Ushuaia→The Peninsula

Ushuaia

Guests arrive by private jet at Ushuaia International Airport and transfer twenty minutes to M/Y Octopus, alongside the commercial pier. A safety briefing and muster drill on board come before departure.

The evening sail runs east down the Beagle Channel, the pilot aboard until the channel exit.

The Falkland Islands

The Falkland Islands consist of two main islands, East Falkland and West Falkland, and more than 700 smaller islands. The craggy, indented coastline provides many natural sheltered harbors, making it an ideal location for exploring with your expedition yacht. We are passionate about the Falkland Islands and genuinely look forward to sharing this rich archipelago with you, and the field staff aboard have completed hundreds of expeditions across the Southern Hemisphere. These days reach albatross and penguin colonies, a visit with island owners, and the small capital at Stanley, with its cathedral, whalebone arch and dockyard museum, before provisioning for the Scotia Sea.

At Sea

Through the Le Maire Strait and northeast toward the Falklands. Spend time on deck watching for the whales that frequent these rich waters or enjoying the acrobatic maneuvers of black-browed albatross, giant petrels and prions as they crisscross the sky. In the afternoon the expedition team briefs the Falklands and South Georgia biosecurity rules.

West Point & Carcass Islands

For the adventurous, few destinations can match the Falkland Islands, with their wide open skies, endless vistas, long white sandy beaches, clear blue seas and the largest breeding colony of black-browed albatross, southern rockhopper and Magellanic penguins. Zodiacs run ashore at West Point in the morning for the walk across the island to the Devil's Nose albatross and rockhopper colony.

The afternoon lands at Carcass Island for Magellanic and gentoo penguins and tea with the island owners. Landings are subject to swell; the alternate is a Zodiac cruise along the cliffs.

Stanley

Alongside or at anchor in Stanley harbour. The morning walk through town takes in Christ Church Cathedral, the whalebone arch and the Historic Dockyard Museum. An optional afternoon runs out to Gypsy Cove for Magellanic penguins.

Final provisioning and a fuel check come before the Scotia Sea crossing.

Scotia Sea

Passage east across the Scotia Sea toward South Georgia, crossing the Antarctic Convergence where the water temperature drops sharply. Lectures cover Shackleton and the Endurance. All outer clothing, bags and boots are vacuumed and checked for seeds in preparation for the South Georgia biosecurity inspection.

Shag Rocks

Continue east, passing Shag Rocks in the afternoon if visibility allows, with large numbers of seabirds and possible whales. The mandatory South Georgia briefing on the GSGSSI visitor guidelines is given to all guests before arrival.

South Georgia

The only way to visit South Georgia is by sea. For the amount of raw wildlife experienced in return, the hours spent traveling to South Georgia are a small investment, and even the days spent at sea in the Southern Ocean are replete with wildlife. Albatross and pelagic dolphins rarely let a yacht pass by without at least a short visit. With their striking black and white plumage and vibrant orange neck markings, the island's king penguins gather in large, bustling colonies to breed, incubate eggs and rear their chicks, carrying each egg on their feet rather than building a nest. These days reach Shackleton's grave, the great king colonies and the glacier at the head of the fjord that closes the leg.

Grytviken & King Edward Point

Ship's clocks go forward one hour. The Government Officer clears the ship in at King Edward Point, and the biosecurity inspection takes place on board before any landing. Visitors to Grytviken are greeted by king penguins and juvenile fur seals. Sir Ernest Shackleton is buried in the nearby whaler's cemetery, and this abandoned whaling station boasts an exceptional museum, with the Norwegian church alongside and a toast at the grave.

At King Edward Point itself, the numbers of fur seals on the beaches are evidence that conservation works: since the ban on hunting in the 1970s, populations have steadily grown to pre-slaughter levels. Fur seals and elephant seals line the shore around the research station.

St Andrews Bay & Gold Harbour

There's no feeling quite like stepping ashore in South Georgia to be among hundreds of thousands of king penguins. The morning lands at St Andrews Bay, the largest king penguin colony on South Georgia, below the Cook, Buxton and Heaney glaciers. The afternoon lands at Gold Harbour for king penguins, elephant seals and gentoos under the hanging Bertrab Glacier.

Cooper Bay & Drygalski Fjord

A morning Zodiac cruise at Cooper Bay, with no landing, for macaroni and chinstrap penguins. Approximately 50 percent of South Georgia is covered by glaciers, and at the base of this fjord sits the biggest and most active glacier on the island: a midday scenic cruise runs to the head of Drygalski Fjord and the Risting Glacier, snow petrels on the cliffs. Octopus departs at 1600 southwest for Elephant Island.

Scotia Sea

Passage southwest toward the South Orkney and South Shetland chain, with the first icebergs likely. Lectures cover Antarctic ice, penguins and the IAATO guidelines, and the Antarctic biosecurity check of clothing and gear is carried out.

Scotia Sea

Continue southwest. Whale watching from the bridge wing, with fin and humpback whales common in these waters in February. The evening briefing covers Elephant Island and the plan for the Antarctic Peninsula.

Antarctic Sound & the Weddell Sea

This 30-mile stretch of water at the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula offers remarkable views as you sail past Joinville Island and into the Weddell Sea. The Weddell Sea is ice cruising central, and its icebergs are born on the Larsen Ice Shelf before coming to rest here. Ice conditions can be challenging, and any vessel entering these waters carefully assesses weather forecasts and ice charts before committing, which is why vessels operating here are typically ice-classed. The leg opens past the historic beaches of Elephant Island, where moving between this sub-Antarctic ground and the Peninsula itself calls for care with boots, packs and gear so nothing travels with you that should not, and closes at the first continental landing of the voyage.

