Cruise to the Falkland Islands, South Georgia & the Antarctic Peninsula for your chance to visit some of the most beautiful arrays of wildlife on Earth. On this 21-day itinerary starting in Puerto Madryn will be introduced to at least 6 species of penguin and a whole lot of Antarctic fur seals!
Antarctica
Falklands, South Georgia & Antarctica ex. Puerto Madryn
21 Days aboard Ortelius. From USD $14,250pp.
Details
Overview
Itinerary Highlights
- See rockhopper, gentoo, adelie, chinstrap and king penguins all in one voyage!
- Visit the Falklands and learn of the fascinating history of the 19th century sailors
- Your choice of starting the journey in Puerto Madryn or Ushuaia.
- Encounter species of incredible wildlife including leopard seals, weddell seals, humpback whales, and minke whales!
Itinerary in Brief
- Day 1: Embark ship in Puerto Madryn
- Day 2–3: Sea life, sea birds
- Day 4: Finding the Falklands
- Day 5: The seat of Falklands culture
- Day 6–7: Once more to the sea
- Day 8–11: South Georgia journey
- Day 12: Southward bound
- Day 13: The scenic vistas of South Orkney
- Day 14: Last push to the Antarctic
- Day 15–18: Awe-inspiring Antarctica
- Day 19 – 20: Familiar seas, familiar friends
- Day 21: Disembark in Ushuaia
Travelling with Eclipse
Peace of Mind
- Eclipse Travel is Australian owned and run, and an ATAS accredited travel agent.
- 24/7 emergency numbers and local contacts provided for support while you’re abroad.
- We provide all the information you need to organise your visas and vaccinations, making travel preparation stress-free.
- No currency surcharges. Once your deposit is paid, your price is guaranteed.
Specialists
- Our consultants are true destination experts, with firsthand experience and extensive travel in the regions we offer.
- Expect quick, professional responses and dedicated service from our knowledgeable team.
- We conduct regular checks on destinations, hotels, and services to ensure quality for every trip.
Authentic Travel
- Tailor-made itineraries designed around your unique requirements.
- Freedom to select your preferred style and standard of accommodation.
- Unique itineraries that take you beyond the major highlights, immersing you in each location.
- Committed to responsible travel: we reinvest in the environment and local communities across our destinations.
Day 1: Embark ship in Puerto Madryn
You embark from Puerto Madryn in the afternoon, your prow aimed for the Falkland Islands. Golfo Nuevo is renowned for its visiting southern right whales, so you have a good chance of spotting one as you sail toward the open ocean.
Day 2–3: Sea life, sea birds
Though you’re now at sea, there’s rarely a lonesome moment here. Several species of bird follow the vessel southeast, such as albatrosses, storm petrels, shearwaters, and diving petrels.
Day 4: Finding the Falklands
The Falkland (Malvinas) Islands offer an abundance of wildlife that is easily approachable, though caution is always advised. These islands are largely unknown gems, the site of a 1982 war between the UK and Argentina. Not only do various species of bird live here, but chances are great you’ll see both Peale’s dolphins and Commerson’s dolphins in the surrounding waters.
During this segment of the voyage, you may visit the following sites:
Steeple Jason
Home to the world’s largest black-browed albatross colony (roughly 113,000), Steeple Jason is a wild and rarely visited island buffeted by wind and waves. Weather and swell conditions dictate the journey here.
Carcass Island
Despite its name, this island is pleasantly rodent-free and hence bounteous with birdlife. Anything from breeding Magellanic penguins and gentoos to numerous waders and passerine birds (including Cobb’s wrens and tussock-birds) live here.
Saunders Island
On Saunders Island you can see the black-browed albatross and its sometimes-clumsy landings, along with breeding imperial shags and rockhopper penguins. King penguins, Magellanic penguins, and gentoos are also found here.
Day 5: The seat of Falklands culture
The capital of the Falklands and centre of its culture, Port Stanley has some Victorian-era charm: colourful houses, well-tended gardens, and English-style pubs are all to be found here. You can also see several century-old clipper ships nearby, silent witnesses to the hardships of 19th century sailors. The small but interesting museum is also worth a visit, covering the early days of settlement up to the Falklands War. Approximately 2,100 people live in Port Stanley. Feel free to wander at will, though be aware that admission fees to local attractions are not included in the voyage.
Day 6–7: Once more to the sea
En route to South Georgia, you now cross the Antarctic Convergence. The temperature cools considerably within the space of a few hours, and nutritious water rises to the surface of the sea due to colliding water columns. This phenomenon attracts a multitude of seabirds near the ship, including several species of albatross, shearwaters, petrels, prions, and skuas.
