Antarctic Peninsula - Weddell Sea with Long Hikes

Start your journey in Ushuaia, Argentina, and board your vessel in this remote resort town on Tierra del Fuego, known as 'The End of the World,' in the afternoon. Sail through the scenic Beagle Channel, surrounded by mountains, and continue cruising into the evening.

For the next two days, sail across the Drake Passage, feeling the cool sea breeze and the movement of the waves, just like the early polar explorers. Watch for marine life, including fin whales spraying water into the air. As you cross the Antarctic Convergence, where cold Antarctic waters mix with warmer northern seas, the wildlife around you begins to change. You can see different seabirds, such as wandering albatrosses, cape pigeons, and blue petrels, soaring above the ocean.

Today you enter the wondrous Weddell Sea, a relatively unvisited area in which you hope to carry out activities in Erebus and Terror Gulf. You may also visit such places such as Beak Island and Devil Island, which boast some stunning scenery as well as the pack ice for which the Weddell Sea is famous.

As you continue to explore the area of Erebus and Terror Gulf, look for new opportunities for landings. You may also visit Vega Island, experiencing the wilderness of Antarctica in its most remote places.

Now you sail down the western side of the Antarctic Peninsula, entering the Orleans Strait and the Gerlache Strait. Here you hope to see humpback and orca whales as you sail toward Mikkelsen Harbor for your afternoon activities.

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 can encounter humpback and minke whales.

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).

During your visit, you may visit Deception Island, where the ship can plunge 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.

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.

Every adventure, no matter how grand, must eventually come to an end. It’s now time to disembark in Ushuaia, but with memories that accompany you wherever your next adventure lies.