Antarctica Unlocked
English
Antarctica Unlocked
Find Departures
Browse
Operators Ships Seasons
Destinations
All Destinations Embarkation ports Landing sites Antarctic Peninsula South Georgia Weddell Sea Falkland Islands South Shetland Islands
Guides
Cruise styles Activities Wildlife Packing list FAQ About & methodology Compare departures

Antarctic Peninsula · 65°30′S · 64°00′W

Cruises visiting Antarctic Peninsula

Classic Antarctica • Towering Peaks & Wildlife

797 upcoming Antarctic expeditions with Antarctic Peninsula on the route, from $9,470.

Filter & compare all 797 departures

The Antarctic Peninsula is the continent's great arm reaching towards South America — and where the vast majority of expeditions spend their time. Sheltered channels wind between glaciated peaks that rise straight out of the sea, and almost every landing puts you among gentoo, chinstrap or Adélie penguins.

Expect one or two landings or Zodiac cruises a day: penguin rookeries at Cuverville and Neko Harbour, humpbacks feeding in the bays from January onwards, and seals hauled out on ice floes. It is the mildest, most wildlife-dense corner of Antarctica — the classic first taste of the continent.

Antarctic Peninsula — Key Facts At a Glance
Available departures 797
Price range (per person, USD) $9,470 – $88,220
Typical duration 6–67 days
Active fleet coverage 14 operators · 38 ships
Geographic sector Antarctic Peninsula
Coordinates 65°30′S · 64°00′W
Prices last verified 48-hour verification methodology

Wildlife you can spot here

Penguins

Emperor Penguins

The world's largest penguin breeds only in Antarctica's brutal winter. A rare and unforgettable sight.

Penguins

Gentoo Penguin

A stocky, orange-billed penguin of the genus Pygoscelis, closest kin to the Adélie and Chinstrap. Its loud, trumpeting call, delivered with head thrown back, carries across the shoreline colonies where expedition landings are made.

Whales & Dolphins

Humpback Whale

A 14–17 metre baleen whale known for breaching and long pectoral fins, often seen feeding on krill in loose groups along the ice edge.

Whales & Dolphins

Orca

Black and white apex predator instantly recognizable by its pale eye patches, the orca is the largest of the dolphins and one of the ocean's most capable hunters. Sightings often involve a tight-knit family pod working the ice edge together.

Seals & Sea Lions

Leopard Seal

The leopard seal is the Antarctic's second-largest seal after the elephant seal, built long and muscular with a spotted, leopard-like coat. It is the region's top predator, hunting penguins, fish, and even other seals along the ice edge.

Penguins

Adélie Penguin

One of the most widespread penguins in Antarctica, the Adélie is often the first tuxedoed local guests meet ashore. Its stark white eye-ring and brisk, purposeful waddle make it easy to pick out along the ice edge.

Whales & Dolphins

Southern Right Whale

A stocky baleen whale with no dorsal fin and a head crusted in pale callosities, once hunted almost to extinction and now the whale most likely to breach or wave a fluke at passing ships. It favours the same cold, food-rich waters that expedition itineraries already follow.

Whales & Dolphins

Antarctic Minke Whale

The Antarctic minke is a small, fast-moving rorqual, the most abundant baleen whale on Earth, though singles and pairs still take some looking to spot. It surfaces briefly among the pack ice, more often glimpsed than watched.

Albatrosses & Seabirds

Southern Giant Petrel

A large seabird of the southern oceans, also called the Antarctic giant petrel, giant fulmar or simply the stinker. Its range overlaps broadly with the near-identical northern giant petrel, the two told apart chiefly by the colour of the bill-tip.

Albatrosses & Seabirds

South Polar Skua

A large, heavy-built seabird of the skua family, the south polar skua ranges the Southern Ocean and its ice edges with an unmistakable, gull-like silhouette. Its older name, MacCormick's skua, recalls the naval surgeon who collected the first specimen.

Whales & Dolphins

Fin Whale

The fin whale is the second-longest animal on Earth after the blue whale, reaching up to 27 metres. Its long, slender, countershaded body is most often seen slicing through open water rather than breaching.

Whales & Dolphins

Blue Whale

The blue whale is the largest animal known to have existed, reaching up to 30 metres in length and 200 tonnes in weight. Sightings are rare but unmistakable, usually a distant blow and a long grey-blue back rolling at the surface.

Albatrosses & Seabirds

Snowy Sheathbill

The snowy sheathbill is the only land bird native to the Antarctic continent, and one of just two sheathbill species in the world. Look down, not up: it spends its time walking the shoreline and rocks rather than flying.

Albatrosses & Seabirds

Antarctic Shag

The Antarctic shag is the only cormorant species found on the continent, easy to pick out by its blue-ringed eyes as it stands stiffly upright on ice floes and coastal cliffs. It nests in small colonies apart from the penguin rookeries along rocky shorelines.

Albatrosses & Seabirds

Cape Petrel

The pintado petrel, better known as the Cape petrel, is one of the most abundant seabirds of the Southern Ocean, with a population estimated at around two million. Travellers usually meet it long before they see land, tracking ships across open water.

Albatrosses & Seabirds

Wilson's Storm Petrel

A small, sooty-black seabird that flits and patters over the wake like it's walking on water. Named for ornithologist Alexander Wilson, it's reckoned among the most numerous bird species on Earth.

Albatrosses & Seabirds

Southern Fulmar

Pale grey above, white below, and marked with a distinctive white wing patch, the southern fulmar is a familiar shape trailing expedition ships south of the Antarctic Convergence. It breeds on Antarctic cliffs and islands, then disperses north with the winter ice.

Iconic landing sites

By embarkation port

By operator

By month

Compare all Antarctic departures across operators →