Great Expeditions
Ever more exciting itineraries are appearing across a small-ship expedition scene featuring new and repurposed vessels: expect new levels of luxury and bold ambition.
Words by Mark Stratton
First-Time Antarctica Atlas Ocean Voyages
The voyage Atlas Ocean Voyages’ nine-night Ushuaia Roundtrip is an ideal first-timer’s introduction to the seventh continent’s most accessible region – the Antarctic Peninsula. You’ll buckle in for a two-day, white-knuckle ride from Ushuaia in Southern Argentina down the notoriously frisky Drake Passage. First up are the snow-capped peaks of the South Shetland Islands, which perch like a halo above the Antarctic Peninsula’s fractured archipelago. Thereafter, daily excursions by Zodiac dinghies are determined by winds and tides. Melodramas unfolding beneath the midnight sun include penguin colonies raising their chicks on Danko Island and humpback whales breeching through the brash ice of Paradise Harbour, an awe-inspiring place to kayak off ship. Before returning north to Ushuaia, it’s customary to send a postcard back home from the world’s most southerly post office, at the historic 1944 British Antarctic base at Port Lockroy.
The vessel With a capacity for 198 guests, the 129m World Voyager oozes the ambience of a luxury yacht. Its swish Scandinavian-inspired light wood and Italian marble finishings, swimming pool and hot tubs belie, however, a robust expedition vessel, with an ice-strengthened hull and hybrid-electric engines delivering a smooth, quiet ride.
Travel Details
From £8,640pp, including return charter between Buenos Aires and Ushuaia, excluding international flights, leaving 19 March 2026. Departing on multiple dates from November 2026 to March 2027. atlasoceanvoyages.com
Epic Antarctic Crossings AE Expeditions
The voyage With true expeditionary zeal, AE Expeditions’ new 33-day Epic Antarctica: Crossing the 7th Continent voyage visits Antarctica’s remotest coastlines. Departing from New Zealand’s Dunedin, you’ll venture south via wildlife-rich sub-Antarctic islands towards the Ross Sea, photographing rare endemic species such as yellow-eyed penguins in places like Campbell Island. After a further week sailing south, accompanied by the effortless glide of the albatross, you’ll encounter the Ross Sea Ice Shelf, where orca hunt in packs for seals. Here, you’ll encounter the Holy Grail of the trip: Captain Scott’s perfectly preserved winter hut, built for his fateful 1910-12 South Pole expedition. Thereafter, you’ll trace rarely travelled Antarctic coastline westwards, making impromptu excursions in search of emperor penguins in the Amundsen Sea, before reaching the Antarctic Peninsula. By disembarkation in Ushuaia, you’ll have semi-circumnavigated the globe.
The vessel In December 2025, Douglas Mawson became a shiny new addition to polar expedition voyaging. Over eight decks, 86 cabins are attended with a staff to passenger ratio of 1:8. The rounded state-of-the-art Ulstein X-BOW hull absorbs the roughest wave energy, and the two-tiered glass atrium has a well-stocked library and science lab. Supplementing the main dining hall is an intimate, top-deck gourmet restaurant, The Hut, whose horizon-busting sea views to ac.
Travel Details
From £25,137pp, excluding flights. Departing on 8 February 2026 and 7 January 2027. aexpeditions.co.uk
South Georgia Island Micro-Cruise Secret Atlas
The voyage The sub-Antarctic British Overseas Territory of South Georgia harbours the most stellar wildlife spectacle imaginable. Set in boisterous South Atlantic seas, Secret Atlas’s new 16-day South Georgia and Antarctic Summer Micro-Fly Cruise commences with a two-day sailing from the South Shetland Islands after flying in from Chile. Thereafter, you’ll cross the wild Scotia Sea to explore mountainous South Georgia’s magical eastern coast. Throughout, albatrosses and giant petrels soar overhead and, by February, glacier-backed beaches like St Andrews and Gold Harbour writhe with the pong and chaos of hundreds of thousands of pairs of king penguins and demanding juvenile fur seals. Off shore, blue whales are frequently seen and there’s a poignant visit to Grytviken to the grave of the legendary Sir Ernest Shackleton. The voyage continues north-west to end in the fabulous bird-rich Falkland Islands.
