Antarctica Travel Weather

January - February

The warmest months of the year, and the most favorable for travel. You can enjoy long days and relatively high temperatures. There is less ice, and instead of snow there is often mud. Chances of good weather are definitely higher, but cruise prices are correspondingly more expensive as well. This is also the period of greatest activity of animals inhabiting the continent. Penguins are hatching, earliest in the South Shetland Islands and later in the south of the Antarctic Peninsula. You can also observe young sea lions and sea leopards (mammals of the seal family). February, meanwhile, is the best month for whale watching.

Standard cruises from Ushuaia last about 10-12 days. The weather is also favorable for longer cruises, which also include the Falkland Islands and South Georgia, lasting about three weeks.

March

The Antarctic cruise season comes to an end in the last days of March. As the sun retracts behind the southern horizon line, darkness gradually returns (polar nights). Daytime temperatures on the coast are still around 0°C, although at night we can feel the Antarctic frost forming beautiful patterns on the thin ice on the sea surface.

The snow layer is minimal and allows for hiking in the South Shetland Islands. Penguins, sea lions and whales can still be observed growing up. Green and pink algae bloom spectacularly. There is also a chance to see the aurora borealis - a sign that another cycle of nature will soon close and Antarctica will plunge into the winter polar night.

April - October

Months completely outside the tourist season. Due to the unfavorable climatic conditions, there are no cruises on tourist ships or flights by cruise planes. It is very cold and windy, and most areas are not accessible due to a thick layer of ice and snowstorms.

November - December

From November to early December, some places may be inaccessible to tourists, mainly due to the large amount of snow and ice. Virtually the entire surface of the water is covered with ice, this amazing landscape is enhanced by seals and cormorants, which just at this time have their mating season. It is possible to admire penguins pairing up, building nests and brooding eggs. At this time, baby crabapods - predatory marine mammals of the seal family - are born. We can spot groups of these animals in the sea and on floating crags. Similarly, sea elephants, which bask in large numbers on fragments of glaciers.