Customer Reviews

We had 9 excursions in 5 days, 7 landings and 2 zodiacs. One of those zodiacs was supposed to be a landing but the tide wouldn’t allow us go ashore, so we did zodiacs instead at Heroina Island. I had lowered my expectations a bit since it was a plan B, but it was probably my favorite excursion of the trip! There were thousands of penguins all over the rocky island, some chilling, and many diving into the water in what seemed like swarms. We kept circling all of the action with dramatic waves crashing against the rocks as the penguins jumped with us safely and calmly very close by in the zodiac boat. Then a leopard seal came up right next to the boat and stuck his head up just to see what was going on, a little before we saw two whales surfacing side by side slightly in the distance. It was everything I could have hoped for and more.

Just the first sight of the the icebergs and the entire topography of Antarctica - its surreal.. its etched on my mind and heart forever.. There is some much that I saw and learnt in this trip about Antarctica that no literature can match that.. I will forever cherish these moments .. the penguins, humpback whales, sea lions and the silence too!!

Standing on the Antarctic Peninsula.

We had a one day delay due to weather but once we got to Antarctica we couldn't have asked for more. Gorgeous weather for most of the trip and the views were sublime! Paddle boarding was our most favorite activity, but every single landing and zodiac ride had something amazing to offer. The crew is phenomenal - so smart, so fun, and so very friendly you can't help but have fun with them!

"Camping!" We were expecting tents, but they had you dig a hole in the snow and that's where we slept! We were very toasty in the sleeping bags. Also, the Polar blunge, below the Antarctica circle! Beautiful sunny warm day.

Highlights: 7 species of penguins, wale watching, information given in the lectures, food on board. The people were nice and many charing also pictures and videos. The weather surprised us with lots of sunshine and one hurricane - the Drake was calm and smooth. A magical moment was a wale appearing right next to the zodiac and staying a while to be filmed.

Paddling among ice fields; having whales all around us; so, so many penguins; camping on Antarctica; doing the polar plunge!

Too many to mention really - orcas playing in the ship's wake, penguins, cruise through the Weddell sea icebergs, polar plunge from the continental shore ....

Immersion in luminous blue ice!! Which best describes my adventure? Non of the above. A reflective time caught between the paradox of pristine beauty and the realisation of its likely extinction as I experienced it.

We experienced everything from close encounters with whales (while kayaking), playful penguins and seals, crumbling glaciers, to the roar of mother nature when the wind went from calm to more than 50 knots in less than five minutes. The staff was superb, and the ship and service impeccable.

A perfect day on Stonington Island. The temperature was about 45*F, no wind, and bright sun. We were off ship to go visit the earliest remaining US Antarctic Camp (circa 1940). The magic started as we headed back. The Greg Mortimer was in this small bay waiting for all the zodiacs to get back to ship. We were in no hurry... but heading back, the floating sheet ice was continually moving with the current and making a "jigsaw puzzle" effect in the entire bay. None of the 5 zodiacs could follow the same path back. It was such a surreal feeling zig-zagging back and forth through the sheet ice... each zodiac finding its own path in the quiet and still bay. No one spoke... no one wanted to break the magic.

There was not a most memorable moment. I have hiked, backpacked, and mountain climbed throughout my life and seen and experienced a lot. There are always fanatic experiences that are unimagined and unexpected prior to a trip. We did not know what to expect or anticipate on our own in Chile (Torres del Paine / Patagonia) or especially in Antarctica over the three weeks we were there, six of those days on the exploration vessel Ocean Nova. Especially in Antarctica there were surprises at every turn that resulted in fantastic experiences. As a geologist I think I liked the hiking the active volcano, hiking over the ice and snow fields up to higher elevations to get good overviews of the ice fields, glaciers, and mountainous terrain. Also the Zodiac trips that repeatedly resulted in close encounters with whales, boating among the floating ice and icebergs, and close up look at the geologic structures visible by Zodiac. Because there were not relatively many people on the vessel, we enjoyed the close comradery that we experienced. There was no one else on Antarctica that we saw in our little part of the continent besides Ocean Nova people which gave a feeling of the vastness and remotness of were we were which was a great and unequaled experience.

Arriving in the Antarctic and standing on the deck watching the icebergs drift by....walking on the ice for the first time! Hard to choose as there were so many memorable moments!

The impressive silence (except for the sounds of breeding penguins) in the area, being so close to wildlife and respecting that for a full 100%

Very difficult to pick anything out, it was all memorable. Every aspect stands out, from the onboard food and amazing "hotel" staff, cabin comfort, the sheer quality of the onboard experts, and of course the incredible destination. Antarctica21 as the provider were absolutely first rate in all aspects.

The entire adventure was amazing, I could literally highlight all the activities one by one. The crew was fun and extremely helpful, the food and the services were excellent and every little thing on the ship was designed to make sure that we had the time of our lives. What did I love the most? The animals for sure! I wanted to snuggle up with those curvy seals that always had a smile on their faces and I had a hard time not to hug those clumsy little penguins always curiously staring at us. Seeing a whale made us run to the windows or out to the deck every single time, even on the last day, even if it was 6 am in the morning and we wore nothing but our pyjamas under our coat. Last, but definitely not least, Antarctica is the cupid in my life's love story. My boyfriend had never heard of anyone dreaming about Antarctica before but wanted to get on board. One thing led to another and we suddenly were not only planning the trip but were also falling in love. My best and dearest memories would already tie me to this amazing continent but in Neko Harbour he also proposed to me making this journey truly unforgettable.

Out of everything - exploring the 7th continent, eating ice from the ocean, feeling like I'm at the end of the world, seeing all the wildlife with my own two eyes - my most memorable moments were meeting all of my new friends on this trip.

Seeing tens of thousands of penguins going about their business, and realizing that I was irrelevant.

Seeing the penguins actually present pebbles to the nest was amazing!

St Andrews Bay and the whales circling us while kayaking in Neko Harbour