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, we sent over 1,800 travellers to Antarctica. More than 20 of our own Antarctic specialists made the trip as well, sailing on 14 different ships. We asked each of them to narrow down their highlights to show what makes a trip to the end of the Earth so very special.
Icebergs & landscapes
This was my first trip to Antarctica, and I spent a lot of time realising that however many pictures I’d seen before I travelled, it was a hundred times more beautiful than I imagined. Arriving at the Peninsula and sailing through a breathtaking seascape of sculptural icebergs, each one unique and mesmerising, the bright sun on the vast pack ice, and the peach and golden skies as we cruised past Port Lockroy: it was like being in a giant art gallery.
– Mairead sailed on National Geographic Endurance on our Explore the Antarctic Peninsula cruise
We did a zodiac cruise on a cloudy day when the sky got so dark it almost felt like night. In the light, the icebergs stood out as if they were lit in bright electric blue. It felt like there should have been a storm coming but everything was perfectly quiet: there was no wind, no waves and barely any noise. When it started to gently snow, everything became blanketed in the most serene silence, and we felt like the only people on the planet.
– Carys sailed on Greg Mortimer on our Antarctic Peninsula Explorer cruise
I did the polar plunge on my final full day in Antarctica. The ship was in Neko Harbour and the sun lit up the huge glaciers around us. When I was warming up after my icy dip, I looked out from the deck to see an immense avalanche plummeting almost silently down one of the mountains across the bay. It was one of those impossibly special moments that Antarctica seems to do so well.
– Lu sailed on Greg Mortimer on our Antarctic Peninsula Explorer cruise
High winds one day meant a change in our plans, and we headed out in zodiacs to explore the iceberg cemetery at Sikorsky Glacier. It was the first time there for almost the entire expedition team, and they all wore the same beaming faces as the passengers, experiencing Antarctica completely afresh. Their excitement was absolutely contagious, as we wove through giant ice sculptures, spotting Weddell, crabeater and leopard seals.
– Nardus sailed on Magellan Explorer on our Original Fly & Cruise Luxury Adventure cruise
South Georgia
St Andrews Bay in South Georgia lived up to—and then exceeded—all my hopes for the largest king penguin colony in South Georgia. The number of penguins is just overwhelming, and it took some time to let it all sink in. Everywhere you look there is movement, your eyes can’t focus on just one view. There was a biting wind that nearly froze my hand as I held my camera, but I mainly felt an overpowering gratitude at seeing one of the world’s great wildlife spectacles. Needless to say I made sure I was on the last zodiac to leave!
– Otto sailed on Sylvia Earle on our Discover South Georgia, Antarctica and Falklands cruise
I missed out on the Shackleton Walk when I was in South Georgia, but this is when having a brilliant expedition leader really comes into play. Ours had worked on the island for the British Antarctic Survey, and lined up the sort of incredible hike that only comes from the deepest experience – a five-hour hike over the mountains from Godthul. There can only be a handful of people who have ever walked that route: it’s exactly the sort of thing that makes expedition cruising both unpredictable but brilliant.
– Daniel sailed on Sylvia Earle on our Discover South Georgia, Antarctica and Falklands cruise
Penguins and more penguins
I could sit and watch penguins all day. On a continental landing at Neko Harbour, I was delighted to watch a large group of gentoo penguins edge their way nervously around a meltwater pool. They played an endless game of ‘after you,’ not wanting to be the first to brave the waters – until one eventually pushed its companion in. The rest happily jumped in after it, but I did wonder after if the victim ever got its own back on the culprit.
– Emma sailed on Silver Cloud on our Luxury Highlights of the Antarctic Peninsula cruise
My previous Antarctic trip was at the end of the season in March, when lots of penguin chicks had already fledged, so seeing some of the same locations in November when they were absolutely thick with penguins was absolutely gorgeous. There is so much activity at the start of the breeding season, with courtship displays and an endless procession of birds in and out of the sea. I finally got to tick off all three of the penguin species along the Peninsula: gentoos, chinstraps and even a handful of Adelies.
– Julie sailed on World Explorer on our Antarctic Explorer Refined cruise
In some ways I feel like I got the best of both words this year by flying to Antarctica and sailing back. But my first sea ice landing was the stand out moment. It was surreal to step off the ship directly onto the ice. But no sooner had I got my bearings than the locals came to show us how to do it with a little more panache: 20 chintrap penguins and a lone Adelie catapulted onto the edge of the ice, and waddled towards us. For once, it felt like they were coming to see what we were doing rather than the other way around – a delightful role reversal!
– Marta sailed on National Geographic Explorer on our Ultimate Luxury Antarctic Fly & Cruise trip
Life on board
On this year’s trip I got to take a very special guest: my dad. We opted for a luxury cruise including flights to Antarctica rather than taking the Drake Passage, but the silver service meant we were looked after from the moment we arrived in Santiago. Sipping champagne in a jacuzzi while watching humpbacks fluke in the distance amongst the early season ice felt a long way from the summer holidays of my childhood!
– Ian sailed on Silver Endeavour on our Ultimate Luxury Antarctic Fly & Cruise trip.
I was skeptical about how much use I’d get from the balcony in my cabin, but how wrong I was. There is truly nothing like waking up in an Antarctic bay with a view of mountains and glaciers – and then rushing outside when you realise there are orcas and humpbacks close to the ship! There was no dash for a parka and boots to find a public deck, just a private whale watching encounter before I’d even brushed my hair or had my first coffee. What a way to start the day.
