Antarctica Active: All Inclusive Activities

On arrival at Ushuaia Airport, please make your way through to the Arrivals Hall where our representative will be waiting for you to transfer you to your hotel. He/she will be holding a sign. Should you not be able to contact them, please refer to the emergency contact details of our representative office.

The first night of your voyage is spent in the quaint town of Ushuaia, the most southerly city in the world and the capital of Tierra del Fuego (Land of Fire).

This morning, enjoy breakfast and check-out. Please ensure your cabin luggage is fitted with cabin tags clearly labelled with your name and cabin number. By 11.00 am take your cabin luggage to hotel reception, prior to, or at check-out. Your luggage will be stored and transferred directly to the port for clearance, to be placed in your cabin ahead of your arrival on board. Please keep any valuables or personal items with you throughout the day.

Your morning is at leisure to explore Ushuaia.

Those wishing to join our afternoon catamaran cruise, meet back at the hotel lobby at 12.15 pm ready to transfer to the port at 12.30 pm. Here we board our catamaran and sail the Beagle Channel, towards the city’s iconic Les Eclaireurs Lighthouse. Crossing the Bridges Archipelago we’ll slow down to watch colonies of sea lions and imperial cormorants sun themselves on the rocky outcrops, while gulls, rock cormorants, skuas, petrels, albatrosses and cauquenes are often sighted. Our cruise offers panoramic views of the city and the surrounding mountain range, in addition to hearing tales of the people and communities of the region.

Alternatively, enjoy your day at leisure and meet at your hotel lobby at 3.00 pm, or 3.30 pm from the meeting point at the parking lot near the pier (details will be given by our ground staff at the hotel), to be transferred to the pier for embarkation.

Once onboard, you’ll have time to settle into your cabin before our important mandatory briefings. As the ship pulls away from port, we’ll gather on the deck to commence our adventure with spectacular views over Ushuaia and Tierra del Fuego.

This evening get to know your fellow expeditioners and friendly expedition team and crew at a welcome dinner to celebrate the start of a thrilling adventure to Antarctica.

The Drake Passage is the name given to the infamous stretch of open ocean between the tip of South America and the South Shetland Islands and the Antarctic Peninsula.

It usually takes 2 or 3 days to cross the Drake Passage, and this is a great time to learn from your expert Antarctic naturalist guides. Through a series of fascinating talks and lectures, you'll begin to learn more about the remarkable wildlife and awe-inspiring geology of the Antarctic continent.

Your guides are always on hand to help you identify the sea bird species that always follow the ships, as well as spotting whales and other cetaceans that can be seen en route to the Antarctic Peninsula or the South Shetland Islands.

Sometimes overlooked as a destination by people keen to set foot on the Antarctic Peninsula, the South Shetland Islands are a must-see destination in their own right.

Often the first and last landfall on an Antarctic cruise, many people are taken aback by the stunning beauty of these islands. What better way to make contact with the Antarctic than by making your first beach landing here surrounded by gentoo penguins?

Apart from some of the most southerly species of penguin, the South Shetlands are home to a huge range of Antarctic wildlife, and they make a superb introduction to the wildlife of the whole region, including key species like elephant seals, humpback whales, and more.

With active volcanoes, the relics and remains of its history as a centre for whaling, and some of the most beautiful Antarctic mountain scenery, the South Shetland Islands are a fitting first destination for any Antarctic cruise.

In the real spirit of exploration, day five will hope to see the bow of the Greg Mortimer round the eastern end of Antarctic Sound and point south toward the truly wild coastlines of the Peninsula’s eastern side. It’s within this ice-laden sea that Sir Ernest Shackleton and his men sledged and floated their way north from their crushed and sunken vessel and bordering this vast expanse is an endless coastline of dramatic basaltic beaches, towering islands that rise straight from the sea and a spattering of remote archipelagos barely seen by human eyes since the heroic era.

