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Hondius Liveaboard, Arctic Circle, Iceland, Argentina

from
USD
465
per day

The boat meets the latest and the highest standard of Lloyd Register to sail in Polar Region. Hondius offers hotel type accommodation. Fast zodiacs to a short time in the sea and focus on shore activities. A wide variety of activities including polar diving, kayaking, camping, photo workshops.

Boat Interior

Hondius can carry 176 passengers on board. The boat has 82 cabins in total. 4 quad cabins, 2 trips can be shared if you are traveling with friends or with your family. There are also 28 twin rooms with portholes and 14 twin rooms with windows. For those who prefer luxury accommodation, boats can offer to stay at one of the suits or book the special hondius suit that has 4 windows to enjoy the beautiful view, a double bed, and comfortable sofa. All staterooms have private facilities, TV, coffee tea maker, hairdryer, cabinet.
A big lecture room is perfect for workshops, exhibitions, and performances. Boat’s guest can also spend time in the large observation lounge.

Itinerary features

Hondius offers various routes. Visit the Falkland Islands to see albatross colonies, Magellanic penguins and gentoos or elephant seals. Take a part in Antarctica Discovery and learning cruise, where you can to listen to naturalists lectures. You may get a chance to visit the former British research station now a museum and post office. Hondius passengers will get a unique chance to meet whales and to see one of the most amazing sightsing northern lights.

When to Go

The Antarctic Peninsula has a warmer and wetter climate; above freezing temperatures are common in the summer months. The average temperature for summer months ranges between -2C (28,4F) +5C (41F). For Norway the average temperature during the summer 10C (50 F). Svalbard is usually around -16 to -12 degrees Celsius (3 to 10 F) during the winter, and between 4 to 6C (39 to 43 F) in the summer

Cabins

Quad Cabin

Quad Cabin

4 Guests
Triple Cabin

Triple Cabin

3 Guests
Twin Cabin with Porthole

Twin Cabin with Porthole

2 Guests
Twin Cabin with Window

Twin Cabin with Window

2 Guests
Twin Deluxe

Twin Deluxe

2 Guests
Superior

Superior

2 Guests
Junior Suite

Junior Suite

2 Guests
Grand Suite with Private Balcony

Grand Suite with Private Balcony

2 Guests
Boat plan
Boat deck plan

Boat Specification

Year built / Renovation
2019
Number of cabins
82
Groups or charters
No
Gear rental
No
Wi-Fi
Free
Nitrox
No
Fleet/Managing company
Oceanwide Expeditions192
Length and width
107 m / 17 m
Capacity
172
Tenders
Rigid-hull inflatable Zodiacs
Material
Steel
Languages crew speak
English, French, German
Power plugs onboard
220v, 60Hz standard European with 2 thick round pins
Engines
2 x ABC; total 4,200 kW
Tech diving friendly
No
Handicapped Friendly
No
Compressors
Bauer (200 litres)

Dive Facilities

  • Compressors
  • Tenders for Diving
  • DIN Adaptors

Boat navigation & safety

Full safety

Food & Drinks

  • Western Food
  • Dietary Restrictions
  • Buffet Style
  • Alcoholic Beverages and Spirits
  • Hot & Cold Soft Drinks
  • Snacks All Day

Onboard Facilities

  • Audio & Video Entertainment
  • Indoor Saloon
  • Bar
  • Non-Diver (Snorkeler) Friendly
  • Land Excursions

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Hondius Liveaboard Itineraries

Antarctica - Beyond the Polar Circle - Whale Watching - Aurora Australis / Southern Lights (11 nights) (Ushuaia (Argentina)-Ushuaia (Argentina))

11 nights nights, ±0 dives,
Ushuaia (Argentina)
Malvinas Argentinas Ushuaia International Airport (USH)
16:00-17:00
Ushuaia (Argentina)
Malvinas Argentinas Ushuaia International Airport (USH)
8:30-9:00
Requirements: Minimum 0 dives, No diver's certification required or equivalent

Included

  • 11 nights accommodation
  • Voyage aboard the indicated vessel as indicated in the itinerary
  • All meals throughout the voyage aboard the ship including snacks, coffee and tea
  • All shore excursions and activities throughout the voyage by Zodiac
  • Program of lectures by noted naturalists and leadership by experienced expedition staff
  • Free use of rubber boots and snowshoes.
  • Luggage transfer from pick-up point to the vessel on the day of embarkation, in Ushuaia
  • Pre-scheduled group transfer from the vessel to the airport in Ushuaia (directly after disembarkation)
  • All miscellaneous service taxes and port charges throughout the programme
  • Comprehensive pre-departure material
  • Free short-term DAN diving insurance (upon request)

Extra cost

  • International and domestic flights
  • Visa
  • Any airfare, whether on scheduled or charter flights
  • Pre- and post- land arrangements
  • Passport and visa expenses
  • Government arrival and departure taxes
  • Meals ashore
  • Baggage, cancellation and personal insurance (which is strongly recommended)
  • Excess baggage charges and all items of a personal nature such as laundry, bar, beverage charges and telecommunication charges
  • The customary gratuity at the end of the voyages for stewards and other service personnel aboard (guidelines will be provided)
  • Crew gratuities
  • Travel insurance

