Antarctica Travel From China and South East Asia

Antarctica is a trip like no other, there are landscapes and wildlife like nowhere else, the air is the cleanest in the world.

The approach to Antarctica is either via ports in the south of Australia and New Zealand or via the tip of South America, Tierra del Fuego. China is closer to Australia and New Zealand than it is to South America, though South America is closer to Antarctica with a greater range of trips available and shorter travelling times leading to lower prices and longer in Antarctica. It is possible to fly from South America to join a cruise ship in Antarctica. The journey to Eastern Antarctica is by ship only, it is not possible for tourists to fly to Antarctica from Australia or New Zealand.

Fig 1. Access to Antarctica
1 - Beijing, China,  2 - Hong Kong, China
3 - Ushuaia, Argentina,  4 - Antarctic Peninsula
5 - Hobart, Australia,  6 - Invercargill, New Zealand
7 - Commonwealth Bay,  8 - McMurdo

The majority of tourist trips visit the Peninsula 6 and nearby islands such as the South Shetlands 5 (where the Chinese Great Wall scientific station is located). Longer trips may also take in the Falkland Islands 3 and / or the wildlife rich island of South Georgia 4, described as the "Alps in Mid-Ocean".

Ships almost always cruise along the western side of the Peninsula, the eastern side and Weddell Sea frequently have much heavier sea ice which is potentially problematic for shipping.

Fig 2. Trips to the Antarctic Peninsula.
1 - Ushuaia, Argentina, 2 - Punta Arenas, Chile
3 - Falkland Islands, 4 - South Georgia
5 - South Shetland Islands, 6 - Antarctic Peninsula

These cruises (and they are always cruises) depart from Australia or New Zealand, Hobart, Australia 1, Invercargill / Port of Bluff in New Zealand 2, Invercargill has the airport, Bluff, 30km away by road has a deep-water port. Less commonly trips may leave/return from or other ports in New Zealand such as Dunedin or Lyttleton.

Trips may depart and return to the same port though often leave from one and return to another alternating between cruises. It takes about seven days to sail to Antarctica, the journey there and back is broken up with visits to the wildlife rich islands such as Macquarie 3 and other island groups such as Snares, Auckland and Campbell that lie between Macquarie and New Zealand.

Once in Antarctica trips spend their time either in the Commonwealth Bay area 4 or the Ross Sea region between Cape Adare 5 and McMurdo 6 with possibly a short trip along the front of the Ross Ice Shelf R

Fig.3 the remote and less visited Eastern side of Antarctica
R - Ross Ice Shelf, 1 - Hobart - Australia
2 - Invercargill / Port of Bluff - New Zealand
3 - Macquarie Island, 4 - Commonwealth Bay
5 - Cape Adare, 6 - McMurdo / Scott bases

• Remoteness - You will see few if any other ships and get a greater feeling of isolation and being at the end of the world, this is a little visited part of the planet. You are going where the world's biggest icebergs are and the most extreme weather conditions.
  
  
• Greater chance of rough seas due to longer spent crossing the open ocean which can take 6-7 days in each direction, no flights available.
  
  
• See Emperor Penguins, the birds of the deep south that rear their young in the depths of the Antarctic winter, the largest of all penguin species.
  
  
• See Mount Erebus, the world's southernmost active volcano and the Ross Ice Shelf, a 600km long wall of ice between 15m and 50m high.
  
  
• Visit the huts of Scott, Shackleton, Mawson and other Heroic Age explorers depending on where your cruise goes. This is the area where much of the early exploratory history of Antarctica was played out and where historical remains still stand.
  
  
• Exclusivity - of the people who go to Antarctica, only a small proportion visit regions other than the Peninsula, there are relatively few trips here and they are often fully booked up well in advance.
  
  
• Trip length of 26-30 days, sometimes there may be the possibility of a semi-circumnavigation over a similar time period from the Ross Sea to the Peninsula.

• It takes 2 days to cross the Drake Passage to reach the Antarctic Peninsula, rough seas are possible though short-lived, you can also fly across it in 2 hours on a fly-cruise trip.
  
  
• Varied mountainous scenery with glaciers and icebergs, some of the most beautiful scenery on earth.
  
  
• The most wildlife rich area, with huge penguin colonies, and many other breeding birds, seals are common and whales may be seen. The sub-Antarctic islands you may visit en route are particularly wildlife rich, especially South Georgia.
  
  
• Historic preserved British Base, now a working Post Office at Port Lockroy, you may also visit other currently active research bases and historic sites.
  
  
• Easier to reach, The closeness of the peninsula to the tip of South America  means that travel time to reach Antarctica here is much less than in the East. It also means that a greater portion of the trip is spent in Antarctica rather than travelling there and back.
  
  
• A larger number and variety of trips available, duration from 6-24 days, a wide range of ships and choice of travel dates and itineraries.