Northwest Passage

On arrival in Reykjavík, meet an Aurora Expeditions representative and transfer to the group hotel. Visit the Aurora Expeditions hospitality desk to collect cabin luggage tags and speak with the ground operations team. They will share any important pre-embarkation information and can assist with local dining suggestions, cash withdrawals, or last-minute purchases.

The remainder of the day is at leisure. All meals today are at personal expense.

Accommodation: Reykjavík airport hotel (to be advised)

Transfer to Keflavik Reykjavík Airport and board the charter flight to Kangerlussuaq, Greenland. Please ensure main luggage is fitted with the cabin tags provided and keep valuables, travel documents, medication, and anything required during the day in hand luggage.

On arrival, transfer to the Sylvia Earle, waiting at the head of the 190-kilometer (118-mile) Kangerlussuaq Fjord. Settle into the cabin and join the mandatory safety briefings before meeting the Expedition Team and crew. As the ship sails through the long fjord, steep mountains and glacially carved valleys provide a dramatic introduction to Greenland.

North of the Arctic Circle, Sisimiut brings together a remarkably long human history and the energy of modern Greenland. Archaeological evidence records waves of settlement by Saqqaq, Dorset, and later Thule cultures, while today the town remains an important center for fishing, hunting, education, and outdoor life. Expect to explore the historic quarter around the old blue church and museum, where turf-house reconstructions and local collections reveal how generations adapted to this demanding environment.

Spend the morning on deck as the ship crosses Disko Bay, watching for humpback and minke whales and for the first immense icebergs drifting south from Ilulissat Icefjord. The Expedition Team introduces the geology, wildlife, and human history of the region as the ship approaches Ilulissat.

In the afternoon, expect to step ashore in Ilulissat, where people have lived beside the icefjord for more than 4,000 years. Walk across tundra and exposed rock toward viewpoints over the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Ilulissat Icefjord. Here, ice calved by Sermeq Kujalleq moves toward Disko Bay in a constantly changing procession of bergs. The nearby Sermermiut valley preserves traces of successive Inuit cultures and adds a powerful human story to this extraordinary glacial landscape.

Today, expect to explore the remote coast of northwest Greenland. A landing at Sukasset may offer the chance to walk across trackless tundra and examine the small details of the Arctic landscape, from hardy plants and patterned ground to signs of foxes or grazing animals.

Later, expect to ship cruise through the waters of Aappilattoq Icefjord. Ice conditions shape the route as the ship navigates among islands, fjords, and drifting ice. Scan the shoreline and water for seals, whales, and seabirds, while the Expedition Team shares stories of Greenlandic life in a region where travel, hunting, and community connections have long depended on the sea.

The crossing of Baffin Bay is an expedition experience in its own right. Spend time on deck scanning for whale blows, fulmars, and kittiwakes, or join talks that place the Northwest Passage in context—from Inuit travel routes and knowledge systems to the ambitions and hardships of European polar expeditions. As the ship approaches Nunavut, sea ice and weather begin to determine the opportunities ahead.

After completing Canadian clearance formalities, expect to visit Mittimatalik, known in English as Pond Inlet, on northern Baffin Island. Framed by mountains, glaciers, and the waters of Eclipse Sound, the community is a gateway to Tallurutiup Imanga and a place where Inuit knowledge, language, art, and harvesting traditions remain central to daily life.

A locally guided visit may introduce community stories and contemporary life in the High Arctic. In the surrounding waters, remain alert for narwhal, beluga, seals, and seabirds, although all wildlife encounters are determined by season and chance.

On Devon Island (Tallurutit), expect to land at Dundas Harbor. The remains of an RCMP post and a former Hudson’s Bay Company presence speak to a comparatively recent chapter, while nearby archaeological features point to a much older Inuit use of this coastline. Walk across rolling tundra with views toward Lancaster Sound, watching for musk oxen, Arctic hare, and birdlife.

At Croker Bay, a glacier descends toward a broad Arctic inlet. Conditions may favor a Zodiac cruise among sculpted ice or a shore landing beneath Devon Island’s flat-topped mountains. Ringed seals and walrus may be encountered in these productive waters, and polar bears are always a possibility in the wider region.

