The peninsula is famous for the dangerous waters surrounding it. In the 1850s Chilean navy officer Francisco Hudson read Robert FitzRoy's book Sailing Directions for South America concluding there was a possible north–south sailing route that allowed communication between Chiloé Archipelago to the Straits of Magellan without rounding Tres Montes Peninsula.[1] This possibility, implying Tres Montes was not part of the mainland but part of an island, led him to explore Chonos Archipelago, Taitao Peninsula and San Rafael Lake from January to March 1857.[1]