Point Wild, Elephant Island

Ship's clocks go back one hour. Elephant Island is perhaps the most historically significant site in all of Antarctica. Here, twenty-two of Sir Ernest Shackleton's men waited four and a half months in 1916 awaiting rescue, taken off by the Yelcho on 30 August. As you cruise past its rocky, desolate beaches, it is impossible not to think about the early Antarctic explorers and marvel at their perseverance.

A landing is rarely possible because of swell, so this is a Zodiac cruise only, with chinstrap penguins on the rocks below the Yelcho monument. Octopus departs at 1300 for Antarctic Sound.

Brown Bluff & Kinnes Cove

Known as Iceberg Alley, Antarctic Sound is at the very northeastern point of the Antarctic Peninsula, where large tabular icebergs drift north from the Weddell Sea. The first continental landing comes at Brown Bluff, with Adélie and gentoo penguin colonies below the volcanic cliffs.

The afternoon is a Zodiac cruise at Kinnes Cove along the Madder Cliffs Adélie colony, with large tabular icebergs throughout. If ice closes the landing, the ship cruises through the sound instead.

The Danco Coast & Gerlache Strait

On the western side of the Antarctic Peninsula, you will spend several days exploring the numerous islands and channels of this scenic area, where mountains rise directly from the sea and deep fjords fill with ice. Conditions can change quickly, and the days are shaped as much by the ice and weather as by the itinerary, with near-constant daylight in the early austral summer providing long opportunities for exploration. The schedule can linger longer at a landing site when the light turns golden, or adjust to follow a pod of whales across open water, and the most memorable moments often come at eye level, from a Zodiac alongside the animals themselves. The days here run among feeding whales and a 1915 wreck, and make landings on the continent itself.

Cierva Cove & Spert Island

An overnight run across the Bransfield Strait reaches Cierva Cove: a deep cove backed by an immense glacial face that calves regularly into the bay. Zodiacs weave through the resulting field of sculptural icebergs and brash ice, with leopard seals often hauled out on the floes and the Argentine Primavera station on the shore.

The afternoon threads the arches and channels of Spert Island, off the western tip of Trinity Island, a place few ships visit: a maze of narrow rock channels and collapsed sea arches that Zodiacs run between walls of basalt, with grounded icebergs glowing blue in the shadows, swell permitting.

Wilhelmina Bay & Enterprise Island

Humpback whales frequent these waters and feed on small shrimp-like krill, and Wilhelmina Bay, where large congregations are a common sight, is one of the best examples of this conservation success. The morning runs Zodiacs among the whales and ice, with submersible dives in the bay, conditions permitting and a maximum of two guests per dive.

The afternoon reaches Enterprise Island, on the edge of the bay at Foyn Harbour, and the wreck of the Guvernøren, a Norwegian whaling factory ship deliberately run aground in 1915 when fire broke out aboard. All 85 crew survived. The rusted hull now shelters nesting Antarctic terns, and Zodiacs circle it slowly through still, protected water.

Neko Harbour & Orne Harbour

The morning lands at Neko Harbour on the continent itself. Gentoo penguins breed on the rocky point, and the glacier face across the water calves with a sound like artillery; time ashore is spent high on the viewpoint ridge, above the tsunami line.

The afternoon climbs Orne Harbour: a snow climb to the saddle above the water reaches a chinstrap penguin colony on the exposed rock of Spigot Peak, with the Gerlache Strait laid out below. The alternate is kayaking in Andvord Bay.

The Lemaire & the Far South

This part of Antarctica offers some of the most dramatic scenery on the continent, and traveling by private yacht allows guests to navigate these remote waterways in comfort while experiencing the region's striking landscapes up close. The Lemaire Channel is known to those familiar with it as the Kodak Gap for its picture-perfect, mirrored water between towering peaks, with high peaks and a narrow passage that is often blocked by ice, where an ice-classed vessel is a real advantage. The days cruise an iceberg graveyard and a wintering cairn from 1904, and reach Port Lockroy, a restored British research station turned museum and post office, before the run north across the Drake Passage.

Lemaire Channel & Pléneau Island

The Lemaire Channel is a geologic wonder that showcases the power and drama of the Antarctic landscape. Carved by glaciers over millennia, this narrow, icy waterway presents a panorama of towering, jagged peaks that rise dramatically from the water. The ship transits at first light, ice permitting.

The morning explores Pléneau Island for gentoo penguins and a Zodiac cruise through the iceberg graveyard. The afternoon reaches Port Charcot, where Charcot wintered in 1904, and the cairn on the hill. If the Lemaire is blocked, the alternate is Paradise Harbour.

Port Lockroy & Melchior Islands

Port Lockroy is Britain's wartime Base A on tiny Goudier Island, now a living museum and the southernmost public post office in the world. Postcards mailed here travel out with the season's ships, and visits are by prior arrangement. Gentoos nest against the hut walls, indifferent to their fame. In the afternoon, Zodiacs cruise the ice-capped Melchior Islands in Dallmann Bay

Drake Passage

Drake Passage northbound, often cited as the roughest seas on Earth, with wandering and royal albatross following the ship. The expedition team hosts a photo review and recap, and the farewell dinner is served on board.

Ushuaia

Octopus arrives Ushuaia at 0800, clearing in with Argentine immigration on board.

Guests disembark after breakfast and transfer to Ushuaia International Airport for departing flights.