{"id":2726,"date":"2024-01-10T09:26:29","date_gmt":"2024-01-10T09:26:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/?p=2726"},"modified":"2025-04-30T11:21:43","modified_gmt":"2025-04-30T10:21:43","slug":"helicopter-flightseeing-antarctica-from-the-air","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/helicopter-flightseeing-antarctica-from-the-air\/","title":{"rendered":"Helicopter flightseeing: Antarctica from the air"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

One of the great attractions of an Antarctic cruise is experiencing the White Continent at its most intimate. You see it from the waterline in a zodiac cruise or paddling in a kayak, and you hear the crunch of the snow underfoot as you step onto its shores. But how does it look when you pull back for a bird’s eye view? On my most recent trip south I wanted to experience a helicopter flight in Antarctica, to get a totally unique ‘flightseeing’ perspective on this incredible destination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Our helicopter ready for action<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Helicopter operations<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Only a very small number of expedition cruise ships offer helicopter flights in Antarctica. This is a tough enough place for ships to operate even before you can consider taking to the air. I sailed on Ultramarine<\/a>, but Ortelius<\/a> also has helicopters on board for select Weddell Sea voyages. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Flightseeing is offered once during a trip and included in the price of the cruise. As with all things Antarctic, nothing can be guaranteed due to the capricious nature of the weather conditions. Helicopters demand perfect flying conditions, but on our voyage at least we were blessed with particularly fine weather. In addition, I had opted for the trip to see the emperor penguin colony at Snow Hill \u2013 only accessible by air \u2013 allowing a bonus flight. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Ultramarine seen from above<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Both the ships offering flights have two helicopters on board. It\u2019s an obvious safety precaution for working in what can be a very unforgiving environment, but it also gave the ability to move people to and from the landing sites so much more quickly than I had thought possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Avoiding noise pollution<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Now, helicopters can be pretty loud, so some of us onboard were initially concerned about noise pollution. It was reassuring to learn that the helicopters on Ultramarine are the quietest in their class. It\u2019s something that the operators take very seriously. Flying is forbidden anywhere near wildlife to avoid disturbing them. At Snow Hill, we landed a 45 minute walk away from the emperor penguin colony. Not only did that avoid the risk of disturbing the birds, but it gave us a great sense of anticipation as we walked towards them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Landing site at Snow Hill<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On top of that, to avoid the risk of disturbing anyone else\u2019s Antarctic serenity, the helicopters aren\u2019t allowed to operate within five nautical miles of any other cruise ship. For all this, I was still amazed that whether you were on the ground or on the ship, the sound of the helicopters completely disappeared about 30 seconds after take-off. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Spot the helicopter!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Inside, the helicopters took seven passengers when ferrying us to Snow Hill, but just five when we were flightseeing to ensure that everyone got a window seat for perfect views. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Clear blue skies: perfect flying conditions for Antarctica<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s the logistics side out of the way, but what about the actual experience? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Antarctica from above<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This wasn\u2019t my first trip to Antarctica, so I already knew what to expect. But seeing it from the air was way more extraordinary than anything I had imagined. I\u2019ve seen tabular icebergs from the sea that have been so beautiful they brought tears to my eyes,<\/a> but flying high above them gives a new definition of the word sublime.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Dramatic landscapes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

You see the cracks in the ice. You see where the ice is formed throughout the winter, crevasses in glaciers pouring down from the mountains or long tracks that have been sculpted by the wind. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Wind and crevasses sculpting the ice<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s one thing to stand next to a thousand penguins and feel overwhelmed by their numbers. But it\u2019s another thing to see them from the air at a great distance as a mass of tiny black dots huddled together on the ice. You know that you\u2019re visiting them in their home, but being able to pull back the view and see how minuscule they looked against the epic landscape was one of the most powerful and emotional moments I’ve ever had travelling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The pack ice from the air<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A few days later, we did our flightseeing trip on the western side of the Antarctic Peninsula and flew around Mount Fran\u00e7ais on Anvers Island. It\u2019s over 8600 feet high (more than 2750 metres) and entirely covered with snow, but from the air it looked like one enormous, delicious pile of cream. I wanted to lean out of the window and scoop it up in my hand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Soft snows of the Antarctic Peninsula<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The flightseeing trips last around 15 minutes. What we saw made it feel like an overwhelming hour and a vanishing minute at the same time. When we were done there was still the full suite of activities on offer, with plenty of landings and zodiac cruises. But being back on the waterline only made our experiences from the air even more powerful. I knew that its landscapes were epic, but taking to the skies underscored just how emotionally powerful the scale of Antarctica truly is. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the great attractions of an Antarctic cruise is experiencing the White Continent at its most intimate. You see it from the waterline in a zodiac cruise or paddling in a kayak, and you hear the crunch of the snow underfoot as you step onto its shores. But how does it look when you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":2718,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[113,54],"class_list":["post-2726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-epic-adventures","tag-helicopter","tag-weddell-sea"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHelicopter flightseeing: Antarctica from the air - Swoop Antarctica Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ever wondered what Antarctica looks like from the air? Our polar specialist Nardus takes a cruise on a ship with a helicopter to investigate.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/helicopter-flightseeing-antarctica-from-the-air\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Helicopter flightseeing: Antarctica from the air - Swoop Antarctica Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ever wondered what Antarctica looks like from the air? Our polar specialist Nardus takes a cruise on a ship with a helicopter to investigate.