Antarctica Unlocked

1,000 departures across 14 operators and 39 ships

Cruises visiting Auckland Islands

9 upcoming Antarctic expeditions with Auckland Islands on the route, from $15,820 per person.

The Auckland Islands are the largest of New Zealand's subantarctic groups, wrapped in rata forest and megaherb fields that erupt into flower each summer.

Enderby Island is the stronghold of the rare New Zealand sea lion and hosts nesting southern royal albatrosses and yellow-eyed penguins — a naturalist's island through and through.

Wildlife you can spot here

Wildlife

King Penguin

The king penguin is the second-largest penguin species, closely resembling but smaller than the emperor penguin. Look for its dense, noisy colonies on South Georgia's beaches, one of the more reliable large penguins to watch up close on these voyages.

Wildlife

New Zealand Sea Lion

One of the world's rarest sea lions, found almost nowhere else on Earth. The Auckland and Campbell Islands hold most of its breeding population.

Wildlife

Light-Mantled Albatross

A small, sooty-grey albatross of the genus Phoebetria, first described from a specimen collected south of the Cape of Good Hope in 1785. Watch for its slow, buoyant glide along cliff faces and in the wake of ships crossing the Southern Ocean.

Wildlife

New Zealand Fur Seal

Known as kekeno in Māori, the New Zealand fur seal was hunted to near-extinction after European arrival, making today's colonies a hard-won sight. Expect to find them hauled out on rocky shorelines across the subantarctic islands.

Wildlife

Southern Royal Albatross

One of the two largest albatrosses alive, with a wingspan topping three metres. Watch for it gliding low over the swell around New Zealand's subantarctic islands.

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