USA to Antarctica
Antarctic Cruises and Adventure Travel With Cool Antarctica and Antarctica Travels
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Regions:
Antarctic Peninsula |
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Arctic
Travelling to the Antarctic Peninsula
Antarctica can be reached from the USA via Tierra del Fuego at the tip of South America or from New Zealand (less frequently Australia). There are many more South American departures, the distance is closer, shorter trips are available and you can fly or sail, New Zealand departures are to the deep South.
Most trips to Antarctica are cruises or fly-cruise trips that leave from the port of Ushuaia in Argentina or the airport at Punta Arenas in Chile visiting the Antarctic Peninsula and the islands of the (largely undersea) Scotia Arc (fig 2). This stretches east from the southernmost tip of Tierra del Fuego (South America), through South Georgia, the South Shetland Islands and back to the west again through the South Orkney Islands before joining the northernmost tip of the Peninsula.
A smaller number of trips leave from Australia or New Zealand and visit the eastern region of Antarctica, sailing time is about 6-7 days there and the same back again. These trips are longer and therefore more expensive, they usually leave from Invercargill, New Zealand or less frequently from Hobart, Australia, sometimes leaving from one and returning to the other on alternate trips.
Fig 1. Trips to the Antarctic leaving from the USA most commonly leave from the southern most tip of South America and visit the Antarctic Peninsula and nearby islands.
1 - New
York, USA 2 - Dallas
Tx, USA
3 - Miami Fl, USA
4 - Ushuaia, Argentina
5
- Antarctic Peninsula
| Distances | miles / km |
| 1 New York - 4 Ushuaia, Argentina | 6,615 / 10,646 |
| 2 Dallas - 4 Ushuaia, Argentina | 6,290 / 10,124 |
| 3 Miami - 4 Ushuaia, Argentina | 5,617 / 9,040 |
| 1 New York - Hobart, Australia | 10,335 / 16,633 |
| 1 New York - Invercargill, NZ | 9,382 / 15,099 |
1 - Ushuaia,
Argentina, 2 - Punta Arenas, Chile
3 - Falkland Islands, 4
- South Georgia
5 - South Shetland
Islands, 6 - Antarctic Peninsula
Fig 2. Trips to the Peninsula region of Antarctica. The majority of trips visit the Peninsula 6 and nearby islands such as the South Shetlands 5. Longer trips may also take in the Falkland Islands 3 and / or South Georgia 4 and possibly some other landings en route.
Cruises most commonly go down the western side of the Peninsula as they are less likely to encounter problematic sea ice that is more likely found on the Eastern side in the Weddell Sea.
| Distances | miles / km |
| 1 Ushuaia - 3 Falklands | 480 / 770 |
| 1 Ushuaia - 4 South Georgia | 1,255 / 2,020 |
| 1 Ushuaia - 5 South Shetlands | 610 / 980 |
| 1 Ushuaia - Peninsula tip | 724 / 1,165 |
| 2 Punta Arenas - Peninsula tip | 870 / 1,395 |
| Peninsula top to bottom | 765 / 1,230 |
| Peninsula top to Antarctic Circle | 280 / 450 |
Travel to the Ross Sea / Commonwealth Bay Region - Eastern Antarctica
R - Ross
Ice Shelf, 1 - Hobart - Australia
2 - Invercargill / Port of Bluff -
New Zealand
3 - Macquarie Island,
4 - Commonwealth Bay
5
- Cape Adare, 6 - McMurdo / Scott bases
Fig 3. Trips to the more remote Eastern side of Antarctica usually leave from Australia and New Zealand often Invercargill / Port of Bluff in New Zealand 2, Invercargill has the airport, Bluff, 30km away by road has a deep-water port. Less commonly trips may leave/return from Hobart, Australia 1, and Dunedin, New Zealand (about 180 km / 110 miles from Invercargill).
The trip may depart and return to the same port or leave from one and return to another in either direction. It takes about seven days sailing to reach Antarctica from Australia or New Zealand, the journey there and back is usually broken up with visits to the wildlife rich Macquarie Island 3 and others such as Snares, Auckland and Campbell Islands that lie between Macquarie and New Zealand.
