DATES / RATES
Rates are listed per person
|
| Start Date | End Date | From EUR | From USD |
|---|
| Dec 29, 2026 | Jan 08, 2027 | 9,600 |
10,392 |
Rates are listed per person
|
| Start Date | End Date | From EUR | From USD |
|---|
| Dec 29, 2026 | Jan 08, 2027 | 9,600 |
10,392 |
ITINERARY
Long
hikes: -
Long
walks in Antarctica are designed for small groups of up to 24
passengers, accompanied by at least two expedition staff with
experience in this terrain. These walks offer an immersive experience
in the pristine polar landscape, requiring participants to be prepared
for up to six hours of hiking on semi-rough, rocky and snowy terrain
with notable elevation changes. While the pace will be steady and
manageable, the conditions can be demanding and change quickly. A good
level of fitness and willingness to walk for extended periods are
essential. The total duration will vary depending on site conditions
and explore the untouched expanses of the Antarctic wilderness. For
those who prefer not to join the long hikes, alternative activities or
shore landings will be available during this time.
Day
1: End of the world, start of a journey
Your
voyage begins where the world drops off. Ushuaia, Argentina, reputed to
be the southernmost city on the planet, is located on the far southern
tip of South America. Starting in the afternoon, you embark from this
small resort town on Tierra del Fuego, nicknamed “The End of
the World,” and sail the mountain-fringed Beagle Channel for
the remainder of the evening.
Days
2 - 3: Path of the polar explorers
Over
the next two days on the Drake Passage, you enjoy some of the same
experiences encountered by the great polar explorers who first charted
these regions: cool salt breezes, rolling seas, maybe even a fin whale
spouting up sea spray. After passing the Antarctic Convergence
– Antarctica’s natural boundary, formed when
north-flowing cold waters collide with warmer sub-Antarctic seas
– you are in the circum-Antarctic upwelling zone. Not only
does the marine life change, the avian life changes too. Wandering
albatrosses, grey-headed albatrosses, black-browed albatrosses,
light-mantled sooty albatrosses, cape pigeons, southern fulmars,
Wilson’s storm petrels, blue petrels, and Antarctic petrels
are a few of the birds you might see.
Days
4 - 7: Enter the Antarctic
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.
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.
When
conditions are right, you can snowshoe around the shore and to the old
ski-way at nearby Damoy Point.
Day
8: Scenes of South Shetland
The
volcanic islands of the South Shetlands are windswept and often cloaked
in mist, but they do offer subtle pleasures: There’s a wide
variety of flora (mosses, lichens, flowering grasses) and no small
amount of fauna (gentoo penguins, chinstrap penguins, southern giant
petrels).
In
Deception Island, the ship plunges through Neptune’s Bellows
and into the flooded caldera. Here you find an abandoned whaling
station, and thousands of cape petrels – along with kelp
gulls, brown and south polar skuas, and Antarctic terns. A good hike is
a possibility in this fascinating and desolate volcanic landscape.
As
an alternative, you may be able to engage in activities near Half Moon
Island. Here chinstrap penguins and Weddell seals often haul out onto
the beach near Cámara Base, an Argentine scientific research
station. Conditions on the Drake Passage determine the exact time of
departure.
Days
9 - 10: Familiar seas, familiar friends
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
11: There and back again
Every
adventure, no matter how grand, must eventually come to an end.
It’s now time to disembark in Ushuaia, but with memories that
will accompany you wherever your next adventure lies.
Plancius (Expedition, 108-guests)
MV Plancius offers a restaurant/lecture room on deck 3 and a spacious observation lounge (with bar) on deck 5 with large windows, offering full panorama view. The vessel has large open deck spaces (with full walk-around possibilities on deck 4), giving excellent opportunities to enjoy the scenery and wildlife. She is furthermore equipped with 10 Mark V zodiacs.
(Click image to view Ship details)
WHAT'S INCLUDED
- Voyage aboard the indicated vessel as indicated in the
itinerary
- 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.
- During our “Basecamp” departures, all
offered activities as well as our standard included shore excursions
and zodiac cruises) are free of charge.
Excluded
from this voyage:
- 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
strongly recommended).
- 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).
