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At Swoop Antarctica, we like to think that we know Antarctica better than anyone in the polar cruise industry. That’s because every year we send more of our team to rekindle their love of Antarctica, and get to know how every ship and expedition team operate in the ice. In the 2025/26 cruising season that’s […]

The polar fleet has always been at the forefront of innovation when it comes to expedition cruise ships – something that can be most visibly seen in its rapid adoption of X-Bow ship designs, with their unique profile designed to ease a ship’s passage through rough waters. I recently experienced my first voyage aboard one […]

Launched in 2018 and specially designed for expedition cruising, the Fridtjof Nansen is one of the most advanced ships in the polar fleet. Its 490 berths puts it on the larger side of expedition cruise ships that are allowed to visit Antarctica and still let passengers put their boots in the snow, but under the […]

All travel produces carbon emissions, whether you’re driving to the supermarket or flying to a holiday destination. As a travel company specialising in Antarctica, where the effects of climate change can be observed, we believe the industry has a special responsibility to reduce emissions. In 2022, members of the International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators […]

For those of us living in the northern hemisphere, the approach of summer is all about taking things easy and relaxing into thoughts of a nice holiday – perhaps somewhere hot, with a beach. Down in the southern hemisphere, the seasons are reversed, and Antarctica sleeps in the freezing darkness of the austral winter. Only […]

Since the first pioneering departure over 20 years ago, Fly & Cruise trips to Antarctica have grown in popularity. They skip the two day voyage across the famous Drake Passage from Ushuaia in Argentina by simply flying over it, so that travellers join their cruise ship in Antarctica and get straight into the important action […]

When it comes to planning a cruise to Antarctica, one of the questions that comes up most frequently is what’s the best size of ship to sail on? There’s no perfect answer of course, but if you want to maximise your time exploring off the ship, then we generally recommend ships that carry fewer than […]

Since its launch in 2021, the expedition cruise ship Ultramarine has rapidly become a popular choice for Swoop Antarctica passengers. Its modern design, 1A+ ice class rating (putting it just shy of being an actual icebreaker), 199 berths and broad suite of adventure activities have all helped establish its place in the polar fleet. Since […]

Nature documentaries showcasing Antarctica’s wildlife have often played a key role in inspiring people to fall in love with the White Continent. In recent years, few sequences have amazed viewers as much as the dramatic behaviour of pack ice killer whales, shown in the BBC’s Frozen Planet and Frozen Planet II series hunting seals by […]

Every April 24, we celebrate Antarctic Ambassadors Day, which is an opportunity to celebrate one of the most extraordinary places on our planet – as well as inspiring people to take steps towards protecting a destination where environmental changes can impact us all. To learn more, we spoke to Steve Jones, Chair of IAATO’s Antarctic […]

When it comes to cruising in Antarctica, expedition guides are at the heart of everything. They lead zodiac cruises and landings, share their polar expertise with guests during onboard lectures and wildlife encounters, and do all of this while ensuring that everything runs smoothly and safely.  Expedition guides are highly trained, but there’s one thing […]

Quick Answer: Best Time to Visit Antarctica The best time to visit Antarctica is between November and March, during the austral summer when expedition ships can access the continent. Each month offers slightly different experiences: Table of contents Antarctica’s white wilderness has an irresistible magnetism for adventurous souls the world over. Around 40,000 travellers make […]

For lovers of the great outdoors, Antarctica offers the ultimate experience – and it doesn’t get much more outdoors than spending a night out camping on the White Continent. Falling asleep listening to the sounds of distant glaciers, penguins and even whales is truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience.  I’ve travelled to Antarctica several times, but it […]

It’s probably the most iconic voyage in polar history: the small boat journey that Ernest Shackleton and five of his men made in the James Caird to South Georgia in 1916, following the loss of his ship Endurance. But their fight for survival, and to rescue the crew left behind on Elephant Island didn’t end […]

Quick Answer: Best Month to Cross the Drake Passage The best months to cross the Drake Passage are November to March, during the Antarctic summer. However, no specific month guarantees calm seas, as weather conditions in the Drake Passage are highly unpredictable. Travellers may experience either the calm conditions of the ‘Drake Lake’ or the […]