– Nicky sailed on Ocean Albatros on our South Shetland Islands & Antarctica Voyage cruise
I hadn’t expected to be so captured by the sounds of Antarctica, and I loved just sitting within myself trying to absorb it all. Pleneau Bay stands out: the ship at silent rest, the pure air broken by nothing more than the occasional crack of distant ice and the explosive huffing of humpbacks swimming 50 years from the ship. I’ll leave the fancy photos to the experts – this was the perfect reminder of being absolutely in the moment.
– Mel sailed on Silver Cloud on our Luxury Highlights of the Antarctic Peninsula cruise
Whales galore
A pod of orcas surrounded our ship and took it in turns to go bowriding. It was joyful to lean over the bow and watch them close at hand keeping pace with us and taking it in turns to swim in pole position in front of us. Biologists say that dolphins like to bowride because it’s very energy efficient, but it looked a lot like they were doing it for play as much as travel – they were having as much fun as we were. Our Expedition Leader said it was the best orca encounter she had ever had. It’s definitely mine!
– Maddi sailed on Ocean Explorer on our Antarctic Explorer cruise
At dinner in the Gerlache Strait, there was a sudden rush to the window when someone spotted a group of humpback whales. A minute later, more were seen on the other side of the ship. We were surrounded! The entire ship soon forgot about the meal and were out on deck in parkas, where we enjoyed two hours in perfect sunset conditions watching over 20 whales spouting, bubble feeding and tail slapping. It was the best moment I’ve ever had in Antarctica, and is something that will stay with me forever.
– Heather sailed on SH Diana on our Antarctic Peninsula in Focus cruise
Travelling in March was a revelation to me. After a landing at Cuverville Island, we took a long and meandering zodiac trip back to the ship. It took so long because there were nearly a dozen humpbacks in the water so we had to plot the slowest course possible not to disturb them. Not that we minded our simple transit being turned into an impromptu whale safari! The moment I got on board, I rushed out to the viewing deck to look down on two adults and a calf, so close their flippers almost touched the ship.
– Bex sailed on Sylvia Earle on our Antarctic Fly & Sail Combination cruise
Everyone comes back from their travels with one improbable story, but I honestly never thought I would ever say the sentence ‘I went snorkelling in Antarctica and a humpback whale breached a dozen metres away from me.’ At one point in our zodiac, we were completely surrounded by whales coming to check us out: all our guide could do was turn off the engine as they virtually mobbed us, raising their flippers and brushing against the zodiac. They were so curious that they kept spyhopping to look us directly in the eye. It’s a strange thing to exchange glances with a whale: even our guide was wiping the tears away, it was such an emotional encounter.
– Madelyn sailed on Sylvia Earle on our Untamed Weddell Sea Adventure cruise
Wildlife encores
As a keen birder, I’ve always known that Antarctica has more feathers to its cap than just penguins. I delighted in my time on the Drake Passage watching albatrosses, but the real treat for me was to see and photograph snow petrels around the Antarctic Peninsula. They’re one of the only pure white seabirds on the planet, and are astonishingly beautiful. Seeing them flit like ghosts among the icebergs was a wonderful—if slightly—haunting highlight.
– Colin sailed on Seaventure on our Antarctic Peninsula Classic cruise
Seals never get enough love on Antarctic cruises because they always get overshadowed by the penguins and whales. But this trip had something truly special: a Ross seal. They’re the most populous seal on the planet, but ironically they’re rarely seen because they generally live too far south for Peninsula cruises. When our captain spotted one on the ice, the excitement among the expedition team was palpable, and we embarked on an evening excursion in the snow to observe it. It was a wonderful moment.
– Cassia sailed on National Geographic Endurance on our Explore the Antarctic Peninsula cruise
Our intention for the morning was to enjoy the icebergs grounded near Port Charcot, but no sooner had the zodiacs left the ship than we were surrounded by an enormous raft of gentoo penguins. The sea was almost boiling with them. It quickly became apparent that we were in the middle of a giant krill fest, with even humpback and minke whales joining in. When the penguins were done, they’d spring out of the water to take a break on a huge wedge-shaped iceberg, before diving back in for more. The water was crystal clear and we could see them zooming past us like bullets.
– Lizzie sailed on Ortelius on our South of the Antarctic Circle cruise
I put on my metaphorical lab coat for the first time to really get up close with some of the citizen science projects that take place on-board expedition cruise ships. It’s normally a big wrench for me to put down my camera on a trip, but it was fascinating to look down the lens of a microscope instead, then pull back in the biggest zoom reveal to get a picture of the entire Antarctic ecosystem, from the tiniest plankton to the biggest whales that normally catch my eye.
– Burnham sailed on Seaventure on our Antarctic Peninsula Classic cruise
Kayaking
Kayaking exceeded all my expectations. My kayak partner and I would swish our paddles through the ice just to listen to the ice pop and break around us, and then sit silently to enjoy the Antarctic ASMR experience. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any better, a large group of gentoo penguins started porpoising towards us. All of a sudden, a single penguin jumped out of the water, dived underneath our kayak and then surfaced on the other side. I’m sure it was smiling at us when it did it: my heart almost stopped out of pure joy.
– Ruby sailed on Hondius on our Antarctic Base Camp cruise
It’s very easy to go an entire trip to Antarctica without doing any exercise (and eating too much at each meal), so I loved the opportunity to go kayaking at every opportunity. Some people like to gently paddle of course, but I liked pushing myself through the ice in long deep strokes to really stretch my muscles. Clean and fresh polar air, incredible scenery and the blood pumping through your heart and muscles: what could be more exhilarating?
– Stefano sailed on Seaventure on our Antarctic Peninsula Classic cruise
What a season! It’s experiences like these that keep us coming back to Antarctica – and make us so passionate about sharing the greatest one of the destinations on Earth with other travellers. We’re already looking forward to next season – get in touch if you’d like to plan your own adventure story in Antarctica.
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