Day 8–11: South Georgia journey
Today you arrive at the first South Georgia activity site. Please keep in mind that weather conditions in this area can be challenging, largely dictating the program.
Sites you might visit include:
Prion Island
This location is closed during the early part of the breeding season (November 20 – January 7). The previous summer’s wandering albatross chicks are almost ready to fledge, and adults are seeking out their old partners after a year and a half at sea.
Salisbury Plain, St. Andrews Bay, Gold Harbour
These sites not only house the three largest king penguin colonies in South Georgia, they’re also three of the world’s largest breeding beaches for southern elephant seals. Only during this time of year do they peak in their breeding cycle. Watch the four-ton bulls keep a constant vigil (and occasionally fight) over territories where dozens of females have just given birth or are about to deliver. You can also see a substantial number of Antarctic fur seals here during the breeding season (December – January).
Fortuna Bay
Near beaches inhabited by various penguins and seals, you have the chance to follow the final leg of Shackleton’s route to the abandoned whaling village of Stromness. This path cuts across the mountain pass beyond Shackleton’s Waterfall, and as the terrain is partly swampy, be prepared to cross a few small streams.
Grytviken
In this abandoned whaling station, king penguins walk the streets and elephant seals lie around like they own the place – because they basically do. Here you might be able to see the South Georgia Museum as well as Shackleton’s grave.
Day 12: Southward bound
There may be sea ice on this route, and at the edge of the ice some south polar skuas and snow petrels could join the other seabirds trailing the vessel south.
Day 13: The scenic vistas of South Orkney
Depending on the conditions, you might visit Orcadas Base, an Argentine scientific station on Laurie Island in the South Orkney archipelago. The personnel here will happily show you their facility, where you can enjoy expansive views of the surrounding glaciers. If a visit isn’t possible, you may instead land in Signy Island’s Shingle Cove.
Day 14: Last push to the Antarctic
Enormous icebergs and a fair chance of fin whale sightings ensure there’s never a dull moment on this last sea voyage south. Also, your best chance to spot Antarctic petrels is here.
Day 15–18: Awe-inspiring Antarctica
If the ice conditions permit, you now sail into the Weddell Sea. Here colossal tabular icebergs herald your arrival to the eastern side of the Antarctic Peninsula. Paulet Island, with its large population of Adélie penguins, is a possible stop. You might also visit Brown Bluff, located in the ice-clogged Antarctic Sound, where you could get the chance to set foot on the Antarctic Continent itself.
If conditions aren’t favorable to enter the Weddell Sea from the east, the ship will set course for Elephant Island and head into the Bransfield Strait, between South Shetland Island and the Antarctic Peninsula. Here you can attempt to access the Antarctic Sound from the northwest.
The volcanic islands of the South Shetlands are windswept and often cloaked in mist, but they nonetheless offer many subtle pleasures. A wide variety of flora (mosses, lichens, flowering grasses) and fauna (gentoo penguins, chinstrap penguins, southern giant petrels) live here. Chinstrap penguins and Weddell seals often haul out onto the beach near Cámara Base, an Argentine scientific research station on Half Moon Island.
On Deception Island, the ship plunges through Neptune’s Bellows and into the flooded caldera. Here you can find hot springs, an abandoned whaling station, and thousands of cape petrels. A number of kelp gulls, brown skuas, south polar skuas, and Antarctic terns can be spotted too. Wilson’s storm petrels and black-bellied storm petrels also nest in the ruins of the whaling station in Whalers Bay. As an alternative, you can take part in activities near Telefon Bay, further inside the caldera.
This extended voyage gives you the chance to sail even farther down the icy coast of the western Antarctic Peninsula. In the Gerlache Strait are several opportunities for great landings where you might set foot on the Antarctic Continent, surrounded by an epic landscape of alpine peaks and mammoth glaciers calving at sea level. Gentoo penguins, leopard seals, Weddell seals, humpback whales, and minke whales are often seen here.
The breathtaking scenery continues in the southern Gerlache Strait, and if ice conditions allow, we may even reach Lemaire Channel. Conditions on the Drake Passage determine the exact time of departure.
Day 19 – 20: Familiar seas, familiar friends
Your return voyage is far from lonely. While crossing the Drake, you’re again greeted by the vast array of seabirds remembered from the passage south. But they seem a little more familiar to you now, and you to them.
Day 21: Disembark in Ushuaia
You arrive and disembark in Ushuaia, commonly held to be the world’s most southern city. It is located on the Tierra del Fuego archipelago, nicknamed the “End of the World.” But despite this stopping point, the wealth of memories you’ve made on your Antarctic expedition will travel with you wherever your next adventure lies.
