Weddell Sea Cruises

The Weddell Sea is home to Antarctica’s most spectacular icebergs and travellers here can expect to be enthralled by vast tabular icebergs with cliffs as high as tower blocks and great sheets of pack ice.

Geography accounts for the Weddell being so ice-choked. Its slow clockwise current rotates against the Eastern arm of the Peninsula, trapping winter sea ice rather than allowing it to all melt away every summer. This frozen pack then adds to the jumble of tabular bergs calving in great sheets off the landlocked Ronne Ice Shelf.

As a result, ice-free waters in the Weddell Sea are restricted to just a few short months of the year, giving expedition cruise ships only a narrow window to safely visit and enjoy this extraordinary landscape. 

The Weddell Sea offers a rare opportunity to see Antarctica’s most iconic species: the emperor penguin. Absent on the more-visited Western side of the Peninsula, emperors may be seen on Snow Hill Island, their northernmost colony in Antarctica.

Snow Hill only be accessed in November and early December, and even then its ice-bound location means that it can only be reached by ships with their own helicopters. 

To avoid disturbing the penguins, helicopters aren't allowed to fly within a mile of the colony, so must visitors walk across the ice to the rookery, excitement building as they are guided by the sounds of the rookery.

Seeing up to 4000 pairs of tall handsome adult emperors and their fat fluffy chicks, set against an unearthly frozen landscape, can be an overwhelming experience and is surely one of the world's greatest wildlife encounters. 

From the days of the first explorers to the modern quest for the wreck of the Endurance, the Weddell Sea continues to be a backdrop for the most extraordinary stories, waiting to be retold by onboard historian guides.

Shackleton's lost ship Endurance was rediscovered here in 2022, and while it continues to sleep undisturbed beneath the ice, sailing cannot fail to evoke wonder at the survival story that followed: from the months spent camping on the ice, to the dash to Elephant Island and the miraculous 800-mile voyage to South Georgia. 

The Weddell Sea is also the backdrop to lesser known stories of Antarctic survival and heroism, like the 1902 Nordenskjold Expedition who were stranded on Snow Hill Island, and their relief expedition who were forced to take overwinter on Paulet Island when their own ship sank in the ice.

Emperor penguins are the Weddell Sea's signature species. While only a trip to the Snow hill rookery will provide you with a close encounter, there's always the chance of spotting individual penguins out on the ice in here. 

The Weddell Sea is a great stronghold for Adelie penguins however, and they breed here in huge numbers. Their rookery on Paulet Island is estimated to be around 100,000 pairs strong.

It’s unsurprising that Weddell seals abound on the ice here, along with leopard seals, but the Weddell Sea also offers the chance to see plenty of crabeater seals, a species far less commonly seen on Peninsula cruises. The restriction of most Weddell Sea trips from January to March means that the Weddell Sea is great for whale watching.

Humpback whales and the most commonly seen here, as are orcas. Fin whales rarely choose to swim among the ice here.

The cruising season for the Weddell Sea runs from January through to March. Outside these months, the majority of the sea is mostly inaccessible due to sea ice. Some cruise ships on Peninsula trips may make opportunistic visits earlier if ice conditions allow but this cannot be guaranteed or predicted.

One exception is the small number of November/December trips to the very northern Weddell Sea and the emperor penguin colony at Snow Hill island. This is the only time this island is accessible: Weddell Sea trips running between January and March cannot offer the emperor penguins at Snow Hill.

One advantage of late season voyages is that most Weddell Sea trips also include time on the Antarctic Peninsula. This can give the best of both worlds: late season Peninsula action with penguin chicks on rocky beaches, while still enjoying pristine ice and snow in the Weddell Sea.

The majority of Weddell Sea cruises sail from Ushuaia in Argentina, although a small number of voyages every year also operate from Punta Arenas in Chile, flying across the Drake Passage to Antarctica instead.

Occasionally, some ships may include South Georgia to a Weddell Sea itinerary, allowing travellers to follow the story of Shackleton’s Endurance voyage from start to finish where it all unfolded.

Weddell Sea cruises typically spend longer in Antarctica than traditional Peninsula cruises as they add extra time along the Peninsula to the Weddell section of the itinerary.

The northwestern part of the Weddell Sea is the only accessible section of the sea due to the thick sea ice that persists throughout the year. The relatively small window of opportunity to come here means that it remains relatively little-visited: fewer people visit the Weddell Sea each year than cross the Antarctic Circle.