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When to cruise to Antarctica

Month	Cruise season indicator		Month	Cruise seacon indicator
January			July
February			August
March	No		September	No
April	No		October	No
May	No		November
June	No		December

Antarctica Cruise Season Guide »

All you Need to Know

by Travel Journalist Tony Peisley

Deception Bay, Hope Island, Point Wild, Iceberg Alley - sometimes just the place names tell the story.

Antarctica is the last great wilderness and, although these days you can (if you choose) cruise there with all the comforts (and more) from home, it never lets you forget it.

Instead of "ports of call", there are "landings" by zodiac boat and then only "if conditions permit". The itinerary is completely flexible so some landings may be cancelled but there is almost always another to take its place.

Although a few larger, more conventional ships have joined the smaller, expedition vessels in The White Continent during the short cruising season (January-February), they too have to conform to strict environmental rules.

One of these limits (to 50 max) the number of passengers that can be landed in one place at time so you will never feel that you are overwhelming the place - quite the reverse in fact.

Although cruising to Antarctica has become increasingly popular, annual visitor numbers are still only a little higher than 10,000 a year which barely outnumbers the scientists who now man or regularly visit the 35 or so research stations scattered across the Antarctic Peninsula.

Many nationalities are represented by these stations, underlining the unique status of Anarctica as being owned by no single country but, instead, being governed by international treaty and a set of protocols that insist on its use for purely peaceful, scientific research.

Nowhere on earth does the warning to “leave only footprints, take away only memories” hold more true. This land belongs to the humpback whales, seals, penguins and the remarkably hardy birds which somehow manage to survive there.

The sight of these against a scenic backdrop where sun, sea, sky, land and ice all merge into one stunning, never-ending vista is worth the cruise price all on its own.

These cruises will usually start at Ushuaia on the southern tip of South America and also include calls at the Falkland Isles and South Georgia Island so there is an insight into a dramatic episode in modern British history to add into the mix of this, the ultimate cruising adventure.

DOS and DON’TS of Antarctica Cruising

DO remember your camera and binoculars (although some ships will provide the latter) and make sure you attend the lectures given on board by naturalists, geologists, environmentalists and other experts on the region.

DON'T be put off by worries about bumpy seas unless you are a really bad sailor as there are now some very effective seasickness prevention aids. But don't try and shut the stable door - have the injection (or the pills) when you start the cruise not when you start feeling queasy.

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