The vessel The 44-guest MV Polar Athena is a well-seasoned war horse ready to battle the Earth’s fiercest seas. A 1982 refurbished former research vessel, this micro-expedition tyro carries five Zodiacs, and her lower-laying deck space is fabulous for closer whale encounters. The rigid Class 1A hull and manoeuvrability ensures exciting forays deeper into the pack ice.
Travel Details
From £19,495pp, excluding international flights but including a one-way transfer between the South Shetland Islands and Puerto Natales in Chile. Departing on dates between January and February 2027. secretatlas.com
British Columbia's Big Nature Maple Leaf Adventures
The voyage Vancouver Island’s Inside Passage voyage is a new nature-soaked exploration by Canada’s classiest small boat operator. On a bijou historic vessel, sailing between Campbell River and Port McNeill, this eight-day odyssey threads through channels east of Vancouver Island’s temperate rainforest and west of the British Columbia mainland. Heading initially through the Georgia Strait – scanning the shoreline for wolves and both black and grizzly bears – you’ll disembark for hikes into the mighty old-growth forests. Alert Bay yields cultural visits to remote First Nation communities while always keeping eyes open for transient orcas. In the Broughton Archipelago, you’ll call by an early 20th-century former cannery village, preserved in aspic. A particular culinary highlight is wild foraging for ingredients such as sea-asparagus and salmonberries to supplement the chef’s Pacific Northwest fresh cuisine.
The vessel Guests will feel the breezy elements of British Columbia surging through the sails of Maple Leaf: an elegant 1904 tall-ship that has plied these coastal waters for over a century. The curved deck planks and the wheelhouse’s mahogany finish are sensuous, while accommodation is intimate: just eight guests sleep in four ‘semi-private’ areas, and are attended by five staff members.
Travel Details
From £2,752pp, excluding flights. Maple Leaf departs on May 2026, with further departures during May and October on the vintage 1920s tugboat Swell. mapleleafadventures.com
Southern Ocean Whales Polar Latitudes Expeditions
The voyage By March, Antarctica’s transient summer whales are fat on krill and energetically beginning Herculean journeys north to the mid-Latitudes to raise calves. It’s the best place on Earth to see so many. Polar Latitudes Expeditions – newly formed from the merger of two specialist polar operators – offer Antarctica’s Whale Season, a nine-night voyage to the Antarctic Peninsula. Sailing south on a return journey from Ushuaia, Argentina, you’ll stop at Deception Island to visit the ghostly remains of a former shoreline whaling station. There’s no set route thereafter around the peninsula; the ship’s captain simply follows the whales. Joining expert wildlife spotters on deck you’ll marvel at racing pods of orca, humpback whales, which at times surround the ship, and colossal blue and fin whales. The Gerlache Strait is a nailed-on guarantee for whales in a ten-knot slow zone specially designated to protect them.
The vessel The new 94-cabin Ocean Albatros is a redoubtable Ice-class 1A vessel that delivers great stability and fuel conservation, a boon for eco-conscious travellers, boasting a 50 per cent lower carbon footprint than other similar polar ships. A staff-to-passenger ratio of 1:2 ensures attentiveness, and supplement-weary solo travellers can opt for a single cabin.
Travel Details
From £7,890pp, excluding flights. Departing on 9 March and 18 March 2027. polar-latitudes.com
Sea of Japan Swan Hellenic
The voyage Swan Hellenic’s new ten-night Cultural Shores and Northern Landscapes tour intimately explores the maritime communities of Japan’s eastern seaboard. Embarking in Hiroshima, with a visit to its sobering post-nuclear Peace Memorial Museum, you’ll sail northwards for daily cultural excursions. At Shimonoseki, try the famous fugu pufferfish before briefly crossing the Kanmon Strait to adjacent South Korea’s Busan to find seafood-lovers’ heaven among its alleys. Back in Japan, tracing Honshu Island’s coast, try natsuki oysters in Sakaiminato and soak up the history of Maizuru, where Japanese soldiers were repatriated at WWII’s end. Further north, Sado Island’s rugged cliffs and beaches are a joy to sail by on the way to Sakata’s historic streets of well-preserved homes from Japan’s prosperous Edo-era. Disembarkation is on Hokkaido Island’s thriving port of Otaru.
The vessel SH Minerva tapers stylishly towards an elegant arch at its bow, known as the ‘swan’s nest’, from where passengers watch the ocean surge by. Large stateroom cabins, some with balconies, house 152 guests and feature electric log fires lending an oddly comforting touch, and the crew-to-passenger ratio is near one-to-one. Extra-sized stabilisers make for a smooth ride and after dining, perhaps alfresco at the Pool Bar & Grill, head to the stargazing deck to absorb the night skies.
