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For many people, Antarctica is the ultimate travel destination, with stepping foot on the White Continent the culmination of a life-long dream. But for others, that first step is just one in a long series of marches that can take you all the way to the South Pole and beyond. Preet Chandi MBE – or […]

Antarctica is home to some of the most charismatic wildlife on Earth. Penguins by the thousand, humpback whales and orcas – these are the animals that compel people to travel all the way to the end of the Earth to see. But what about the life that’s normally hidden from view? At Swoop, we always […]

We are scientists who have dedicated our careers to studying life in the most inhospitable regions of the world. Our mission is to understand how warming temperatures, melting ice, and a changing environment influence microscopic life living in Antarctica’s oceans. We spend countless hours in our temperature-controlled labs – yet deep down, we know that […]

Antarctica is a place shrouded in tales of epic exploration and adventure. In recent years, the vogue has been for Ernest Shackleton and the destruction of his ship Endurance in the pack ice – a disaster redeemed by the astonishing rescue of his men after the voyage of the tiny James Caird from Elephant Island […]

In Antarctica, ice is never just ice. It dominates the landscape, and for much of the year it dominates the sea too. The numbers alone never quite communicate its epic quality.Over 99% of Antarctica is covered in ice, much of it is more than a mile thick, and every polar winter the sea around it […]

As Antarctic travel specialists, we know just how much people love penguins. Who doesn’t? They’re animals so ridiculously charismatic that they could have been designed in a laboratory for marketing purposes alone. These scene stealers sometimes leave little room for some of Antarctica’s other wildlife, including its seals – no matter how picturesque they can […]

The continent of Antarctica is roughly the same size as Australia, but it effectively doubles in size every winter as the surrounding seas freeze, extending Antarctica’s reach with an impenetrable skirt of ice. This can often give the impression that Antarctica is a largely featureless place – an idea that’s reinforced by the picture of […]

Science and Antarctic exploration have gone hand in hand since the first people began  visiting the continent in the early 19th century. Expeditions, like those of Captain Scott, undertook extensive scientific programmes alongside the headline-grabbing attempts to reach the South Pole. Since the Second World War, many countries have operated scientific research stations in the […]

If you’re looking to get the most out of your Antarctic cruise experience, there are few better ways to do it than by adding the Subantarctic island of South Georgia to your itinerary. This wildly remote island is a hundred-mile mountain range erupting out of some of the richest seas on the planet. Known as […]

At Swoop, we spend a lot of time talking about Antarctica’s wildlife, from many species of penguins to seals and amazing whale watching. These are the big charismatic animals that draw expedition cruise travellers to the end of the Earth. But there is one species that’s rarely on people’s draw cards, arguably the most important […]

When it comes to white weddings, Antarctica could be the most spectacular destination in the world. Exchanging vows against a backdrop of snowy mountains and glaciers is an unforgettable way to start a life together – and the penguins who often serve as marriage witnesses already come dressed in their own black and white wedding […]

One of the most popular activities on cruises to the Antarctic Peninsula is camping out for the night, curled up in a sleeping bag listening to the sounds of the frozen wilderness. It’s a brief taste of the epic isolation that the continent offers. But those looking for the ultimate adventure can take it one […]

Port Lockroy is a historic British research base that sits on tiny Goudier island off the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. Better-known today as the Penguin Post Office, it is maintained by the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust (UKAHT), and is a perennially popular place for Antarctic expedition cruise ships to visit when the weather and […]

At Swoop Antarctica, our expertise is unmatched in the polar cruise industry. Every year, we send our team south to experience the continent firsthand: no polar travel agency visits Antarctica more than we do, which means that we can help plan Antarctic adventures with total confidence.  In the 2024/25 Antarctic cruising season that’s just wrapped, […]

Antarctica is a destination that holds a very special place in my heart. I’ve been lucky enough to visit the continent five times now, both for work and pleasure – in cruise ships and onboard the massive Agulhas II icebreaker as part of the Endurance22 expedition to find the wreck of Shackleton’s legendary ship Endurance.  […]

Cruising in the wild landscapes of Antarctica is a once-in-a-lifetime adventure. Picture standing on the deck of your expedition vessel, or even from the balcony of your cabin, watching icebergs float by as your lungs fill with the crisp Antarctic air. It’s a truly invigorating and exhilarating experience.  But what if those Southern Ocean waters […]

Grytviken in South Georgia is one of the most visited places on the island. As well as being the final resting place of the polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton, the old whaling station is home to the best museum in the Southern Ocean, which is run by the South Georgia Heritage Trust (SGHT) on behalf […]

Ever since Captain James Cook made the first recorded crossing of the Antarctic Circle, brave explorers, sailors and scientists have sailed to Antarctica, in search of its wildlife and scientific secrets. Today’s Antarctic expedition cruise industry follows in its wake, with growing numbers of tourists making the voyage to explore the Antarctic Peninsula, albeit in […]

One of the things we love most about expedition cruising in Antarctica is helping travellers take part in citizen science projects where they can contribute to active research projects. One of the projects closest to our hearts is Happywhale, which allows travellers to log sightings of humpbacks and other whales to create a global database […]

In the early 1990s, when the Antarctic cruise industry and the internet were still in their infancy , one of the biggest TV shows was The X-Files, where two FBI agents—one a skeptic, the other a true believer—would investigate mysteries from the extraterrestrial to the paranormal while shadowy government agents hid the truth from the […]