Paradise Bay
Neko Harbour
Deception Island
Enterprise Island
Danco Island
Cruise the Lemaire Channel
Visit Port Lockroy’s Historic Base
Kayak Among Icebergs
Photograph Gentoo Penguin Colonies
Take a Polar Plunge
Cuverville Island
Wilhelmina Bay
Half Moon Island
Petermann Island
South Shetland Islands
The Antarctic season runs November to March, the austral summer, when the sea ice retreats enough for vessels to reach the peninsula. November and December bring pristine snow and courting wildlife, January and February are warmest with active penguin chicks, and February into March is prime time for whale sightings as humpbacks gather to feed before migrating north. Outside this window, the region is effectively inaccessible to charter vessels.
Almost every private Antarctic voyage starts from Ushuaia, Argentina, served by Malvinas Argentinas International Airport (USH), the world’s southernmost city airport with regular flights from Buenos Aires. From there, vessels cross the Drake Passage, a roughly 48-hour open-ocean passage in typical conditions, though it can shorten to around 36 hours when the weather cooperates, to reach the South Shetland Islands and the peninsula itself.
Sheltered bays along the peninsula’s western coast provide the only realistic overnight anchorages, chief among them Paradise Bay and Neko Harbour, both backed by glacier faces, and Deception Island, a flooded volcanic caldera that vessels enter through a narrow gap called Neptune’s Bellows. Enterprise Island, home to a wrecked whaling factory ship, and Danco Island round out the most commonly used stops on a typical peninsula itinerary.
Most itineraries run 10 to 14 days round trip from Ushuaia, since roughly four of those days are spent crossing the Drake Passage there and back, leaving around a week to explore the peninsula itself. Some operators offer fly-cruise options that skip one or both Drake crossings by flying guests directly to King George Island, trading a couple of sailing days for two hours in the air.
Yes. Under IAATO guidelines that member operators follow, no more than 100 guests may be ashore at any single landing site at one time, and larger vessels split their guests into smaller groups on a rotating schedule. Guests must also disinfect boots and outer clothing before and after each landing to prevent introducing seeds, pathogens or invasive species to this otherwise untouched environment.
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