Lemaire Channel travel, tours and holiday packages

A short guide about Lemaire Channel

The Lemaire and Neumayer Channels are Antarctica's two most photographed waterways and because they lie conveniently near each other, they are often part of the same cruise itinerary down the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. Nicknamed the "Kodak Gap" - it is one of the top tourist destinations, with its steep cliffs hemming in the iceberg-filled passage. Not only is it scenic, but the protected waters are usually as still as a lake, a rare occurrence in these storm-wracked southern seas. Its principal difficulty is that icebergs may fill the channel, especially early in the season forcing a Cruise Ship to backtrack.

The Lemaire Channel is about 6km in length and at its narrowest point roughly 500m wide and is attached to the Antarctic continent, where as the Neumayer Channel does not touch the mainland and lounges between two islands. The Lemaire Channel was named by the De Gerlache Expedition, after the 19th century explorer Charles Lemaire - a Belgium Congo official and a gentleman who never set foot on Antarctica.

As you cruise through this region of Antarctica your ship will sail through the spectacular two sided narrow icy waterway. Here glaciers, sheer cliffs and snow-crowned mountain peaks dramatically line the narrow Lemaire Channel and glacial calving is a common occurrence along the banks. Once through the channels you will continue on to visit Petermann Island, here nest the most southern colony of Gentoo Penguins, as well as colonies of beautiful Adelei Penguins, Skuas and Blue-Eyed Shags.

Penguin colonies and basking seals dozing on rocks add to the tourist's viewing experience, as do the playful whales that sometimes accompany the cruise boats. Tours often include Zodiac trips for up close views and shore landings and at Pleneau you have the opportunity to cruise around in zodiacs and visit impressive ice formations. At this latitude visitors to Antarctica have 20 hours of daylight to enjoy the passing of natural scenes from the observation decks of their cruise ships.