What to Pack for Antarctica
The goal is not to pack everything that might conceivably be useful. It is to pack the things you’ll actually need and leave the rest at home.
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144 posts — Standard knowledge base articles.
How to Dress for Antarctica? In Layers
You are not packing for cold. You are packing for variables. Conditions change throughout the day, sometimes dramatically, and your clothing system needs to change with them.
How Cold is Antarctica, Really?
On a Peninsula voyage from November to March, expect air temperatures around freezing, often a degree or two above it. The coastline you visit sits on open water, that water stays close to freezing through the summer, and the air resting on top of it has nowhere extreme to go.
Pack Your Expedition Gear in a Carry-On
Here's a hot tip: pack your expedition essentials in a carry-on bag that travels with you on the plane. If your checked luggage is lost between home and Ushuaia, the ship cannot wait for it.
Should I Rent My Expedition Gear?
Gear rental is a legitimate, practical, and underused option for Antarctica travelers. It is not the glamorous choice. It is frequently the smart one.
What Does the Expedition Team Do?
Every expedition ship carries two crews. One runs the vessel. The other runs your experience of Antarctica. The second group is worth understanding before you board.
What Are The Onboard Lectures Like?
Lectures and presentations are included on every voyage, happen primarily during Drake crossings and evenings, and cover wildlife, geology, history, photography, climate science, and more. They're free, they're frequently excellent, and attendance is voluntary.
What's a Sea Day Like?
Sea days on an expedition ship have a rhythm that most people find surprisingly satisfying. Lectures, wildlife, meals, conversation, sleep, and the occasional view from the deck that reminds you exactly where you are.
What to Expect on Your First Landing
People spend years imagining the moment they step onto Antarctica. What they don't usually imagine is the twenty minutes before it.
What to Expect in a Zodiac
The zodiac is how Antarctica actually happens. It's worth knowing what you're getting into before you climb aboard one.
Will I Get Woken Up for Whales?
For many travelers, one of the more pleasant surprises on an Antarctic expedition is the PA system at 2 am. One of the more unpleasant surprises is finding out about it without any warning.
Icebergs and Glaciers, Guaranteed
People come to Antarctica for the wildlife. Many of them leave talking about the ice.
The Quietest Place on Earth?
Antarctica offers a quality of quiet that most people have never experienced. But silence in Antarctica is not the absence of sound. It's the absence of human noise.
Setting Foot on the Continent of Antarctica
Standing on Antarctica is a lifetime dream for many travelers, and in some cases, it borders on obsession. There is a debate about whether standing on an island along the peninsula counts.
What It’s Like to Cross the Antarctic Circle
The Antarctic Circle sits at 66°33' South. It's a line on a map. Crossing it takes about thirty seconds. For reasons that are hard to fully explain, it tends to feel like considerably more than that.
Antarctic History and the Heroic Age
Antarctic history is not the kind you read about in glass cases. It happened on the same shores where you'll stand, on the same water your zodiac crosses, in the same cold that will make your face ache on a windy morning ashore. That proximity changes how it lands.
Will I Visit a Research Station?
A station visit is possible but never guaranteed, and on most standard Peninsula voyages, it won't happen at all.
What's the Food Like on an Expedition Ship?
Food on expedition ships occupies a strange middle ground. It's better than people expect, occasionally surprising, and virtually never the reason anyone books a voyage to Antarctica. Which is fine.
Will I Have WiFi and Cell Service?
Most ships now offer some form of onboard WiFi, ranging from just enough for email to good enough for video calls. Cellular service does not exist in Antarctica, with the exception of King George Island. Be aware of those roaming charges!
Will I See Other Ships?
One of the persistent mental images people carry into this trip is total isolation, nothing but ice and wildlife in every direction. The reality requires a small but important asterisk.
Tips for Maximizing Your Time on Land
Be ready early, move efficiently, go out every time, and resist the temptation to make the ship your default.
When the Passenger Mix Isn't What You Expected
It is one of the less-discussed realities of booking an Antarctic voyage: you don't get to choose who else is on the ship.
The Antarctic Treaty: What You Should Know
Antarctica is the only continent on earth with no permanent human population and no government. What it has instead is a treaty, and that treaty shapes almost everything about how you'll experience it.
Don't Be the Jerk
Every voyage has one. Usually they don't know it. Here are some suggestions for Antarctic Expedition etiquette.