Featured Antarctica Itineraries

Journey to Antarctica: The White Continent

14 days

  • Jan
  • Feb
  • Nov
  • Dec

Epic Antarctica

South Sandwich Islands, South Georgia & the Peninsula

33 days

  • Jan

Antarctica, South Georgia & the Falklands

24 days

  • Feb
  • Mar
  • Nov

See coverage from ABC News correspondent Amy Robach of the first-ever live broadcast from the National Geographic Endurance in Antarctica!

View coverage

Expedition Stories

Giant cacti against a starry Baja California night
ABC News Live from Antarctica

In November 2021, ABC News correspondent Amy Robach reported directly from Antarctica aboard the brand-new National Geographic Endurance. Segments aired on Good Morning America, GMA3: What You Need to Know, and ABC World News Tonight with David Muir as part of a month-long climate change series on ABC News spanning seven continents.

View Coverage

Daily expedition reports

Follow Along

Daily Expedition Reports

11/25/2021

Read

National Geographic Resolution

Cuverville Island and Wilhelmina Bay

Happy Thanksgiving! Killer whales and humpbacks before breakfast makes for a delightful start to a day packed full of adventure.   This morning the National Geographic Resolution arrived at Cuverville Island, named after a French admiral who supported the Belgica Expedition. The Zodiac trip to our landing spot on this beautiful island took us though a stunning maze of icebergs floating through crystal clear Antarctic waters. The more eagle-eyed of us spotted a whale bone in the shallow waters right at our landing point, which is likely to be a remnant of whaling operations that took place here in the 1920s.   Cuverville Island surpassed all of our expectations, with a huge gentoo colony spread across the lower slopes and way up on top of the nearby snowy hills, where photographers were greeted with stunning vistas in which to frame colorful nesting gentoos.   Our afternoon was filled with kayaking and Zodiac cruises around the incredible Wilhelmina Bay, with sightings of crabeater seals and swarms of krill in the crystal-clear waters, and we were even graced with the presence of a solitary Emperor penguin resting on the edge of the fast ice.   Not stopping there! a few daring souls braved Antarctica’s icy waters in the first ever polar plunge onboard the National Geographic Resolution on this inaugural expedition.   Another stunning day spent in the presence of the White Continent!

Daily Expedition Reports

11/24/2021

Read

National Geographic Explorer

Paulet Island & Heroína Island

In the morning the National Geographic Explorer was sailing on calm seas in the Weddell Sea towards Paulet Island.   Paulet Island has a fascinating history, having been the landing site for Larsen and his men during their attempt to reach Nordenskjold at Snow Hill Island just over 100 years ago. We landed and were able to walk towards the hut that was built on this site, today a spot where we saw both Adélie penguins and skuas.   On Paulet Island, some of us explored the area near the hut and the colony, others went to the lagoon and over the hillside, and some explored the area by the water, heading out towards large tabular icebergs. Adélie penguins and imperial shags were plentiful both on land and in the water, while skuas explored the penguin colony looking for eggs to steal. Along the shoreline on the walk back from the long hike, plenty of Weddell seals were found hauled out on the beach along the way.   The vessel moved northeast to the Danger Islands mid-day and found three humpback whales along the way. The Danger Islands were named for their ability to be hidden by the massive tabular icebergs that are abundant throughout this area. This island group is part of an Important Bird Area, and it is home to approximately 1.5 million Adélie penguins.   Upon arrival to the northernmost island of the group, Heroína Island, we set out in zodiacs to explore. The island is covered in Adélie penguins and imperial shags, and it is surrounded by icebergs. The night was not over as the vessel continued in search of Emperor penguins on ice!

