The Expedition Trip Notes provide detailed information and background for the Adventure Consultants' Antarctic Peninsula Basecamp Voyages.
You can view the trip notes online by clicking the image or download a pdf by clicking the following link:
Antarctic Peninsula Basecamp Voyages Trip Notes 2023/24
Antarctic Peninsula Basecamp Voyages Trip Notes 2024/25
Basecamp Voyages are aboard one of three vessels; the M/V Plancius, the M/V Ortelius, or the M/V Hondius. All vessels accommodate passengers in simple but comfortable quadruple, triple or twin cabins with attached bathrooms. Deluxe and superior options are also available. The ships are comfortable, with tasteful decor, but are not luxury vessels. They have been kitted out for explorers and equipped with inflatable zodiacs, a restaurant, bar/lecture room and observation lounge. Our voyages are primarily developed to offer our passengers a quality exploratory wildlife program, trying to spend as much time ashore as possible.
The M/V Plancius was built in 1976 as an oceanographic research vessel for the Royal Dutch Navy and is now a completely reconditioned and converted 116 passenger vessel.
Also accommodating 116 passengers, the M/V Ortelius was built in 1989 and served as a research vessel for the Russian Academy of Science before being reconditioned.
M/V Hondius (pictured by Oceanwide Expeditions) is the world’s first-registered Polar Class 6 passenger vessel, making her among the most structurally fortified and technologically advanced polar cruise ships on the seas. The Hondius is the more luxurious of the three ships. It was built in 2019 and accommodates 170 passengers, with additional berth options of a Junior or Grand Balcony Suite.
Team Membership
Activity groups sizes vary: for glacier walking the maximum group size is limited to 12 with 6 mountaineers per rope party; camping has a minimum of 8 and maximum of 30 campers per night; photography outings are limited to 20 participants; kayaking has a minimum of 4 and maximum of 14 kayakers.
Our Guides
You will find the guides to be companionable and strong expedition leaders with considerable power and willingness to see you achieve your goals.
Head Office Support Team
Running successful journeys and expeditions is more about experience, knowledge and strategic management than any other factors. As an organisation, we place a substantial amount of time and resources into ensuring our trips are well planned and supported. You can be assured that the AC staff will provide you with friendly advice and knowledgeable support throughout the planning stages of your trip and we will be there to provide backup while the trip is running.
Hayley Furze, Client Liaison
Hayley joins the AC team with a wealth of experience working in the tourism and hospitality industry along with a love of travel. She works as Client Liaison on a number of our European and international ascents, treks and expeditions.
Your Health
Expedition members will be provided with pre-trip medical advice and a medical questionnaire and asked to visit their family physician to receive a full medical examination. This information will be sighted only by the expedition leader and our medical adviser and treated with full confidentiality.
Level of Experience Required
The voyages are suitable for all skills levels and for most activities no previous experience is required and everybody is welcome to participate. The excursions will be tailored to the skill level of the group and the conditions encountered.
For certain activities previous experience is required as follows:
Glacier Walking: Some mountaineering or alpine trekking experience is preferable, but not required. Physical fitness is essential. See our Fitness Training Programs for information on how we can help you prepare for the expedition.
Kayaking: Some previous kayaking experience is advantageous for this excursion.
Difficulty Rating
Each of our trips is individually rated according to its physical and technical difficulty, displayed in the icons towards the top of each trip page. You can click on the accompanying question mark for additional descriptions and the full run-down of our grading system is available on our Difficulty Ratings page.
Food
All meals, including snacks, coffee and tea, are provided onboard and most dietary requirements can be catered for by the chefs.
Clothing & Equipment
A full clothing and equipment checklist will be sent to all expedition members once their booking is confirmed, however members are expected to provide personal equipment for specific activities as follows:
Glacier Walking
Glacier travel equipment will be provided (ropes and carabiners, harnesses, helmets, ice axes and crampons). Participants will bring their own personal protective outdoor clothing, mountaineering boots (leather or plastic) suitable for using crampons.
Snowshoeing
We offer the free rental of lightweight snowshoes and rubber boots with a good walking profile.