puerto Montt is a city in southern Chile. It’s the capitol of the Los Lagos region and serves as a gateway to the Lake District, the Andes Mountains, and the Chilean part of Patagonia. It has a population of over 280,000.  On a clear day you can see several nearby volcanos from in or close to the city. Some of them are still active.

volcano peeking through the clouds

Puerto Montt got its name from the president of Chile at the time it was first settled, whose last name was Montt. Like other neighboring towns, settlers were invited in from Europe and many came in from Germany. Old Bavarian German type architecture can still be seen in some of the buildings in this area of Chile.

view of Puerto Montt from the ship

Money in Chile is the Chilean peso, abbreviated as CLP. USD $1 is equal to CLP $942.69   so things priced in pesos look a whole lot more expensive than they actually are. That’s down from the $979 it was at the time of the cruise just a few months ago though as American dollars are currently losing value compared to other currencies of the world.

painted building at the port

The climate in Puerto Montt is oceanic with mild winters and cool summers. It rains frequently, especially in autumn and winter – which are opposite when those seasons occur in the northern hemisphere since Chile is in the southern hemisphere. It is warmest from December to March. Average temperatures vary seasonally from 39°F to 68°F and rarely dip below 29°F or rise above 75°F. Annual rainfall is about 67 inches per year and it rains at least slightly about 222 days of the year.

tender at the dock in Puerto Montt

The port is a small tender port. Tender ports are where the ship anchors offshore and brings people to the dock in small boats called tenders.

inside the port building

There is a small shopping area with booths of locals selling a variety of things in the port building. It also had a little tourist information stand. Upon return to the ship scanning of people’s belongings is done at the port rather than on the ship, or at least it was on our visit.

ship and tender

Buildings in the part of the city nearest to the port tended to look old and often unkempt and there was some graffiti. In areas a bit farther away things looked much nicer in many places. There is not much to do in the immediate area near the port so it’s a good idea to book something in advance.

seals on the bulbous bow

There were seals swimming around the ship when we first arrived. By the time the tenders came back from shore there was a pile of them resting on the ship’s bulbous bow.

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