We’ve always known that going to Antarctica would be the trip of a lifetime, but for some of our travellers it’s even more special than that. At Swoop, we love helping people who want to get married in Antarctica, and recently, we helped Trevor and Madeleine from Colorado to make their dreams of a polar […]

We’re obsessed with the polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton here at Swoop Antarctica, but even we know that Antarctica can feel awfully far away when we want a hint of the heroic era of polar exploration. That’s why we were delighted when the world’s only museum dedicated to the man they called ‘The Boss’ recently […]

When you ask someone why they want to take a cruise to Antarctica, we can guarantee that seeing penguins is always pretty high on the wishlist. And rightly so. Every Antarctic trip will go big on opportunities to see penguins, and even the most casual observer quickly becomes an expert at picking out a gentoo […]

It’s always an exciting moment when a new expedition cruise ship joins the polar fleet. The highly-anticipated Douglas Mawson has just launched – and Swoop were invited to join its inaugural voyage to experience it first hand on a four-night shakedown cruise from Sydney to Hobart to check the ship out, before it headed south […]

It’s the most famous knock on the door in polar history. On 20 May 1916, Ernest Shackleton banged on the door of the Manager’s Villa in Stromness whaling station on South Georgia and announced to the surprised occupant that he had lost his ship.  Together with Frank Worsley and Tom Crean, he had just marched […]

At Swoop, we spend a lot of time talking about expedition guides as being the rockstars of Antarctic expedition cruising. It’s true they’re the best in the business for helping you experience the White Continent up close, but they’re only part of what makes a cruise here so special. Much of the credit also has […]

The Antarctic Peninsula has a rich history of human exploration and science, much of which can be seen on an expedition cruise through the region. Some locations speak to the dark history of Antarctic whaling, such as the abandoned stations on Deception Island or the wreck of the Governoren. Other places are preserved as heritage […]

If there’s one thing that can be agreed on about the polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton, it’s that he was a great inspirer of men. In the story of his ship Endurance, which sank at the start of his attempt to cross Antarctica, it can often feel like he saved his men from certain disaster […]

The big stories of Antarctic exploration tend to come in two main flavours: either a race to the South Pole, or a desperate survival story after a ship sinks after being in the ice. Shackleton, Scott and Amundsen, we’re looking at you. But no one has done more to change that popular perception in recent […]

The leopard seal is one species that always ranks highly on the wishlist to see for travellers to Antarctica, and an encounter with one on an ice floe is always memorable. In this guide, we explain everything you need to know about leopard seals, and seeing them on an Antarctic expedition cruise.  Table of contents […]

Antarctica is the final frontier for scuba diving. There is nowhere you can go that’s so remote—and so cold—to get underwater. Until relatively recently, the only people who have been able to dive there were scientists, but now any divers with the appropriate cold water experience can travel south to experience it for themselves.  Diving […]

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 […]

The best films about Antarctica It’s a challenge that any traveller to Antarctica knows well: conveying how extraordinary the White Continent is in real life. No camera lens ever truly seems to do its beauty justice. But what if you could travel there with a proper film crew? Antarctica has attracted its fair share of […]

Since 2023, Swoop has been a certified B Corp. It’s our deeply held belief that we have a responsibility to consider the planet in everything we do. We’re proud to be part of a movement committed to creating positive change in the world. Choosing to travel with a B Corp for your next adventure has […]

Visiting Antarctica is a travel experience like no other. The planet’s southernmost continent is home to one of the most extreme climates in the world – in fact, it can only be visited by expedition cruises for fewer than six months every year, due to its long winters and impenetrable sea ice.  The continent’s wild […]

Standing on the deck of an expedition cruise ship as you arrive at the Antarctic Peninsula, don’t look for any flag flying high over the territory. It doesn’t have one. Research bases fly the flags of their nations and when visitors arrive on expedition cruise ships they proudly wave banners to celebrate landing on the […]