Antarctica - Incredible Experiences

Antarctica is spectacular, a wilderness of landscapes reduced to a pure haiku of ice, rock, water and sky, filled with wildlife still unafraid of humans. A land of extremes, it is described by a bevy of superlatives – the driest, coldest, most inhospitable and isolated continent on Earth, Vast and ownerless. Antarctica is unique, and a journey here is like no other.

Best time to visit Antarctica

November to February for ‘summer’ – or in time for a solar exlipse.

Experiences

Bathing in Deception Island’s thermally heated Pendulum Cove
Taking a cruise on an inflatable rubber dinghy among the icebergs
Scuba diving in McMurdo Sound
Visiting the historic explorers’ huts in the Ross Sea region for a taste of Heroic Era
Having postcards stamped at the Dome, South Pole

Eat

An Antarctica barbecue, set up on deck or even on the ice; early explorers had to make do with penguin and seal

Drink

An Antarctic Old Fashion, a blend of bourbon, Lifesavers sweets and snow; travellers may prefer to stick to adding a little glacier ice to their whiskey.

Surprises

No polar bears (that’s the Artic); penguins smell terrible, dehydration and sunburn are real risks.

The southernmost of the Earth’s mapped five major circles of latitude, the Antarctic Circle is renowned for its extremely icy air, stark wilderness landscapes and exotic wildlife. The continent of Antarctica falls within the area of the Antarctic Circle. Visitors can experience the midnight sun and polar nights, explore the remote landscapes of the Antarctic Peninsula, view majestic icebergs and spot an array of wildlife such as: humpback whales, leopard seal, penguins, giant petrels and many more. The Crossing of the famed Antarctic Circle is an activity that few others can claim. Enjoy an expedition into this vast white wilderness starring snow, ice, and water in this breathtakingly beautiful winter paradise.

Antarctic Circle

The southernmost of the Earth’s mapped five major circles of latitude; the Antarctic Circle is renowned for its exceptionally icy air, stark wilderness landscapes and exotic wildlife. The entire continent of Antarctica falls within the area of the Antarctic Circle. Visitors can experience the midnight sun and polar nights, explore the remote landscapes of the Antarctic Peninsula, view majestic icebergs, and spot an array of wildlife such as: orca, minke and humpback whales; leopard, crabeater, Weddell, leopard, fur and southern elephant seal; Adelie, Gentoo, and chinstrap penguins; as well as giant petrels and many more.

Antarctic Peninsula

Warmer and more accessible than the rest of Antarctica, the Antarctic Peninsula is a popular destination for those wanting to experience one of the most captivating landscapes on the planet. Snow-capped mountains descend into icy blue waters dotted with magnificent icebergs and numerous islands. Although it only extends 1300km into the ocean, the peninsula is home to a wide variety of wildlife species that include penguins, whales and seals. Activities include trips to a volcanic island, swimming in the hot springs of Pendulum Cove, and the chance to cross the Antarctic Circle.

Antarctica

Anvers Island

Located within the Palmer Archipelago in Antarctica, Anvers Island is the largest island in the group. Named after a Belgian province of the same name, this island was discovered by the explorer de Gerlache on a Belgian Antarctic Expedition in the late 19th century. It is home to Palmer Station, Antarctica’s only U.S. station north of the Antarctic Circle. Visitors can soak up the spectacular views and spot a variety of Antarctic wildlife including humpback, minke and orca whales, leopard seal and Gentoo, Adelie and chinstrap penguins.

Biscoe Islands

Situated off the southwest coast of the Antarctic Peninsula, the Biscoe Islands encompass a number of little islets. The islands are named after the commander, John Biscoe, who adventured here on a British expedition in the early 19th century. The islands feature icy snowfields, frozen glacial masses, sheer ice cliffs and floating icebergs in their surrounding waters. Visitors can enjoy a thrilling zodiac trip around the islands to view incredible scenery and an abundance of Antarctic wildlife including a variety of whales, penguins and seals.

Brabant Island

Sandwiched between Anvers Island and Liege Island, Brabant is the second-largest island of the Palmer Archipelago which lies to the northwest of the Antarctic Peninsula. It falls within British Antarctic Territory and measures almost 60 kilometres in length and 30 kilometres wide. The island has two known mountain ranges: the Stribog Mountains with Mount Parry and the Solvay Mountains with Cook Summit. This island is a remote, stark and icy landscape featuring glacial landscapes and iceberg-dotted waters. Visitors can look forward to spotting an array of wildlife while on a thrilling zodiac mission.

Clarence Island

Located on the easternmost side of the South Shetland Islands, Clarence Island is a mountainous island. It has been partly claimed by the countries of Argentina, Britain, and Chile. This frozen wonderland is characterised by ice-covered glacial sheets, frosty snowfields, brilliant white undulating slopes and the surrounding cold waters are scattered with brash ice and aquamarine icebergs. Visitors can soak up the breathtakingly beautiful views; discover Cape Bowles, the southernmost point of the island; and spot a diversity of expertly-adapted wildlife.

