Antarctic - Whale Watching Voyage

Day 1: Departure from Ushuaia

In the afternoon, we embark in Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, the southernmost city in the world located at the Beagle Channel and sail through this scenic waterway for the rest of the evening.

Day 2 - 3: At sea

During these two days we sail across the Drake Passage. When we cross the Antarctic Convergence, we arrive in the circum-Antarctic up welling zone. In this area we may see Wandering Albatrosses, Grey Headed Albatrosses, Black- browed Albatrosses, Light-mantled Albatrosses, Cape Petrels, Southern Fulmars, Wilson's Storm Petrels, Blue Petrels and Antarctic Petrels. Near the South Shetland Islands, we spot our first icebergs.

Day 4 - 7: Antarctica

Gray stone peaks sketched with snow, towers of broken blue-white ice, and dramatically different wildlife below and above. You first pass the snow-capped Melchior Islands and Schollaert Channel, sailing between Brabant and Anvers Islands.

Sites you may visit include:

Danco Island – Activities here may focus on the gentoo penguins nesting on the island, in addition to the Weddell and crabeater seals that can be found nearby.

Neko Harbour – An epic landscape of mammoth glaciers and endless wind-carved snow, Neko Harbour offers opportunities for a Zodiac cruise and landing that afford the closest views of the surrounding alpine peaks.

Paradise Bay – You may be able to take a Zodiac cruise in these sprawling, ice-flecked waters, where there’s a good chance you’ll encounter humpback and minke whales.

Pléneau & Petermann Islands – If the ice allows it, you could sail through the Lemaire Channel in search of Adélie penguins and blue-eyed shags. There is also a possibility you’ll encounter humpback and minke whales here, as well as leopard seals.

Port Lockroy – After sailing through the Neumayer Channel, you may get a chance to visit the former British research station – now a museum and post office – of Port Lockroy on Goudier Island. You may also be able to partake in activities around Jougla Point, meeting gentoo penguins and blue-eyed shags. There are great opportunities also for kayaking and camping here, and when conditions are right, you can even snowshoe around the shore.

Wilhelmina Bay & Guvernøren – This is a great place to spot humpback whales. You also may embark on a Zodiac cruise ending at the ghostly wreck of the Guvernøren, a whaling vessel that caught fire here in 1915. Around the Melchior Islands, amid a frozen landscape peopled with icebergs, you may encounter even more whales, leopard seals, and crabeater seals.

Conditions on the Drake Passage determine the exact time of departure.

Day 8 - 9: At sea

Your return voyage is far from lonely. While crossing the Drake, you’re again greeted by the vast array of seabirds remembered from the passage south. But they seem a little more familiar to you now, and you to them.

Day 10: Ushuaia

The end of our voyage. We arrive in the morning in Ushuaia and disembark.

• All meals throughout the voyage aboard the ship including snacks, coffee and tea
• All shore excursions and activities throughout the voyage by Zodiac
• Program of lectures by noted naturalists and leadership by experienced expedition staff
• Free use of rubber boots and snowshoes
• Luggage transfer from pick-up point to the vessel on the day of embarkation, in Ushuaia
• Pre-scheduled group transfer from the vessel to the airport in Ushuaia (directly after disembarkation)
• All miscellaneous service taxes and port charges throughout the programme
• Comprehensive pre-departure material

• Any airfare, whether on scheduled or charter flights
• Pre- and post- land arrangements
• Passport and visa expenses
• Government arrival and departure taxes
• Meals ashore
• Baggage, cancellation and personal insurance (which is mandatory)
• Excess baggage charges and all items of a personal nature such as laundry, bar, beverage charges and telecommunication charges
• The customary gratuity at the end of the voyages for stewards and other service personnel aboard (guidelines will be provided)

Optional activities: 

• Diving - US$480 per person