Puerto Madryn

Puerto Madryn rises above the Golfo Nuevo on the Argentine Patagonian coast as one of the most sports-oriented and naturally endowed cities in South America. Founded on 28 July 1865 by 153 Welsh settlers who arrived aboard the clipper Mimosa, the city took its name from the Welsh toponym Porth Madryn in honour of Sir Love Jones-Parry. That Celtic heritage — still alive in the eisteddfod festivals, black tea and cake, and the architecture of the surrounding valleys — coexists today with a dynamic, cosmopolitan Patagonian community that has made the ocean its natural gymnasium.

The sea that washes Puerto Madryn's shores is not merely scenery: it is the city's sporting purpose. Declared Argentina's national diving capital, the city offers world-class diving experiences at the Área Natural Protegida Punta Loma, a Latin American pioneer for swimming alongside sea lions. The Península Valdés, a UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site since 1999, hosts the southern right whale each year between June and December, drawing tens of thousands of visitors to one of the planet's most extraordinary wildlife encounters. Surfing, kayaking, kitesurfing, and triathlon round out an outdoor sports offering that makes full use of 400 kilometres of provincial coastline.

At the institutional level, Puerto Madryn's Club Guillermo Brown competes in Argentina's Primera Nacional football league, and local basketball clubs play in the Liga Nacional. The city is actively pursuing the distinction of American City of Sport 2027 from ACES Europe: in April 2026 it received the international evaluation committee, which highlighted the cohesion between elite sport, community sport, and the unique natural environment that Madryn offers as a competition setting.