From here, the options for exploration are endless. From the secluded Danger Islands to the north, the historically important and penguin-covered Paulet Island, the sweeping Prince Gustav Channel to the south or the protected and glacier-lined coves of Duse Bay. Over three days in this area, we will work with ice conditions to land and zodiac cruise around as many remote locations as possible. Keep an eye out for minke whales as captain and expedition leader navigate the scenic channels around the eagle island group and for the most intrepid: prepare for a polar plunge like none other or even a chance to step onto your very own piece of sea ice. Whatever the weather delivers, what we are sure to find here is a rare Antarctic experience and the closest one is likely to get to a true sense of exploration on planet Earth.

Following our three days of discovery on the Peninsula’s east side, the Greg Mortimer will plot a course to transit Antarctic Sound and to visit the more well-trodden western shores. As we attempt to enter the sound, a collection of tabular icebergs typically serves as a gateway from east to west and locations like Esperanza Station and the volcanic cliffs of Brown Bluff are viable landing points along the way. From here on out, we return to the more familiar sights and sounds of gentoo penguin colonies, a collection of Argentine and Chilean bases observable on craggy points and we lower the zodiacs again to explore famous sites like Orne Harbour, Paradise Bay or Port Lockroy. While the east side afforded us the most true sense of isolation and wilderness observable on Earth, the contrast becomes apparent on the western side as no excursion lasts long without the presence of gentoo or chinstrap penguins parading through the early-season snow and marine mammals hauling themselves onto ice-floes. After our four days of excursions in this region, we will again turn north to cross the Bransfield Strait.

As we leave the Antarctic Peninsula behind, we take with us our memories and photographs. We set a course for the Drake Passage as we enjoy some final lectures and presentations and look out for wildlife from the observation lounge and the outer decks. Having crossed the Drake Passage once more, we enter the calm and tranquil waters of the Beagle Channel bound for Ushuaia.

During the early morning, we cruise up the Beagle Channel, before quietly slipping into dock in Ushuaia, where we will be free to disembark around 8.00 am. Farewell your expedition team and fellow passengers as we all continue our onward journeys, hopefully with a newfound sense of the immense power of nature.

Upon disembarkation, for those continuing their travels in the region, transportation to the hotel will be arranged exclusively for guests who have booked their accommodations through Aurora or for those staying in downtown areas near the port. Expeditioners departing on flights prior to 12:30 pm will be directly transferred to Ushuaia Airport, those with flights after 12:30 pm will have the opportunity to explore Ushuaia before an afternoon airport transfer, and the transfer procedures and details will be communicated onboard before disembarkation.

Note: At the conclusion of the voyage, we do not recommend booking flights departing Ushuaia prior to 12.00 pm on the day of disembarkation in case there are delays.

In the real spirit of exploration, day five will hope to see the bow of the Greg Mortimer round the eastern end of Antarctic Sound and point south toward the truly wild coastlines of the Peninsula’s eastern side. It’s within this ice-laden sea that Sir Ernest Shackleton and his men sledged and floated their way north from their crushed and sunken vessel and bordering this vast expanse is an endless coastline of dramatic basaltic beaches, towering islands that rise straight from the sea and a spattering of remote archipelagos barely seen by human eyes since the heroic era.

From here, the options for exploration are endless. From the secluded Danger Islands to the north, the historically important and penguin-covered Paulet Island, the sweeping Prince Gustav Channel to the south or the protected and glacier-lined coves of Duse Bay. Over three days in this area, we will work with ice conditions to land and zodiac cruise around as many remote locations as possible. Keep an eye out for minke whales as captain and expedition leader navigate the scenic channels around the eagle island group and for the most intrepid: prepare for a polar plunge like none other or even a chance to step onto your very own piece of sea ice. Whatever the weather delivers, what we are sure to find here is a rare Antarctic experience and the closest one is likely to get to a true sense of exploration on planet Earth.