- Day 1: Embark ship in Puerto Madryn
- Day 2–3: Sea life, sea birds
- Day 4: Finding the Falklands
- Day 5: The seat of Falklands culture
- Day 6–7: Once more to the sea
- Day 8–11: South Georgia journey
- Day 12: Southward bound
- Day 13: The scenic vistas of South Orkney
- Day 14: Last push to the Antarctic
- Day 15–18: Awe-inspiring Antarctica
- Day 19 – 20: Familiar seas, familiar friends
- Day 21: Disembark in Ushuaia
Next Departure Date: 22 Oct 2025
| Dates | Cabin | From | Special Offer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 22 Oct 2025 - 11 Nov 2025 | USD$14250pp | ||
| Quadruple Porthole Cabin | USD$14250pp | Contact us | |
| Triple Porthole Cabin | USD$17450pp | Contact us | |
| Twin Porthole Cabin | USD$17450pp | Contact us | |
| Twin Window Cabin | USD$18150pp | Contact us | |
| Twin Deluxe Cabin | USD$19550pp | Contact us | |
| Superior Cabin | USD$21000pp | Contact us |
**Prices are per person based on twin / shared accommodation.
**Single supplements may apply
Cabin Details
Quadruple Porthole Cabin
Located on deck 3; two porthole windows, 2 upper and 2 lower berths, private shower and toilet, desk and chair, hair dryer and ample storage space.
Triple Porthole Cabin
Located on Deck 3; two portholes, 1 upper and 2 lower berths, private shower and toilet, desk and chair, hair dryer and ample storage space.
Twin Porthole Cabin
Located on Deck 3 and on Deck 4; two porthole windows, private toilet and shower, two single lower berths, desk and chair, hair dryer and ample storage space. Cabins on deck 4 are quieter than cabins on deck 3: farther away from the noise of engines and generators. Access to the forward observation deck.
Twin Window Cabin
Three windows; 2 lower berths; Private shower & toilet; Desk & chair; Flatscreen TV; Telephone & WiFi (supplemented); Hair dryer; Ample storage space
Twin Deluxe Cabin
Located on Deck 5; three windows; 2 lower berths; Private shower & toilet; Desk & chair; Small sofa; Refrigerator; Coffee & tea maker; Flatscreen TV; Telephone & WiFi (supplemented); Hair dryer; Ample storage space
Superior Cabin
Located on Deck 5; two windows minimum, one double bed, one single (sofa) bed, private toilet and shower, desk and chair, flat screen TV, refrigerator, hairdryer, coffee & tea maker, ample storage space. The quietest cabin deck and has the best access to upper observation decks and the ship's bridge.
Ortelius Deckplan
Specifications
- Passengers: 108 in 50 cabins
- Staff & crew: 53 (Crew 44 | Guides 8 | Doctor 1)
- Length: 90.95 meters
- Breadth: 17.20 meters
- Draft: 5.4 meters
- Ice class: UL1 (Equivalent to 1A)
- Displacement: 4090 tonnes
- Propulsion: 6 ZL 40/48 SULZER
- Speed: 10.5 knots average cruising speed
- Year built: 1989
Whats included?
- On-board accommodation
- Activities/shore excursions as specified
- Lectures and presentations by expedition leaders and naturalist staff
- Complimentary on-board workshops, exhibitions and performances
- Transfers and luggage handling
- Waterproof boots on loan
- All meals during the voyage
- Service taxes and port charges
- Free internet: daily allowance of 1.5 GB of free internet connectivity
What’s not included?
- International and internal airfares
- Arrival/departure taxes or reciprocity fees, visa fees where applicable
- Travel insurance
- Gratuities
- Any items not mentioned as included
Price Assurance
At Eclipse Travel, our expert destination knowledge and decades of travel planning experience come at no extra cost to you. While many think booking through a tour operator is more expensive than planning a trip independently, that’s not the case. We’re paid by our travel partners—such as hotels, activity operators, and cruise providers—via commissions, not by our clients.
Our team negotiates the best rates for you and ensures you receive unbiased advice, with no preference for any particular supplier. In fact, where we secure higher commissions, we often pass the savings on to you, giving us a competitive price edge.
Additionally, we lock in exchange rates at the time of your deposit, ensuring no surprise costs when it’s time for final payment. You can rest easy knowing we’ll handle the details with our suppliers. The only exceptions are national park fee increases or fuel surcharges imposed after your booking, though these are rare.
Take advantage of our team’s expertise and let us help you plan the perfect holiday—hassle-free!
Destination: Antarctica
On any cruise to Antarctica you can expect to experience a wide variety of landscapes, unprecedented wildlife viewing opportunities and a healthy mix of historic landing sites. Be astounded by the sensory overload of the huge amount of ice-bergs, glaciers, high mountains and the abundant and tame wildlife.
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