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The Ins, Outs, and Ups of Polar Mountaineering & Ski Mountaineering

To shed some light on these ultimate outings, here’s a rough guide to polar mountaineering and ski mountaineering, telling you what the activities entail, where you can do them, and why they’re the best way to put some elevation in your polar vacation.

Selling Spectacular: Interview with Maria del Pilar Fernández

We regularly interview our expedition guides and crew, gushing about all the fantastic locations these lucky souls get to call their office. But what about the Oceanwide staff whose office is, well, an office?

Earth vs. Mars: Polar Regions Compared

It’s common knowledge that Mars, like Earth, has its own polar regions – lovingly referred to as the Martian ice caps. But is that all there is to it, or are there distinctions between these regions?

Path of Polar Heroes: Hiking Shackleton’s Historic Route

Our voyages touch on much of the same ground the giants of polar history explored, endured, and (to a lesser degree) enjoyed during their historic expeditions, most of which describe acts of such superhuman resolve they almost defy belief.

Arctic and a Coffee: Interview with a Polar Sailing Captain

Some people travel to the Arctic for the polar bears and seabirds, others for all those ice-spackled bays and peaks dusted with snow no hand will ever touch.

Arctic vs. Antarctica: A Traveler’s Guide [Infographic]

Sunrises vs. sunsets, coffee vs. tea, Wonder Woman vs. Superman. The world contains a virtually limitless supply of things to compare, contrast, juxtapose, differentiate. But few things so perfectly express the polarities of our planet as its literal magnetic poles – or more generally, the Arctic (north) vs. Antarctica (south).

Seven Things to Do around Ushuaia

We often recommend arriving early to Ushuaia before embarking on an Antarctica cruise, and for good reason: Ushuaia, on top of being the southernmost city in the world, has in recent years developed into a decidedly charming tourist destination.

Antarctica in Pictures: Photos from 2018

Until you join us in Antarctica yourself, enjoy these stunning photos from the past year.

The Wonderful Weddell Sea: Places, Pics, and Impressions

When talking about Antarctica, it’s easy to slip into familiar verbiage: amazing, astounding, extraordinary, exceptional. And though most Antarctic locations deserve these descriptions, some do so more than others. The Weddell Sea is a prime example.

Arctic Invaders: Interview with a Marine Ecotoxicologist

Despite all we read about the warming planet, the polar species struggling to keep up, and the hive of business interests unrepentantly trying to turn the world’s natural reserves into personal cash registers, there are a few people actively trying to make things better.

Clean Seas, Please: AECO, UNEP, and the Clean Seas Campaign

In Robert Frost’s famous prophesying poem, Fire and Ice, the New England poet speculates as to how the world will end. Will it be by fire or by ice?

Port Lockroy: History, Post Office, and Resident Penguins

Sometimes it’s so easy to focus on all the beautiful coastlines, fjords, and other natural wonders of Antarctica that we overlook the man-made attractions in between.

Kayaking in Antarctica and the Arctic

Though our focus is always providing our passengers maximum possible polar shore time, sometimes off-shore time is just as important. For this, there’s no better adventure than polar kayaking.

Polar Cuisine in Pictures

Just because you’re traveling in some of the planet’s least civilized locations doesn’t mean your cuisine has to be barbaric.

Picture Perfect: Interview and Advice from a Polar Photographer

It isn't easy to take a bad picture in the polar regions, but it's far from impossible.

Meat, Mate, Move: a Polar Bear Story

Silent as the wind through your fur, you creep over the ice to the small, dark hole. At the bottom, well within reach of your tensing paws, a black circle of lapping water stares back at you like the pupil of some enormous, unreadable eye.

AECO, IAATO & OEX: Polar Travel Partnerships

Nature-based travel asks its share of responsibilities to the planet, and travel in ecologically vulnerable areas even more so. Thankfully, the polar regions have two vital and widely respected organizations in their corner: AECO and IAATO.

Antarctica: When to Visit, How to Plan, What to Expect

If Antarctica is an astonishingly exotic location coveted in equal measure by ice enthusiasts and continent hoppers (and it is), it also asks a lot in return for its prestigious polar status.

A Moveable Feast: Interview with a Polar Cruise Chef

Polar cruises are luxurious, but they aren’t luxury cruises. The beds are wonderfully comfortable, but nobody expects goose-down pillows. The bar is appropriately well stocked, but no bottles of triple-cask Macallan 21 glow atop the shelves. The food is delicious, ample, and hearty, but…

Arctic Mythology: Inuit, Saami, and the Ancient Greeks

The Arctic locations we visit aren’t merely made up of phenomenal landscapes, exotic wildlife, and more adventure than a Hardy Boys novel. They’re also interwoven with ancient cultures, all of which have their own particular and fascinating cosmologies.

Two for the Snow: Polar Cruises for Couples

You know the old saying, “Cold hands, warm heart.” We’re not doctors or anything, but in our opinion that bodes well for couples who visit the polar regions.

The Seven Best Things to Do in Antarctica

Unless you’re a scientist, there’s no such thing as a means-to-an-end trip to Antarctica. Merely being there is reason enough to make the journey - even, we would wager, for most scientists who travel to Antarctica solely for research.