How to get here
By car
From Puerto Montt or Puerto Varas it is roughly 5 hours of driving, not counting the wait for the barge.
From Puerto Montt take Route 5 south towards Puerto Varas, then Route V-69 (the Interlagos network). You pass through Ensenada; from Cochamó to Río Puelo the road is gravel. At the Río Puelo junction take the turn-off towards Lake Tagua Tagua. That road takes you to the Punta Canelo pier, about 3 hours from Puerto Montt.
At Punta Canelo you take the barge across to Punta Maldonado: 45 minutes of navigation across Lake Tagua Tagua. From there on the road is gravel only.
Barge fare per car or pick-up: $8,360. Motorcycles: $2,500. Cash only.
You cannot reserve a place on the barge in advance. Crossings are first come, first served, so arrive early for the barge you want to take.
Once across the lake, continue straight to Llanada Grande (45 min), pass the police checkpoint and carry on for 8 km to the first junction on the right, called “El Balseo, Puerto Urrutia”. Turn right and continue 3 km until the hostel is right in front of you.
By bus
There is a bus every day from the Puerto Montt Municipal Terminal at 7:40 in the morning. Terminal address: Avenida Diego Portales #1001.
The bus leaves Puerto Montt on Route 5 towards Puerto Varas, passes through Ensenada, Cochamó and Río Puelo, and reaches Punta Canelo, the pier where you take the barge across Lake Tagua Tagua. You get off the bus and walk onto the barge.
Barge fare per passenger: $1,250, in cash.
After about 45 minutes of navigation you arrive at Puerto Maldonado, where the connecting bus is waiting. You pass through Llanada Grande, where the last shop before the hostel is — the bus stops for a few minutes so passengers can buy what they need. Puerto Urrutia is 8 km further on, and the hostel is right there.
You can ask the driver to drop you at Hostal Puelo Libre, and you can board the bus at any point along its route. Tickets are not sold in advance: you pay when you board, roughly $7,000 per person to the hostel.
Barge and bus fares are set by third parties and can change without notice.
Barge timetable
Cancellation policy
If you need to reschedule or cancel your reservation and arrange a refund, note that the rates below apply to the amount paid to confirm the booking.
| When you tell us | What happens |
|---|---|
| 45 days or more before | 100% of the amount paid is refunded |
| Between 44 and 30 days before | 70% is refunded, or you can change your dates and keep 100% of the deposit (you have 7 days to pick the new date) |
| Between 29 and 15 days before | 50% of the deposit is refunded |
| Within 14 days of arrival | No refund |
How to book
To book we need a full name and an email address. We’ll send you an email with all the details of your reservation.
To confirm it, you pay 50% of the total stay and send us the receipt.
Transfer details:
- Name: Caiquen SpA
- RUT: 76.779.666-8
- Banco Bice
- Current account
- Account number: 14-00296-0
- hostalpuelolibre@gmail.com
Waste policy
We take waste seriously at the hostel. We ask every guest to take all of their rubbish back with them. There is no waste collection in the area — a truck comes by every few months — and we don’t keep a bin at the hostel.
We can take paper and cardboard for the stove, food and vegetable scraps for compost, and cans and glass bottles for recycling. Bathroom waste is burned.
Thank you very much for your help and understanding.
Where to buy groceries
In Llanada Grande there are two shops with the basics and quite a bit more: fruit, vegetables, meat, general groceries, spirits and drinks. A little of everything. Prices are higher than in the city.