Deception Island

Forming part of the South Shetland Islands, Deception Island is one of the safest harbours in Antarctica. The entire island is the caldera of an active volcano. Once a whaling station, today it is a huge tourist attraction along the Antarctic tourist circuit. To enter the caldera harbour, vessels must clear ‘Neptune’s Bellows’, a 230-metre break in the volcano’s walls. Visitors can look forward to an array of activities including taking a relaxing soak in the thermal waters of the island, exploring the beautiful Port Foster and spotting chinstrap penguins. It is also home to an array of other birds including petrels, brown skuas, and sheathbills and has been proclaimed an Important Birding Area.

Elephant Island

Located in the Southern Ocean, northeast of the Antarctic Peninsula tip, the hulking mass of Elephant Island was named after the many Elephant seals who call this island home as well as the landscape forming the distinct shape of an elephant’s head. This was the site of the famous Antarctic Expedition and rescue by Ernest Shackleton. The landscape is stark, mountainous and blanketed in large sheets of ice. It is home to migratory seals, Gentoo penguins and other seabirds. It is not usual for tourists to disembark and land on the island due to inaccessibility, but it is best enjoyed from a distance.

Gerlache Strait

Dividing the Palmer Archipelago and the Antarctic Peninsula, the Gerlache Strait is a sprawling waterway, known for its surreal beauty. The spectacularly stark scenery features distant snow-capped mountains, spiky blue icebergs, and remarkably impressive glacial landscapes. Visitors can look forward to spotting penguins waddling and sliding on vast sheets of ice, catching a glimpse of humpback whales breaching in the arctic waters, viewing the abandoned Norwegian ghost ship in Gouvernoren Harbour, and simply soaking up the awe-inspiring views on one of the many expeditions and cruises meandering through this scenic channel.

Greenwich Island

Set between Livingston Island and Robert Island in the South Shetland Islands in Antarctica, Greenwich Island features volcanic peaks, vast snowscapes and abundant wildlife. The island is home to Yankee Harbour, conveniently positioned on the southwestern side of the island, it provides a sheltered cove for ships to anchor safely. Visitors can view the red huts of the Ecuadorian Base of Pedro Vicente Maldonado and the Chilean base of Arturo Prat dotting the island’s northern shores. Commonly spotted animals include Gentoo penguins, chinstrap penguins and seals.

Half Moon Island

Half Moon Island is one of the South Shetland Islands, an exceptionally remote archipelago about 120 km north of the Antarctic Peninsula. The island’s sole man-made structure is the Argentine Cámara Base and it is only accessible by sea and by helicopter making it a popular stop during Antarctic cruises. A variety of whales are frequently spotted patrolling the shores while the island itself forms an important habitat for an impressive array of wildlife including a large breeding colony of chinstrap penguins and a number of friendly and inquisitive fur seals. There is a popular 2 km walking track on the southern part of the island which affords visitors an excellent view of the native wildlife as well as the spectacular surrounding mountainous scenery.

James Ross Island

Situated on the southeastern side of the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, James Ross Island was charted by a Swedish Antarctic Expedition in the early 20th century. The island used to be attached to the Antarctic mainland by an ice shelf which collapsed in 1995. The first-ever dinosaur fossil was discovered near Santa Marta Cove in the northern region of the island in 1986. Visitors can look forward to finding marine fossils along the island’s west coast, as well as plant fossils found near Botany Bay and spot a variety of wildlife.

Joinville Island

Located off the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, Joinville Island is separated from the peninsula by the Antarctic Sound. It is the largest island of the Joinville island group which includes the islands of D’Urville Island, Joinville Island, Dundee Island and Bransfield Island. A French expedition discovered the islands in the early 19th century. Visitors can look forward to soaking up the brilliant white winter landscapes featuring vast snowfields, icy cliffs, frozen glaciers and floating icebergs in freezing waters. A variety of penguins, seals and whales are commonly spotted species in this area.

King George Island

One of the islands of the South Shetland Archipelago, King George Island features windswept icy glacial plains and the stark dramatic beauty for which Antarctica is famed for. It serves as the first stop on most Antarctic journeys. It is the largest island of the archipelago and its accessibility has made it a popular spot for the establishment of numerous research stations, with over twelve stations from different countries. It boasts a diversity of wildlife such as leopard, Weddell and elephant seal populations, as well as whales, seabirds, and gentoo, chinstrap and Adélie penguins. Visitors can catch a glimpse of the Southern Aurora, also known as the Southern Lights, visit the charming Russian orthodox church known for its otherworldly location, or participate in the world’s most southerly marathon, the Antarctic Ice Marathon.

Lemaire Channel

Located along the western coast of the Antarctic Peninsula, the Lemaire Channel is world renowned for its breathtaking, otherworldly scenery. This photographer’s dream features spectacularly impressive landscapes of ice-covered mountains rising steeply from the narrow channel dotted with icebergs. Dubbed the ‘Kodak Gap’, this 11-kilometre stretch of awe-inspiring scenery is one of Antarctica’s top attractions. The channel’s location means its waters are almost always very calm, creating perfect mirror images of the snow-covered mountains on the surface. Lucky visitors may spot orca, humpback, and minke whales, which often come to frolic in the waterway, especially around February and March. It is also common to see seals, gentoo penguins and striking Adelies. At sunset, dramatic plays of light and shadow exhibit further magnificence, and during December and January the sun dips below the horizon for just an hour.

