Antarctica Cruise: Aurora Expeditions Explains When is the Best Time to Travel

If you are thinking of an Antarctica cruise, one of the most important things you need to consider is the best time of year to travel. There are many facets to choosing Antarctica cruises and a great way to work out when to travel is to evaluate what you most wish to experience while there. The best Antarctica cruise period is from November to March, when there is nearly perpetual daylight.

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Aurora Expeditions, a Sydney based company, offer Antarctica tours departing Hobart & Argentina to Antarctica throughout the entire season to ensure you have the experience of a lifetime.

For more specific details on Antarctica cruises, contact Aurora Expeditions at their website and use their free 'Ask and Expert' service to ask any questions you may have and register for their E-News to enjoy exclusive special offers, exciting competitions, helpful travel tips and other news from our destinations.

November and December Wildlife
A voyage in November or early December is the best time to cruise to Antarctica if you love the freshness of spring and the first flush of new life. Penguins, snow petrels, skuas, giant petrels, cormorants are starting their breeding cycle and building nests. You will see penguins display complex courtship behaviour, ritualized posturing and song. The ice is crisp and clean, and some sea ice may linger still attached to shore. Icebergs frozen in this winter ice start to break free creating a shifting landscape.

December and January Wildlife
Another great Antarctica cruise time is mid season, between December and January as the abundance in food from the ocean means wildlife is prolific. Whales, especially humpbacks have made the long migration south in search of krill, and are feeding along the coast of Antarctica, often with their young. Skuas, petrels, and albatross make the most of the productive season and during these months penguin chicks’ are making their first foray from their shells. Weddell seals, Crabeater seals and Leopard seals lay hauled out on icefloes or on the shore ensuring this is truly a great time for an Antarctica travel adventure.

February and March Wildlife
February and March is also a good time for an Antarctica cruise. In these months you will see the culmination of the breeding activity of previous months. Penguin chicks are large, curious and inquisitive. They rest in crèches, as the adults feed at sea. Leopard seals are making the most of the juvenile penguins’ first swim and are feeding intensively. Fur seals rest on ice floes and Minke whales, and Orca can appear at anytime. All wildlife is making the most of the final weeks of sunlight. This is the best time of year for Antarctica cruises across the Antarctic circle and into the deep south. Here you can encounter some serious ice in a rarely visited landscape. Sunsets are particularly dramatic as the days shorten.

Due to the variable nature of weather on an Antarctica cruise , you can experience crystal clear days at any time of the season. Ice conditions also shift with the weather and you may experience snow, sleet and wind any time.

Whenever you decide is the best time for an Antarctic cruise ship vacation, you will discover a breathtaking continent, and a landscape which changes from hour to hour.