Antartica

Antarctica: What Nobody Tells You About the Drake Passage

The Drake Passage is 540 miles of Southern Ocean between the tip of South America and the Antarctic Peninsula. It sits between two ocean systems, receives no interruption from any landmass, and produces swells that incapacitate a significant portion of first-time expedition passengers for the first day or two of the crossing. This is not a deterrent – it is the context. The Drake puts you in a frame of mind for a continent that is genuinely extreme in every quantifiable way: coldest temperatures on Earth, highest average elevation of any continent, driest and windiest. By the time you arrive, your relationship with what you are about to see has been reordered.

Antarctica is governed by the Antarctic Treaty System signed in 1959, which designates the continent as a scientific preserve and prohibits military activity. Tourism is strictly regulated through IAATO (International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators), which limits group sizes on landings, enforces wildlife distances, and caps the number of visitors at any given site. Approximately 55,000 people visit annually. Eight million visit Patagonia.

The Practicalities

All visits are by expedition cruise from Ushuaia, Argentina. No hotels or restaurants exist on the continent. Ships range from 50 to about 500 passengers; smaller vessels access narrower channels and more remote sites. A standard 10 to 12 day Antarctic Peninsula voyage costs roughly USD 6,000 to 12,000 per person in a shared cabin. Fly-cruise options that bypass the Drake via chartered flight to King George Island cost an additional USD 4,000 to 8,000 and add landing days.

Book through IAATO-member operators. Book 12 to 18 months in advance for December and January sailings.

Wildlife

The penguins do not disappoint. Gentoo, chinstrap, and Adélie in large colonies; individual birds who come to investigate because they have no learned fear of humans. Leopard seals on ice floes. Humpback whales surfacing near the zodiacs in February and March. Wandering albatrosses with wingspans that exceed the width of the zodiac they fly past.

The penguins smell. Large colonies have an ammonia intensity perceptible from 200 metres. It is not in most descriptions of visiting Antarctica. It should be.

What You Can’t Avoid

Seasickness during the Drake. Temperatures well below zero outside the ship, even in December and January. The physical fact of 24-hour daylight in midsummer, which disrupts sleep and produces light that photographers specifically travel for. Limited internet connectivity throughout the voyage – most passengers arrive at some form of peace with this within two days.

The standard 50-metre wildlife distance is enforced on landings and is the right call. The animals will approach you anyway.