Antarctica Confidential is an independent resource for planning a trip to Antarctica, created by someone who plans these trips for a living. The aim is simple: information without marketing spin, no photos or videos to influence your perceptions, and freedom from the sales chicanery that you'll find at other sites. Just 140+ expert articles to educate you, profiles of 50+ polar ships, information on 20+ expedition companies, and a searchable database of more than 1,000 voyages to help you find the ship and trip you're looking for.
About Jud Bartlett
I'm Jud Bartlett, and I created and maintain this site. I'm an IATAN-accredited Antarctica travel specialist, president of Pandrake Partners, and a trustee of The Polar Citizen Science Collective. I also run Flags for Antarctica and write the Antarctica Gear Guide. I've worked in the Antarctica travel business since 2018 and this site is the resource I wish had existed when I started.
What this site is, and isn't
This site does not sell trips to Antarctica. You cannot book anything here. There are no recommendations for specific voyages, ships, companies or agencies. It is simply a library of resources to make your planning easier and more fun. This is not a place to be solicited, sold a trip or have your inquiry auctioned off to the highest bidder. It's a place where you can take your time and find the information you need.
Free Membership
The subscription model is simple, too. The free tier gives you access to select guidebook articles, the lite version of the Antarctica Trip Finder database and the ship and operator directories. Free members can also sign up for any of the newsletters. Select from Deal Alerts, the State of Antarctic Travel blog, a Solo Traveler newsletter, or none at all.
Paid Membership
For the cost of a dinner out, you get one full year of access to everything here. No recurring monthly sips from your credit card. Membership includes all 144 of the guidebook articles to help you at every stage of travel, from research and booking to preparing for and returning from your trip. You'll have full access to the complete set of ship and operator profiles. The full version of the Antarctica Trip Finder database gives you more information for each voyage than the lite version. Better yet, it allows you to save favorites, compare voyages, and email your trip selections to friends and travel partners.
For travel agents
I built this to be useful to the people who book Antarctica trips for a living. If that's you, you'll find the paid version immeasurably helpful. Agent pricing is slightly higher to reflect the commercial use of the service (but you'll wind up paying only pennies per hour). Selecting the Travel Agent membership level when signing up also makes you eligible for the annual Polar Travel Agent directory. I believe good polar travel advisors are an invaluable resource, and knowing where to find them is just one more important piece of information that travelers need. Note that there's a strict no-solicitation policy site-wide, and I have zero tolerance for violations.
Spot something out of date?
Since Antarctica is a complex seasonal travel destination, the data on this site is always changing. If you spot something that needs to be corrected or updated, please email me at jb@antarcticaconfidential.com. I'm always looking for ways to make this site better and more useful, and I welcome your ideas.