Antarctic Peninsula

Fly to King George Island, Antarctica

Dec 20

Weather permitting, you will board the charter flight to King George Island and land at Teniente R. Marsh Airport, the northernmost airport on the continent of Antarctica. Then you will transfer to the Hans Hansson to begin exploring the Antarctic.

Explore South Shetlands and Antarctic Peninsula

Dec 21 - Jan 3

The warm glow of sunrise reveals our position in the South Shetland Islands; you will have early and late landings and Zodiac cruises to take full advantage of the best light.

Due to the expeditionary nature of our voyage, specific stops cannot be guaranteed. Flexibility is paramount in expedition travel; our itinerary depends on the conditions. We strive to land often and stay as long as possible, abiding by the Guidelines for Responsible Ecotourism from the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO).

The South Shetland Islands ~ Deception, Half Moon, Livingstone, Aitcho Island
The South Shetlands are a string of volcanic islands, some still active, that run parallel to the Antarctic Peninsula across the Bransfield Strait. Fondly known as the “Banana Belt of Antarctica,” these islands boast the richest concentrations of terrestrial wildlife in the Antarctic due to their proximity to the rich upwelling waters from the great Circumpolar Current. Even with our luxuriously in-depth itinerary, we will have to choose between many very compelling sites. Deception Island is a favorite and one of the most exciting islands on your voyage. This horseshoe-shaped, volcanic island is still active, as its hot thermal pools demonstrate. You may land on both the outside wall and inside the caldera that opens to the ocean via a narrow gap called Neptune’s Bellows. The landing at Bailey Head is home to about 100,000 chinstrap penguins, but the sea can make landings tricky with steep swells crashing on an exposed beach. Inside Deception’s huge caldera, you can hope to land and take a short hike up the mountainside among the lichen-draped cliffs to the scenic overlook. On the beach at Whaler’s Bay, you may find Weddell seals basking. Deception Island also offers one the most unique experiences of the voyage – plunging into the thermal pools alongside the beach surrounded by clouds of steam. The water temperature can be fairly comfortable, although it can get so hot that it’s necessary to mix in colder water!

On a clear day, the chinstrap penguins of Half Moon Island make a delightful foreground to the breathtaking eastern coastline of nearby Livingston Island. At this end of the Earth, the vast scale of nature will open your senses. Great respect must be given to the fragile vegetation and the wildlife colonies. You will have you as much freedom as possible to enjoy the magnificent wildlife and landscapes within the bounds of safety and minimal impact.

Both chinstrap and gentoo penguins breed on Aitcho Island, an island covered in mossy green carpets making a surprisingly bright contrast to Antarctica’s intensely achromatic landscapes. Conditions permitting, take a walk across the island past the southern elephant seal wallows. This landing site and other similar sites with southern elephant seals offer a terrific chance to see (and smell!) the world’s largest species of seal, also perhaps joined by hauled out Weddell seals and southern fur seals.

From the South Shetlands, sail southwest across the Bransfield Strait into the fabled Gerlache Strait. Here you can expect whale sightings to ring out from the bridge as the Antarctic Peninsula landscape rises up around you into a glacier-draped view of mountainous proportion. You can expect whales among sculpted icebergs in the foreground and staggering mountain walls in the background, making for some of the world’s best Zodiac cruising. You can hope for magnificent sunsets, sculpted blue icebergs, and close penguin and whale encounters, each with the potential for an experience that you will never forget. You will visit sites where the penguins and seals that once sustained early Antarctic explorers have taken over, leaving only faint clues of the age of exploration and exploitation.

Western Antarctic Peninsula ~ Danco Coast, Neumeyer, and Lemaire Channel
You will travel south along the picturesque Danco Coast on the west coast of Graham Land, which has awe-inspiring scenery with coastlines deeply indented with bays. Impressive mountains rise sharply from the coast to the central Graham Land Plateau and glaciers descend to narrow piedmont ice shelves. Extensive Zodiac cruising and opportunistic landings during the best light will allow us to soak in the serenity of this majestic place.

You’ll make your way down the coast into Wilhemina Bay, Neko Harbour, and Paradise Bay, among the most beautiful areas in Antarctica. These waters rank high on our long list of favorite places for Zodiac cruising. Enjoy views of sculpted icebergs and surfacing whales as you cruise the inner bays near spectacular glaciers and ethereal mountains. You can expect wonderful whale behavior in these plentiful summer feeding grounds as the krill swarms are enormous. You will find colonies of gentoo and chinstrap penguins, sometimes in mixed colonies, along with their attendant scavengers: snowy sheathbills, brown skuas, south polar skuas, and kelp gulls. Hope for a landing in Neko Harbour on the Antarctic continent proper, with an opportunity for a walk and an incredible view.

Enjoy the view from the ship as you navigate through stunning Neumeyer and Lemaire channels or around the south end of Anvers Island into Biscoe Bay where you will be completely surrounded by ice-draped peaks soaring dramatically out of the water. Crabeater, Weddell, and leopard seals are often hauled out on the ice floes and whales may even surface between the floes, so keep your cameras ready! Tall, hanging ice cliffs, the fronts of highly fractured tidewater glaciers, decorate most of the shoreline for unforgettable scenery. At the southern part of the Lemaire Channel you’ll find Petermann Island. Located at 65°S, Petermann is an outstanding location to see gentoo and Adelie penguins on their nesting grounds, often with chicks chasing parents who have returned to feed them. The clear water is beautiful for observing and photographing penguins returning to land. Petermann has seen a reversal in abundance between the two species, with half the numbers of Adelie penguins we found twenty years ago, but twice the numbers of gentoos. Photogenic Antarctic shags are also found on the edges of the colonies.

Hope for good conditions to travel further south along the western side of the Peninsula, possibly down to Crystal Sound, the Antarctic Circle, and Fish Islands to explore the southern reaches of summer navigable waters. Look for snow petrel, Antarctic petrel, ice-loving Antarctic minke whales, and maybe an extremely rare Ross seal. When you are out in the golden light of an Antarctic evening, be sure to put your camera down for a moment and simply absorb the beauty and silence.

You’ll leisurely sail north, keeping your eyes out for cetaceans, including orcas and even rare beaked whales, and explore wonderful coves that are breeding areas for leopard seals. You will surely find yourself cruising with humpbacks as they swim and lunge feed among the icebergs offshore in these waters where whale populations are recovering from the extreme exploitation of the 20th century whaling era. The region offers excellent opportunities to find Antarctic minke whales feeding and orcas cruising for seals and penguins. The photography in these rich krill areas of the Peninsula is truly fantastic. Port Lockroy, located at the end of the very narrow and beautiful Peltier Channel close to Neumeyer Channel, has a British Antarctica Survey maritime museum and a sprawling gentoo penguin colony.

Disembark and fly back to Punta Arenas

Jan 4

You will dock at King George Island by early morning. After breakfast, you will disembark the Hans Hansson and fly back to Punta Arenas, weather permitting.

Travel homeward

Jan 5

Spend your last morning in Punta Arenas, and then our local agent will transfer you from the hotel to the airport.

Arrive home

Jan 6