Sail to Antarctica

What it's really like

Almost every visitor to Antarctica arrives by sea, in the southern summer. Germany's Environment Agency puts the season at November to March, mostly in the waters of the Antarctic Peninsula, and IAATO, the tour operators' association, says 98 per cent of tourism voyages work in the Peninsula region.

It is busier than its reputation: IAATO counted 118,491 visitors in the 2024-25 season, after 122,072 the season before. Days are planned around weather and ice. The UK Foreign Office warns that landings can be difficult because of westerly winds and a lack of sheltered anchorages, so an itinerary is a set of chances rather than a timetable.

The choice that matters most: the size of the ship

Under the Antarctic Treaty measures summarised by Germany's Environment Agency, no more than 100 people may be ashore at once, only one ship may use a landing site at a time, and each group of up to 20 visitors goes with a trained guide. So on a larger ship that lands, passengers go ashore in turns. If standing on the continent matters to you, ask an operator for the ship's category before anything else.

Getting there

IAATO says most voyages leave from Ushuaia in Argentina, Punta Arenas in Chile or Montevideo in Uruguay. Trips to the Ross Sea side leave from Hobart in Tasmania or from Lyttelton or Bluff in New Zealand, and a few Peninsula voyages start or end in Cape Town or Port Elizabeth. Germany's Environment Agency notes that more visitors now arrive by plane.

You need no visa for Antarctica itself, but you may need one for the country you sail from, usually Argentina or Chile. Anyone on a British expedition, or taking a British ship or aircraft into Antarctica, needs a permit from the Foreign Office's Polar Regions Department; on an organised trip the tour operator usually arranges it, so ask if you are not sure.

Choosing an operator

• Look the company up in IAATO's membership directory. Not every company that carries visitors is a member, though most are; members follow rules on staffing, distances from wildlife and waste, and have emergency plans.
• Ask the ship's IAATO category and passenger numbers, and how many landings the itinerary plans if the weather allows.
• Ask about the expedition team. IAATO expects at least 80 per cent of field staff to have relevant experience and half to have been to Antarctica before, and its members run talks on wildlife, geology, ice, history and the Antarctic Treaty.
• Check that your medical and travel insurance covers the whole journey, as IAATO advises.

Ashore: the rules

• Keep at least 5 metres (about 16 feet) from wildlife: the precautionary distance in the Antarctic Treaty's general guidelines for visitors.
• IAATO members do not allow recreational drones in Antarctica's coastal areas, and review that ban each May.
• Follow your operator's biosecurity checks. IAATO publishes "Don't Pack a Pest" guidance and avian influenza protocols for the 2026-27 season.