Crossing the Line

11, 13 or 14  nights

South Shetlands: visit King George Island, Deception Island and Half Moon Island. Explore the Antarctic Peninsula up close in Zodiacs and see whales breaching and seals sunbathing on translucent blue icebergs. Visits typically include Port Lockroy, Cuverville Island, Gerlache Strait, Neumeyer Channel and Paradise Bay. Continue south to cross the Antarctic Circle. Sail further south to Marguerite Bay or Petermann Island, negotiating the narrow channel known as the Gullett.

South Shetland Islands

This rugged island chain hugs the Antarctic Peninsula, providing a narrow but exceptionally sheltered sea passage: on either side, towers of black rock filigreed with grey webs; the valleys between them smothered in a stratified white mantle hundreds of metres thick. One of these islands is the active volcano of Deception Island, whose flooded caldera formed a perfect harbour for the whaling station which flourished here in the 1930’s. There may be time for a dip in the geothermally heated waters: not warm - ice-cold but with hot spots.

Antarctic Peninsula and the Antarctic Circle

The Antarctic Peninsula is the most readily accessible area of the continent and hosts some of the most awe-inspiring scenery and wildlife. It has the mildest climate of the continent (in the summer, the temperature usually hovers around freezing point) and is home to many of the scientific bases in Antarctica, including Port Lockroy, the first permanent British station. Gentoo, chinstrap and adelie penguins abound, and there’s always a good chance of sightings of humpback and minke whales, and orcas. Ships edge their way south through the slush and abstract patterns formed by the fractured sea ice; place names recall the early explorers: Neumeyer Channel, Lemaire Channel, Petermann Island. Only ships departing later in the season (January and February) attempt to reach and cross the Antarctic Circle. There’s nothing different to see - only the ship’s computerised instruments on the bridge recording the magic latitude: 66 °32’ S.