Travel Details
From £7,170pp, excluding flights. Departing on 20 May 2026. swanhellenic.com
West Papuan Adventure Seatrek Bali
The voyage Allowing travellers to navigate the mystically opaque islands of eastern Indonesia, SeaTrek Bali have recently launched a 14-day voyage, From the Spice Islands to the Whale Sharks. Sailing from Ambon to Kaimana by classic wooden pinisi sailboat, the ship transports you to the best coral reefs on the planet. From Ambon Island in the Moluccas, you’ll catch the trade winds westwards to the Banda islands, snorkelling phenomenal reefs every day and working up a sweat when hiking Gunung Api Banda’s archetypal volcanic cone. Veering north from Ceram Island, the voyage transits the Aru islands chain, visiting Malukan communities and seeking weird and wonderful tree kangaroos and birds-of-paradise. You’ll finally reach West Papua’s Triton Bay, with opportunities to swim with whale sharks, prior to disembarking at Kaimana.
The vessel A traditional pinisi wooden sailboat, the 38m Katharina personifies the elegance of the centuries-old tradition of Unesco World Heritage prescribed Indonesian boatbuilding. It has six small double or bunk cabins beneath a barefoot-only teak deck under sails. The 12 staff are all Indonesian; the spicy local cuisine is mouthwatering and fiery.
Travel Details
From £8,540pp, excluding flights. Departing on 20 September in 2026 and 2027, although they operate similar voyages across this region all year round. seatrekbali.com
Polynesian Dreaming Aranui Cruises
The voyage Saying ‘aloha’ from 2027, the newly-built Aranoa will ply a 13-day Austral Islands with Rapa itinerary, encompassing paradisical French Polynesia. From Tahiti, the voyage makes spidery progress between out-of-the-way Polynesian communities sandwiched between the Austral and Society Islands. What’s great about this voyage is the ship functions as a cargo lifeline, adding extra purpose to the natural beauty. First port-of-call is Rimatar, where islanders conserve both a unique Polynesian dialect and rare endemic ura parrots. On Tubuai Island, you’ll discover where the Bounty mutineers stopped by in 1789; on mountainous Rapa Iti, you’ll be welcomed by the 450-strong island community, who rarely see outsiders. Eventually, Aranoa returns towards Tahiti via Bora Bora, with options to scuba dive with sharks or to explore its explosive WWII history during American military occupation.
The vessel The 91-cabin Aranoa launches in March 2027, to function both as a passenger and cargo vessel. This five-star working ship – complete with crane on the bow – boasts a smooth-running, eco-friendly, diesel-electric propulsion system, and onboard facilities include two restaurants and a spa.
Travel Details
From £4,312pp, excluding flights. Departing on 3 June 2027, with further sailings all year round in tandem with sister ship Aranui 5. aranui.com
Amazon Adventures Abercrombie & Kent
The voyage Aboard the Amazon’s newest luxury riverboat, Pure Amazon, this four-night tour, A Fresh Perspective on Peru, explores the mega biodiversity of this extraordinary region. Embarking deep in the rainforest at Nauta and setting sail for a round-trip adventure, native guides will take you on excursions by skiff to seek pink river dolphins and into the rainforest, hoping to see jaguar tracks. Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve yields 400 species of birds, plus abundant monkeys and sloths, in the riverside canopy. On nocturnal safaris you can expect to see caiman by torchlight, and on a visit to the indigenous riverside communities of Nueva Arica, you’ll be able to sample their offerings of maize-fermented chicha beer, or grilled piranha, a popular, if rather bony, delicacy. Days might end sipping a cold drink on the top deck absorbing the Amazon’s rapid descent into darkness.
The vessel Profiled like a Mississippi paddle-steamer, the three-deck Pure Amazon is a boutique, high-end addition to Peruvian riverboat cruising, with a staff ratio of one-to-one. Twelve suites and cabins feature large picture windows allowing the surrounding rainforest to flood interiors decked out in contemporary Italian design and local artisanal fabrics. On board, fine dining sumptuously blends Peru’s much vaunted fare with local delicacies such as the giant Amazon fish, arapaima.
Travel Details
From £4,595pp, including flights between Iquitos and Nauta and excluding international flights. Departing all year round. abercrombiekent.com
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