With climates and areas ranging from humid lowlands to tropical rainforests to chilly highlands, when to cruise South America depends completely on each specific itinerary and location.
However, the continent can be divided into a few sections with general rules for traveling times.
Amazon
Travelers can embark on an Amazon cruise year-round. Rain, heat, and humidity should be expected no matter the season. Wildlife viewing and weather patterns only have subtle differences from one season to the next. School holidays bring larger crowds with children.
Southern South America
Including Patagonia, the Falkland Islands, southern Chile, and Argentina, has similar summer and winter weather to North America, however, the months are opposite due to the hemisphere difference. That is, summertime in these regions (December and February) is similar to summer in North America: warmer and dry. The shoulder months of October – November, and March-April have cooler temperatures and smaller crowds.
Antarctica
Winter months (May through September) are cold and travel is limited, particularly for cruises that include travel to Antarctica. For more information on the best travel times for Antarctica cruises, please see our When to Go: Antarctica link.
Northern South America
For travel in Northern South America, including Peru, Ecuador, and the Galapagos, the weather can generally be divided into two seasons: wet and dry. Temperature is most impacted by elevation: the higher you go, the cooler it becomes. The coastal region of Peru is fairly dry year-round, with its warmest, most humid months from December to March. These are also the wettest months; however day-long rains are very infrequent. Instead, there are rainstorms interspersed with sunshine. For further information on touring Ecuador and the Galapagos, click here.
For further details on when to take a South American cruise, please contact our travel specialists to help you determine the best time to travel based on climate, wildlife viewing, and popularity of the season.
Kevin got right on our request and had us booked within the week
Linda Cummings
1 day ago
The info on the website was laid out very well. I did some comparisons with other tours and found Adventure Life met a lot of what I wanted in an Antarctica trip at the cheapest price. Requested a quote on Claudia contacted me right away. She answered a lot of questions the I had via email even though she offered to discuss via phone call. I’m more of an email person so appreciated how she accommodated that and answered all my questions. And when I was ready to book, she quickly got the ball rolling with getting our spots reserved on the trip my friend and I wanted. Thanks again, Claudia!
Hazel Araza
1 day ago
(1) great information on the website and throughout all the "materials." (2) Jane Packer is great: knowledgeable, responsive, takes a personal interest and tone, seems to care about the customer as a person not a sale.
Larry Bethune
1 day ago
great people doing a wonderful job to make our voyages happen.
trudy
2 days ago
For our first trip to Costa Rica, Adventure Life designed a tour that meets the interests, ecological and adventure, of our party; but also takes into account our physical limitations sine we are all septuagenarian. We are looking forward to the trip.