Daily Expedition Reports

11/24/2021

Read

National Geographic Islander

Urbina Bay and Tagus Cove, Isabela Island

The Galapagos is a unique group of islands, each one quite divers from one another. Some of these volcanic islands that emerged from the bottom of the ocean are very young, and others very old. The geology and the geography create the biology of these islands. Here you find hundreds of square kilometers of barren lava and rocks with no plants; but there, you find more soil, more humidity, and consequently more plants and land birds. On the same volcano, you find different ecosystems and many ecological niches where the flora and fauna involved in isolation from the rest of the world.   Urbina Bay at Isabela is very lush versus Fernandina. Today we are exploring a different terrain where finches, land iguanas, and giant tortoises are living, and we see them along the trail. Our intrepid guests walked around in search of these magical creatures. Lucky us! We found them and were able to take photographs as a souvenir to help us narrate our story back home.   After the walk, our young Global Explorers went swimming from the black beach that forms the bay; and later after returning to our ship, they jumped form a high deck to the water having a lot of fun.   In the afternoon, our Captain Carlos motored along the coast of Isabela, arriving to explore Tagus Cove, a legendary place visited by buccaneers and pirates few hundred years ago. They left some graffiti carved on the wall more than 200 hundred years ago.   There, we went to snorkel along the coast, and it is one of the favorite guest activities to do every day. Our guests love the moments in the water surrounded by sea lions, Galapagos penguins, flightless cormorants, sharks, marine turtles and tons of multicolor fish and sea stars. At the end, some of our guests went to walk up-hill to see Darwin Lake and explore the arid zone of Tagus, in a very invigorating hike; while others went to ride along the shoreline of the cove, on Zodiacs, to see colonies of blue-footed boobies, cormorants. and penguins. The sun came down as our incredible day ended.

Daily Expedition Reports

11/24/2021

Read

National Geographic Resolution

Port Charcot and Peterman Island

After navigating the narrow Lamaire Channel last night, today the National Geographic Resolution explored farther south in the ice-choked waters along the Antarctic Peninsula. Every place we visit is historic or this amazing polar vessel on its inaugural voyage.   We began our day exploring an ice sculpture garden by Zodiac. Strong currents swirling around Booth Island strand large ice bergs in the shallow channels where they slowly melt and calve into artistic forms.   In the afternoon the ship and Zodiacs navigated through the ice for our landing on Peterman Island. Home to gentoo and Adelie penguins, it was fun to observe the antics of the penguins and explore the different scenic vantage points with the mountainous Antarctic Peninsula as a backdrop.   Another mind-blowing day!

Daily Expedition Reports

11/24/2021

Read

National Geographic Endurance

Weddell Sea & Snow Hill Island

There are few places on the planet as spectacular as the Weddell Sea. Visiting this part of Antarctica is often synonymous with little sleep. Our adventures here began late last night, when we were lucky to spot a group of Type B killer whales. Their exhales were audible in the calm waters and the sky slowly turned red as the sun set behind tabular icebergs on the horizon. It wasn’t long before we were woken up by the sounds of the National Geographic Endurance navigating through sea ice early in the morning. All eyes were on the lookout enjoying the scenery as we made our way towards Snow Hill Island. Parking into the fast ice, we had the perfect setting for Naturalist Carl Erik Kilander to tell the story of Ernest Shackleton and the original Endurance . We rugged up to spend the morning in the sunshine walking on the fast ice, enjoying amazing views of the ship, toasting with champagne, and the company of curious Adelie penguins and snoozing crabeater seals. To make the day even more perfect, we were treated to an awesome burger-day BBQ lunch – a luxury Shackleton and his crew certainly never experienced while in this location – just before spotting an Emperor penguin on an ice floe. As we cruised north out of the Weddell Sea and Antarctic Sound in the evening we enjoyed our last views of tabular icebergs and the Antarctic continent, ready to continue on our journey in the Southern Ocean.

Joining us on any expedition means signing up for adventure; and the reward for your curiosity is inevitable—the most exhilarating experience of pure discovery possible.

Sven-Olof Lindblad

View our story

Ready for the adventure of a lifetime?

Talk to an Expedition Specialist

1.800.EXPEDITION (1.800.397.3348)

Call now

Make a reservation

RESERVE

Sign up for our newsletter & special offers

sign up

Talk to an Expedition Specialist

1.800.EXPEDITION (1.800.397.3348)

Call now

Make a reservation

RESERVE

Sign up for our newsletter & special offers

sign up