Antarctic Circle Photography Tour with Fly and Sail Drake Passage

Begin with an arrival transfer from Punta Arenas Airport to the hotel in Punta Arenas, where the pre-expedition briefing takes place that afternoon. Later, join the Expedition Briefing and Flight-Alert Evening, covering the route, safety frames, and how the Antarctic flight window works; from this evening onward, the group remains on flight alert. The day closes with a Welcome Dinner, followed by an overnight stay at the Hotel in Punta Arenas (TBD), a comfortable, well-located property for the expedition's arrival and return nights, with the specific hotel to be confirmed.

Day 2 begins with breakfast before a charter flight from Punta Arenas to Bellingshausen Station. On King George Island, a minibus transfer carries you from the airstrip to the shoreline, where a Zodiac shuttle takes you to board the expedition yacht. After lunch aboard, the afternoon may bring a first landing on a South Shetland Islands beach, walking among a Gentoo penguin colony. Dinner is served on board, and the yacht spends the night crossing the Bransfield Strait toward the Antarctic Peninsula.

After breakfast, the yacht reaches Cierva Cove, where grounded icebergs tower over the water and Zodiacs thread between them past penguins and resting seals. Lunch follows back on board. In the late afternoon, Zodiacs launch again in Wilhelmina Bay, where humpback whales feed on krill and one may surface close to water level. Dinner is served, then the yacht sails south through the night, so morning arrives somewhere new.

Day 4 begins with breakfast, then a slow navigation of the Lemaire Channel, a narrow passage between sheer cliffs and glaciers best photographed from the rail. Around midday, land on Petermann Island during peak breeding season, where Adélie and Gentoo colonies are in constant motion; time ashore is best spent still, at the colony edge. After lunch, explore the waters around Petermann Island for leopard seals and whales, scanning and waiting between surfacings. Dinner follows, then an overnight sail south toward the Antarctic Circle.

The day begins with breakfast aboard before a morning landing at Prospect Point, where penguin and cormorant colonies line the shore and the bay offers patient scanning for whales and seals. Nearby, Station J, an abandoned historic research station, is viewed from the outside. After lunch, the yacht crosses Crystal Sound, a remote, wildlife-rich corner of the peninsula where islands, hidden coves and heavy ice allow landings to be planned around wildlife. Later the yacht crosses the Antarctic Circle, marked simply on deck as ice thickens around the hull. Dinner precedes an overnight repositioning toward Detaille Island and Base W.

Day 6 begins with breakfast before a morning landing on Detaille Island to visit Base W, a remarkably preserved British survey hut and Antarctic Heritage Site, offering a rare interior visit. After lunch, an afternoon Zodiac cruise explores the colossal, wind-sculpted icebergs of Marguerite Bay. By evening the expedition reaches its southernmost point near the Adelaide Island group, where lingering light and still water often double the ice. Dinner is followed by a northbound overnight sail through iceberg-strewn waters.

Day seven is a flexible northbound expedition day aboard the two-masted schooner Eldorado, with the route adjusted as it unfolds and stops made wherever wildlife, weather, and ice offer something worth pausing for. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are included in the package, and the overnight leg continues north toward Port Charcot, shaped by ice and wildlife conditions along the way.

Begin with breakfast before the yacht reaches Port Charcot on Booth Island, where you spend time among penguin colonies at low level and may join an optional ridge walk for broader views. After lunch, if ice allows, Zodiacs head out for extended cruising in Flanders Bay, sheltered water with a history of many whale sightings. Dinner follows, then a night sail north toward Neko Harbour.

Day 9 begins with breakfast before a morning landing at Neko Harbour, where you can either climb to a panoramic viewpoint above the water or spend time along a shore shared by hundreds of penguins and seals. Lunch follows, then an afternoon landing on Cuverville Island, home to large Gentoo penguin colonies framed by dramatic glaciers. In the evening, the yacht enters Orne Harbour for a landing among Chinstrap penguins, timed for the low, warm light that makes evening landings worthwhile. Dinner is served before an overnight sailing back toward the South Shetland Islands.

Begin the day with breakfast before a morning landing at Portal Point, where sweeping views and grounded icebergs in the shallows offer clean compositions in every direction. After lunch, the yacht continues to Mikkelsen Harbour, a sheltered bay with a dramatic setting, Gentoo penguins, and frequent seal sightings. Dinner is followed by overnight sailing toward Deception Island and the approach through Neptune's Bellows.

Breakfast precedes a morning passage through Neptune's Bellows into Deception Island, the flooded volcanic caldera with steep walls and a tight channel opening into a sheltered harbour. Ashore inside the caldera, the group explores whaling station remains and the island's volcanic history. Lunch follows, then an optional polar swim in geothermal waters warmed by the volcano. In the afternoon the yacht reaches Half Moon Island, where Chinstrap penguin colonies share the shore with fur seals, Weddell seals and occasional elephant seals. After dinner, the final night aboard sails toward King George Island for the flight.

Day 12 begins with breakfast before disembarking by Zodiac at King George Island and coordinating with the flight team. If the return flight departs in the afternoon, there may be time for an optional final landing or photography session. Lunch is followed by the charter flight from Bellingshausen Station to Punta Arenas, then dinner. On arrival, an airport transfer leads to hotel check-in at Hotel Cabo de Hornos, with a pre-expedition briefing that afternoon, time to settle in, and a traditional Patagonian dinner.

Begin your final day with breakfast included in the package before a morning transfer from the hotel to Punta Arenas Airport. This smooth departure service ensures you arrive in time for your onward journey, where we drop you off for your flight back home. Reflecting on the adventure, the route concludes with a simple farewell, leaving you with memories of the journey as you head onward from Punta Arenas.