Once having reached Antarctica trips usually spend their time either in the Commonwealth Bay area 4 or the Ross Sea region between Cape Adare 5 and McMurdo 6 with possibly a short trip along the front of the Ross Ice Shelf R
| Distances | km / miles |
| 1 Hobart - 4 Commonwealth Bay | 2640 / 1640 |
| 2 Invercargill - 4 Commonwealth Bay | 2760 / 1720 |
| 1 Hobart - 3 Macquarie Island | 1500 / 940 |
| 2 Invercargill - 3 Macquarie Island | 1110 / 690 |
| 4 Commonwealth Bay - 5 Cape Adare | 1300 / 805 |
| 5 Cape Adare - 6 McMurdo | 760 / 470 |
Antarctic Peninsula
Sample
Cruises - 2024 / 2025
| Trip | Highlights | Prices USD* |
|---|---|---|
|
Classic
Antarctic Peninsula Expedition 10 - 12 days |
South Shetland Islands, Antarctic Peninsula, Penguin Rookeries, Lemaire Channel. | $4,860 - $32,695 typically $10K-12K |
|
Antarctica Peninsula Basecamp 13 days |
Antarctic Peninsula trip with inclusive activities on offer such as hiking, snowshoeing, kayaking, mountaineering, and camping out under the South Polar skies. | $9,100 - $11,750 |
|
Crossing the Circle 11 - 23 days typically 12 - 14 |
Sail down the Antarctic Peninsula and cross the Antarctic Circle, South Shetland Islands, Wildlife, Scenery. | $7,700 - $66,367 |
Air-Cruise, Fly the Drake
Sample
Cruises - 2024 / 2025
| Trip | Highlights | Prices USD* |
|---|---|---|
|
Antarctic Peninsula, South Shetland Islands. Fly across the Drake
Passage 6 - 14 days typically 8 |
Fly across the Drake Passage in 2 hours to join your ship, cruise the South Shetland Islands and western Antarctic Peninsula. Spectacular scenery, glaciers, icebergs, penguins, seals and whale sightings. Limited number of sail one way, fly the other trips. | $4,995 - $36,495 typically $12K-14K |
South Georgia with the Falkland Islands
and / or
Antarctic Peninsula
Sample Cruises - 2024 / 2025
| Trip | Highlights | Prices USD* |
|---|---|---|
|
South Georgia, Antarctic Peninsula and Falkland Islands 17 - 23 days |
Sub-Antarctic South
Georgia has some
of the most unique and abundant wildlife on earth including the
world's biggest King Penguin colony, one of the world's largest
concentration of Southern Elephant Seals, and many other
penguins, whales, seabirds and seals all with a background of the
Alps dropped in mid-ocean. Falklands Islands - a British colony in the South Atlantic with wild places and diverse abundant wildlife. The Antarctic Peninsula is Antarctica proper with icebergs, glaciers and wildlife. |
$11,556 - $48,191 |
|
South Georgia and Falkland Islands 17 or 21 days |
$9,995 - $25,990 | |
|
South Georgia and Antarctic Peninsula
15 or 20 days |
$13,200 - $37,116 |
* Prices are per person. the lowest price is usually for triple occupancy in a basic cabin, the highest for double occupancy in the best available suite.
Options such as kayaking are usually booked when the cruise is booked, they may be at additional cost and have limited availability - it may be too late once the cruise has started.
Contact me about my trip to Antarctica!
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Departures from late October to late March
Our partner company, Antarctica Travels, passionately help people to reach their ultimate destination.
All enquiries will be answered from our office in Patagonia, Argentina.
Dozens of trips - unique combinations of ship + itinerary
Choice of ships - 67 to 199 passenger capacity
Prices from $5,900 per person
6 to 28 days
Please note - we cannot help directly to find employment in Antarctica, please do not use this form to request any other information than for Antarctic tourist trips
Picture credit: Top banner - Cuverville island, courtesy of Grant C. used under CC BY-SA 2.0 licence