In 2024, over 120,000 vacationers visited Antarctica, and most reached the White Continent by way of the notoriously treacherous Drake Passage, a 600-mile stretch of turbulent water between the southern tip of South America and Antarctica’s South Shetland Islands. “Endurance: Shackleton’s Unbelievable Voyage” writer Alfred Lansing as soon as described it as “essentially the most dreaded little bit of ocean on the globe.”
There are a handful of itineraries that supply personal jet switch over the Drake Passage and now, there is a new different for vacationers who wish to expertise Antarctica with out the joys (and seasickness) of crusing it.
On Dec. 3, Nationwide Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions Cruises accomplished two new itineraries: the Antarctica Direct: Fly the Drake Passage expedition and the Antarctica Direct: Sail and Fly the Drake Passage voyage. With the brand new cruises, Nationwide Geographic-Lindblad Cruises now has eight-, nine-, and 10-day journey choices that supply a mixture of crusing, flying, or a mixture of crusing/flying to the White Continent. Not solely are these sooner than conventional routes, however the brand new journeys additionally maximize time on the continent since cruising the Drake Passage can take as much as two days.
“We’ve got 11 other ways you may journey in Antarctica with us — totally different lengths, totally different mixtures of locations, some so long as 23 days, some as quick as every week,” Sven-Olof Lindblad, Lindblad Expeditions CEO and founder, informed Journey + Leisure throughout the inaugural voyage.
Sven-Olof Lindblad, whose father, Lars-Eric Lindblad, pioneered non-scientific journey to Antarctica beginning in 1966, defined the brand new itineraries would permit time-crunched vacationers, or those that wish to keep away from the Drake Passage, the chance to expertise Antarctica. Sven-Olof Lindblad and his crew have been brainstorming methods to fly vacationers to the continent for over a decade, however their plans had been at all times sophisticated by a scarcity of the correct plane and correct climate forecasting expertise — till now.
The corporate is at present partnered with Chilean airline, Aerovías DAP, to constitution passenger flights to King George Island, the most important of Antarctica’s South Shetland Islands.
Moreover, Nationwide Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions is the one expedition cruise operator providing flights out and in of Puerto Natales — most flights to Antarctica function solely out of Punta Arenas. Puerto Natales, positioned in Chilean Patagonia, is house to a number of boutique accommodations and charming espresso retailers. The small city can be thought of the gateway to the attractive Torres del Paine Nationwide Park, giving vacationers the chance for much more journey after their Antarctican journey.