Getting ready to tour Antartica in January 2026
Hi Friends,
I have been looking up some of the discussions regarding clothing for the trip. Several of you have stated that waterproof pants are necessary. I was wondering if by waterproof pants, are you referring to ski pants? I am a north east skier and figured those were the pants I was going to pack. Thoughts?
Regina
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Yep, ski pants are what you want to keep you both warm and dry.
Yes, ‘waterproof’ ski pants. Almost everything I brought for the Antarctica part of the trip came out of my ski bag. Bare in mind that it is summer in Argentina, so you need the opposite clothing … summer wear. The ship will issue you the boots as a loan, and a parka that you get to keep. All of the landings are ‘wet’ landings, the water will be near the top of the boots. I used boot liners, but my wife did not like them. She just used a couple pair of socks. Good gloves, hat, and sunscreen. Sun glasses. Also recommend a ‘gator’. We had great weather overall for our January trip, but some days were really really cold.
Thank you so very much for your quick and helpful response.
Could you explain the 100 person rotation on and off land? We are not the only persons on the boat and so how do they rotate people keeping in mind the regulations of Antarctica landings.
For Antarctica the ship is limited to 200 passengers, a little less than full capacity. Passengers are divided into two groups of 100. The first group is taken to the landing on zodiacs. An hour or so later, zodiacs make another trip to the landing, bringing the first group back to the ship and taking the second group to the landing. Usually this happens once in the morning and once in the afternoon, so everyone has two landings on a typical day.
I cannot remember the exact size of the tour groups, but it is relatively small. No where near a hundred … maybe fifteen to thirty. Definitely smaller on the Zodiac trip which were maybe fifteen people. You never saw a hundred people in one place. Another by the way, if you have ‘any’ walking problems bring a walking stick. The terrain can be difficult. In places you will be walking on rocks … worse than cobblestones.