Livingston Island

Sandwiched between Snow Island and Greenwich Island in western Antarctica, Livingston Island forms part of the South Shetland islands. It was the first land discovered south of 60 degrees latitude. Situated in the icy Southern Ocean, this island features a coastline fringed with ice cliffs as well as glacier ice caps and domes in the mountainous hinterland. The island is home to the second largest collection of historical sites in Antarctica. Visitors can look forward to visiting Hannah Point on the south coast of the island, a famed tourist destination along the Antarctic expedition route. They can also take in the awe-inspiring views and spot an array of wildlife, including kelp gulls, southern giant petrels, gentoo and macaroni penguins, blue-eyed shags, snowy sheathbills, skuas, Antarctic fur seals, and southern elephant seals.

Nelson Island

Situated southwest of King George Island in the South Shetland Islands, Nelson Island is home to a private research station called Eco-Nelson, where visitors stay to volunteer. Stretching 200-square-kilometres in size, the landscape features sand beaches, volcanic rocks, glaciers and vast snow and ice-covered terrain. Vessels can find safe anchorage in the island’s Edgell Bay. Visitors can observe the chinstrap colony, as well as other seabirds, whales, seals, and other penguins.

Palmer Archipelago

Bordering the northwestern edge of the Gerlache Strait, the Palmer Archipelago, also known as the Antarctic Archipelago, lies to the northwest of the Antarctic Peninsula. It extends from Anvers Island in the south to Tower Island in the north and encompasses a collection of over 50 ice-covered islands. The area is known for its iceberg peppered waters, hidden coves and windswept inlets as well as an abundance of Antarctic wildlife including a variety of penguins, seals and whales. Watching the penguins mating, collecting pebbles for their nests, and jumping off small hills can be very entertaining.

Robert Island

Forming part of the beautiful South Shetland Islands, Robert Island is set between Greenwich Island and Nelson Island. The deep blue ocean meets vast stretches of snowy icescapes fringed by clear blue skies. Visitors can look forward to a variety of activities including: visiting Robert Point, viewing the spectacular geographical features of Coppermine Peninsula with its amazing Neptune’s Cathedral, and spotting an array of wildlife such as: Gentoo penguins, chinstrap penguins, southern giant petrels, Wilson’s storm petrels Antarctic terns, brown skuas and kelp gulls, Weddell seals, southern elephant seals and Antarctic fur seals.

Snow Island

Located southwest of Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Snow Island, also known as Isla Nevada, is a frozen winter wonderland. It once served as a popular seal hunting spot in the early 19th century, but today it provides a perfect natural environment for a diversity of wildlife to thrive in. This windswept white expanse features snow-capped mountains and icy snowfields. Snow Island is home to Antarctica’s northernmost breeding colony of Emperor penguins. The island’s shore is scattered with many fossils which are thousands of years old.

South Shetland Islands

Situated 120 kilometres north of the Antarctic Peninsula, the South Shetland Islands are a remote destination comprising eleven islands which form part of the icy landmass of the ‘White Continent’. This Antarctic archipelago possesses a sheer dramatic beauty with its rugged, icy, windswept landscapes dotted with research stations. It is home to a variety of wildlife such as seabirds, penguins, and large colonies of elephant seals. Visitors can look forward to exploring the spectacular islands of South Shetland, including; Livingstone Island, home to the highest point of the archipelago; King George Island, with its twelve research stations from different countries; and Deception Cove on Deception Island, an active flooded caldera featuring bubbling pools of thermal water, where visitors can take the once-in-a-lifetime ‘polar plunge’.

Trinity Island

Located in the northern corner of the Palmer Archipelago in Antarctica, Trinity Island measures 25 kilometres in length and 10 kilometres in width. The island is home to a sheltered cove on its southern coast called Mikkelsen Harbour, a popular anchorage site expedition vessels. It is a popular stop for sightseeing tours. Visitors can observe a breeding colony of over 200 pairs of imperial shags in a designated Important Bird Area. Chinstrap and Gentoo penguins, as well as other Antarctic wildlife, can be spotted amongst the floating icebergs and on the frozen shores.

Best time to visit

November to February for ‘summer’ – or in time for a solar eclipse.

Experiences

Bathing in Deception Island’s thermally heated Pendulum Cove
Taking a cruise on an inflatable rubber dinghy among the icebergs
Scuba diving in McMurdo Sound
Visiting the historic explorers’ huts in the Ross Sea region for a taste of Heroic Era
Having postcards stamped at the Dome, South Pole

Eat

An Antarctica barbecue, set up on deck or even on the ice; early explorers had to make do with penguin and seal

Drink

An Antarctic Old Fashion, a blend of bourbon, Lifesavers sweets and snow; travellers may prefer to stick to adding a little glacier ice to their whiskey.

Surprises

No polar bears (that’s the Artic); penguins smell terrible, dehydration and sunburn are real risks.

Experiences

Kayaking with whales