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/helicopter-flightseeing-antarctica-from-the-air\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Swoop Antarctica Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-01-10T09:26:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-04-30T10:21:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Heli-with-nice-background.-Daniel-Ultramarine-Nov-2023.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1350\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Nardus Erasmus\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Nardus Erasmus\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/helicopter-flightseeing-antarctica-from-the-air\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/helicopter-flightseeing-antarctica-from-the-air\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Nardus Erasmus\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/bf383e8d186a1f7305bc1fecd226320b\"},\"headline\":\"Helicopter flightseeing: Antarctica from the air\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-01-10T09:26:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-30T10:21:43+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/helicopter-flightseeing-antarctica-from-the-air\/\"},\"wordCount\":861,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Helicopter\",\"weddell sea\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Epic Adventures\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/helicopter-flightseeing-antarctica-from-the-air\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/helicopter-flightseeing-antarctica-from-the-air\/\",\"name\":\"Helicopter flightseeing: Antarctica from the air - Swoop Antarctica Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2024-01-10T09:26:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-30T10:21:43+00:00\",\"description\":\"Ever wondered what Antarctica looks like from the air? Our polar specialist Nardus takes a cruise on a ship with a helicopter to investigate.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/helicopter-flightseeing-antarctica-from-the-air\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/helicopter-flightseeing-antarctica-from-the-air\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/helicopter-flightseeing-antarctica-from-the-air\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Helicopter flightseeing: Antarctica from the air\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Swoop Antarctica Blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Swoop Antarctica Blog\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/swoop-antarctica-logo-blog.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/swoop-antarctica-logo-blog.svg\",\"width\":1240,\"height\":108,\"caption\":\"Swoop Antarctica Blog\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/bf383e8d186a1f7305bc1fecd226320b\",\"name\":\"Nardus Erasmus\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Nardus-Erasmus-Swoop-Antarctica-96x96.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Nardus-Erasmus-Swoop-Antarctica-96x96.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Nardus Erasmus\"},\"description\":\"Nardus is a polar specialist at Swoop. He loves experiencing the tranquillity of Antarctica and has been onboard multiple polar vessels. He has explored the Antarctic Peninsula and Weddell Sea, enjoying wildlife encounters with humpback whales and emperor penguins.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/author\/nardus\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Helicopter flightseeing: Antarctica from the air - Swoop Antarctica Blog","description":"Ever wondered what Antarctica looks like from the air? Our polar specialist Nardus takes a cruise on a ship with a helicopter to investigate.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/helicopter-flightseeing-antarctica-from-the-air\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Helicopter flightseeing: Antarctica from the air - Swoop Antarctica Blog","og_description":"Ever wondered what Antarctica looks like from the air? Our polar specialist Nardus takes a cruise on a ship with a helicopter to investigate.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/helicopter-flightseeing-antarctica-from-the-air\/","og_site_name":"Swoop Antarctica Blog","article_published_time":"2024-01-10T09:26:29+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-04-30T10:21:43+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2400,"height":1350,"url":"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Heli-with-nice-background.-Daniel-Ultramarine-Nov-2023.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Nardus Erasmus","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Nardus Erasmus","Estimated reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/helicopter-flightseeing-antarctica-from-the-air\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/helicopter-flightseeing-antarctica-from-the-air\/"},"author":{"name":"Nardus Erasmus","@id":"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/bf383e8d186a1f7305bc1fecd226320b"},"headline":"Helicopter flightseeing: Antarctica from the air","datePublished":"2024-01-10T09:26:29+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-30T10:21:43+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/helicopter-flightseeing-antarctica-from-the-air\/"},"wordCount":861,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/#organization"},"keywords":["Helicopter","weddell sea"],"articleSection":["Epic Adventures"],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/helicopter-flightseeing-antarctica-from-the-air\/","url":"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/helicopter-flightseeing-antarctica-from-the-air\/","name":"Helicopter flightseeing: Antarctica from the air - Swoop Antarctica Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2024-01-10T09:26:29+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-30T10:21:43+00:00","description":"Ever wondered what Antarctica looks like from the air? Our polar specialist Nardus takes a cruise on a ship with a helicopter to investigate.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/helicopter-flightseeing-antarctica-from-the-air\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/helicopter-flightseeing-antarctica-from-the-air\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/helicopter-flightseeing-antarctica-from-the-air\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Helicopter flightseeing: Antarctica from the air"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/","name":"Swoop Antarctica Blog","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Swoop Antarctica Blog","url":"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/swoop-antarctica-logo-blog.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/swoop-antarctica-logo-blog.svg","width":1240,"height":108,"caption":"Swoop Antarctica Blog"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/bf383e8d186a1f7305bc1fecd226320b","name":"Nardus Erasmus","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Nardus-Erasmus-Swoop-Antarctica-96x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Nardus-Erasmus-Swoop-Antarctica-96x96.jpg","caption":"Nardus Erasmus"},"description":"Nardus is a polar specialist at Swoop. He loves experiencing the tranquillity of Antarctica and has been onboard multiple polar vessels. He has explored the Antarctic Peninsula and Weddell Sea, enjoying wildlife encounters with humpback whales and emperor penguins.","url":"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/author\/nardus\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2726"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2726"}],"version-history":[{"count":29,"href":"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2726\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5504,"href":"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2726\/revisions\/5504"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swoop-antarctica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}