Antarctic splendours: PONANT opens 2023-2024 season

PONANT is launching sales of a new offer for 2023-2024 to discover the splendours of the southern continent: 32 expedition sailings and 12 different itineraries aboard their small luxury expedition ships Le Boreal, L’Austral and Le Lyrial, and Le Commandant Charcot, the world’s first hybrid electric LNG powered polar exploration ship.

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Sailing in Antarctic waters, be they the Weddell Sea or Ross Sea, is to enter a whole other dimension, drawn as if by an irresistibly magnetic force of attraction. The remotest continent on Earth, a land of water, ice and rock, Antarctica impresses by its majesty. More than anywhere else in the world, nothing matches this experience, a voyage for all the senses to discover another world, and sometimes even another person inside.

Depending on the itinerary and sailing, weather and ice conditions, a host of activities will bring guests into direct contact with this breath-taking environment. They include outings and landings in Zodiacs accompanied by a team of naturalist-guides, kayaking, hiking and snowshoeing, polar diving, swimming in a dry suit and talks by experts in the fauna, flora and history of the polar regions.

Exclusively on Le Commandant Charcot, a range of citizen science workshops run by naturalists will give guests an opportunity to contribute to scientific research. Data collected on marine species, cloud cover observations and collecting phytoplankton samples all feed into programmes like Happywhale, Globe Clouds, FjordPhyto and Seabird Surveys.

Guests travelling onboard Le Commandant Charcot for her inaugural Antarctica season in 2021-2022, experienced timeless moments discovering unexplored areas and remarkable wildlife. “The Antarctic is a very special destination, it’s like going to another planet,” explains John Frick, Expedition Leader on Le Commandant Charcot. “Returning to the Antarctic is always a new adventure. What surprises me every time, as it does for our guests, is the sheer wild beauty of this continent and the indescribable feeling you get when you set foot on the sea ice, knowing the ocean is just beneath your feet”.

For Le Commandant Charcot’s third season in the Antarctic, PONANT is offering 5 exploration sailings and 3 itineraries including two new ones.

Of the world’s 17 penguin species, the Emperor penguin is the most emblematic and elegant of the genus. To see them in their natural habitat on the ice, the only option is to go on a voyage to the Antarctic in the southern summer, to the almost inaccessible Weddell Sea, for an encounter that takes the breath away. This exploration voyage, in the footsteps of the epic expeditions of yesteryear, is also an opportunity to immerse yourself in the disconcerting purity of nature between the sea ice as far as the eye can see and gigantic tabular icebergs.

Punta Arenas – Ushuaia on Le Commandant Charcot, from 2 to 17 November 2023, 16 days – 14 nights

Ushuaia – Ushuaia on Le Commandant Charcot, from 16 to 29 November 2023, 14 days – 12 nights

Nicknamed the ‘Gentleman of the Poles’, Jean-Baptiste Charcot spearheaded French oceanographic science in the early 20^th century to the frontiers of the still unknown world, pushing the limits of knowledge with a burning desire to understand and pass on knowledge. This voyage on Le Commandant Charcot explores the key sites discovered by the explorer, which bear his name: Petermann Island, where he overwintered with his crew on the Pourquoi Pas or the remote Charcot Island. This voyage promises full immersion into a world of ice and the drift ice, and a chance of seeing the abundant wildlife (Adelie penguins, leopard seals, humpback whales, orcas and more).

Le Boreal, L’Austral and Le Lyrialanother way to discover the Antarctic

PONANT is also offering the chance to discover the White Continent on its small capacity Le Boreal, L’Austral and Le Lyrial with their unique atmosphere, designed for polar expeditions. For Winter 2023-2024, there are 27 sailings and 9 itineraries, one of which is a first.

From the Alpine landscapes, black sand, verdant plains, and suspended glaciers in South Georgia, to the white sandy beaches, cliffs and moors dotted with moss and lichens in the Falkland Islands, not forgetting the shrubby steppe in southern Argentina, this expedition to the southern waters of the South Atlantic offers a feast of biodiversity. A pleasure for the eyes that is renewed every day and will not fail to inspire.

Ushuaia – Buenos Aires on Le Boréal from 6 to 25 March 2024, 20 days – 18 nights

To go in a few days from the white sand and turquoise waters of the Falkland Islands to the drifting icebergs and snow-capped mountains of the Antarctic Peninsula. This is the promise of this expedition voyage to the shores of the South Okney Islands, towards the White Continent. A veritable odyssey of the senses to meet an abundance of wildlife (albatrosses, penguins, seals, humpback whales and more).

After crossing the legendary Drake Passage, the Antarctic Peninsula works its magic on the eyes of those who have dreamed of coming here for so long. An icy backdrop teeming with exceptional wildlife awaits: penguins, humpback whales, seals, and elephant seals, to name a few. And every day, depending on the weather and ice conditions, landings and Zodiac outings to discover the treasures of the southern continent (tabular icebergs, volcanic beaches, scientific research stations, vestiges of the whaling industry).