Prince Leopold Island (Appait) rises abruptly from Lancaster Sound. Its cliffs form one of the Canadian Arctic’s most important seabird breeding sites; by September many birds may already have departed, but northern fulmars, kittiwakes, and thick-billed murres can still be seen offshore. Seals in the surrounding waters may also attract polar bears.

Across the sound, Port Leopold recalls the many expeditions sent in search of Sir John Franklin. HMS Enterprise and HMS Investigator wintered here in 1848–49, and the remains of later commercial activity add further layers to the site. If conditions permit, expect to walk the coast and consider this history alongside evidence of Inuit presence that long predates the explorers.

Beechey Island (Iluvilik), a Canadian National Historic Site, is one of the most poignant places in the story of the Northwest Passage. Franklin’s expedition wintered here in 1845–46, and the graves of three crew members remain on the shore. Later search parties, including those following Inuit testimony, returned repeatedly to this stark landscape. A guided walk will help place the site within both the Franklin story and the broader history of Arctic exploration.

At Radstock Bay, beneath the imposing limestone mass of Caswall Tower, archaeological remains reveal generations of Inuit life. Stone house foundations, food caches, and whale bones speak to skilled use of local resources and extensive movement through the region. Expect to hike across the raised beaches while watching for musk oxen, Arctic hare, and signs of foxes.

Bellot Strait is one of the most dramatic and technically challenging waterways in the Northwest Passage. Barely two kilometers wide at its narrowest point, it separates Somerset Island from the Boothia Peninsula and is swept by strong tides and shifting ice. The transit and activities depend entirely on safe conditions.

Expect to explore in the vicinity of Fitzroy Inlet, Bellot Strait, or Strzelecki Harbor. These sheltered waterways and austere shores invite Zodiac cruising and tundra walks, while their position at the northern edge of mainland North America evokes the navigational challenges faced by earlier expeditions. Watch for polar bears, seals, beluga, and seabirds along the ice edge and coast.

An early visit to Pasley Bay may provide a connection to the story of the RCMP schooner St Roch and its pioneering Northwest Passage voyages under Henry Larsen. Inuit knowledge, local assistance, and Arctic seamanship were essential to such journeys, just as they remain central to safe travel here today.

Later, continue west through the maze of channels around Prince of Wales and Prince William islands. If conditions allow, a Zodiac excursion may head toward a remote cairn or unplanned landing. These unscripted opportunities are at the heart of expedition travel, with the possibility of wildlife sightings and traces of earlier journeys revealed by the day’s route.

As the ship sails toward Victoria Island, join the Expedition Team for presentations on Inuit archaeology, polar exploration, and the wildlife of the western Arctic. Time on deck may bring sightings of seals, whales, or migrating birds.

Later, expect to visit Iqaluktuuttiaq, or Cambridge Bay, whose Inuinnaqtun name means ‘place of many fish’. This important western Nunavut community has long been a gathering place, supported by rich fishing and hunting grounds. Its more recent polar history includes Roald Amundsen’s ship Maud, which spent years in the area after becoming trapped in ice and eventually sank in the harbor. A community visit offers insight into contemporary Inuit life and the enduring connections between people, land, and sea.

The final full expedition day takes the ship into the western channels of the passage. Expect to explore around Cape Barrow and a remote island to its north, where low tundra, gravel ridges, and broad sea views create opportunities for a final landing or Zodiac cruise. Musk oxen, Arctic foxes, seals, and passing whales may be present, while the open landscape encourages reflection on the distances traveled by Inuit families, traders, and polar expeditions.

Tonight, gather with fellow travelers and the Expedition Team to celebrate a journey shaped by ice, history, and the many communities and cultures of the Arctic.

In Kugluktuk, bid farewell to the crew, Expedition Team, and fellow travelers before transferring to the airport for the charter flight to Calgary. The voyage concludes on arrival at Calgary Airport.

Note: The arrival time in Calgary depends on the allocated charter-flight slots. It is recommended to allow flexibility when arranging onward travel.