Drake Passage travel, tours and holiday packages

A short guide about Drake Passage

Travel and tours to the Antarctic Peninsula traverse The Drake Passage and on this journey you will have a great chance of seeing Whales, Dolphins and many wandering Albatross or Storm Petrel as you sail south across this famous Passage. Named after ‘Sir Francis Drake’ the 16th Century English navigator, the Drake Passage is a fast flowing ‘Southern Ocean’ body of water - that is squeezed between the continental land masses of South America and Antarctica. And due to its powerful swells and ocean conditions the Drake Passage has earned its place in history as having some of the roughest sea weather on the planet.

‘Category 4’ strength cyclonic lows traverse the Drake Passage on average once every three weeks. So it’s not surprising that when the roughest ocean in the world is producing 3 metre swells - that only half of your tour colleagues make it to dinner. It has been reported from one tourist that their vessel sat for 10 hours pointing into the wind, waiting for the hurricane gusts to subside - how about experiencing that - before you start your ‘Adventure of a Life Time’ in the Antarctic. Of course your Tour Supplier will have prepared you for this - so keep that sea-sickness medication handy and listen to a lecture or two, if your growing anticipation can’t keep your mind off of the rolling sea - then go outside and get some fresh air.

Once the worst is over - there will be sightings of penguins in the water and before long they’ll become numerous. You will see them swimming and leaping out of the water just like little dolphins - escaping the ship's path. As you continue your journey south - enjoy sightings of whales, dolphins and many other types of seabirds; including Giant Petrels, Albatrosses and more Penguins.

Want to visit this famous Drake Passage? Well as you browse through the travel and land holiday packages that Tourabout has catalogued for your convenience – you’ll find that most tours to Antarctica will begin from South America - and from here you travel through the Drake Passage on your way to visiting other popular tourist destinations - such as Deception Island, the Weddell Sea, and the Larson Ice Shelf. So for the trip of a life time through this amazing passage - create a shortlist of your holiday style and click on the supplier of your choice for more detail.