Program

Spectacular aurora australis (southern lights)
Two days on the Drake Passage
Humpback whales are prolific in this region
Leopard seals, crabeater seals, and whales are found here, and there are excellent opportunities for kayaking and diving

Day 1:
Onboarding, meeting the crew & briefing. Your voyage begins where the world drops off. Ushuaia, Argentina, reputed to be the southernmost city on the planet, is located on the far southern tip of South America. Starting in the afternoon, you embark from this small resort town on Tierra del Fuego, nicknamed “The End of the World,” and sail the mountain-fringed Beagle Channel for the remainder of the evening. 

Day 2-3:
Path of the polar explorers
Over the next two days on the Drake Passage, you enjoy some of the same experiences encountered by the great polar explorers who first charted these regions: cool salt breezes, rolling seas, maybe even a fin whale spouting up sea spray. After passing the Antarctic Convergence – Antarctica’s natural boundary, formed when north-flowing cold waters collide with warmer sub-Antarctic seas – you are in the circum-Antarctic upwelling zone. Not only does the marine life change, the avian life changes too. Wandering albatrosses, grey-headed albatrosses, black-browed albatrosses, light-mantled sooty albatrosses, cape pigeons, southern fulmars, Wilson’s storm petrels, blue petrels, and Antarctic petrels are a few of the birds you might see.

Day 4-9:
Sights of late summer Antarctica
Options for Antarctic Peninsula activities are many, and no less great during the late summer. Humpback whales are prolific in this region, gorging themselves on krill before their migration north. The penguin chicks are also fledging, stirring up activity on the beaches while sleek leopard seals lie in wait, poised to attack the less fortunate ones.
Sites for your Antarctic adventures may include: 
Livingston Island – Here you find a wide variety of gentoo and chinstrap penguins on Hannah Point, as well as southern giant petrels and elephant seals hauling out onto the beach. 
Deception Island – Actually a subducted crater, this island opens into the sea and creates a natural harbor for the ship. An abandoned whaling station, and multiple bird species – cape petrels, kelp gulls, brown and south polar skuas, and Antarctic terns – can be seen here. Wilson’s storm petrels and black-bellied storm petrels also nest in the ruins of the whaling station in Whalers Bay. 
Cuverville Island – A small precipitous island nestled between the mountains of the Antarctic Peninsula and Rongé Island, Cuverville houses a large colony of gentoo penguins and breeding pairs of brown skuas. 
Neko Harbour – An epic landscape of mammoth glaciers and endless wind-carved snow, Neko Harbour offers opportunities for a Zodiac cruise and landing that afford the closest views of the surrounding alpine peaks. You might also be able to set foot on the continent here. 
Paradise Bay – You could take a Zodiac cruise in these sprawling, ice-flecked waters, where you have a good chance of seeing humpback and minke whales. 
Pléneau & Petermann Islands – If the ice allows it, you may sail through the Lemaire Channel in search of Adélie penguins and blue-eyed shags. There’s also a good chance you’ll encounter humpback and minke whales as well as leopard seals. 
Crystal Sound – Your journey takes you south along the Argentine Islands to this ice-packed body of water, and from here across the Polar Circle in the morning. 
Detaille Island – You may make a landing at an abandoned British research station here, taking in the island’s lofty mountains and imposing glaciers. 
Fish Islands – Further north, you encounter one of the southernmost Adélie penguin and blue-eyed shag colonies in the Antarctic Peninsula. 
Melchior Islands – These islands offer a beautiful landscape rich with icebergs. Leopard seals, crabeater seals, and whales are found here, and there are excellent opportunities for kayaking and diving. 
Conditions on the Drake Passage determine the exact time of departure.

Day 10-11:
Familiar seas, familiar friends
Your return voyage is far from lonely. While crossing the Drake, you’re again greeted by the vast array of seabirds remembered from the passage south. But they seem a little more familiar to you now, and you to them.

Day 12:
Check-out from the yacht, group transfer to the airport.

 

Routes can be affected by adverse weather conditions and unforeseen events, force majeure or other similar reasons (You may find the detailed map by the link)

Antarctica - Whale Watching Discovery And Learning Voyage (10 nights) (Ushuaia (Argentina)-Ushuaia (Argentina))

10 nights nights, ±0 dives,
Ushuaia (Argentina)
Malvinas Argentinas Ushuaia International Airport (USH)
16:00-17:00
Ushuaia (Argentina)
Malvinas Argentinas Ushuaia International Airport (USH)
8:30-9:00
Requirements: Minimum 0 dives, No diver's certification required or equivalent

Included

  • 10 nights accommodation
  • Full board
  • Snacks, coffee, and tea
  • Shore excursions and activities throughout the voyage by Zodiac
  • Program of lectures by noted naturalists and leadership by experienced expedition staff
  • Free use of rubber boots and snowshoes
  • Luggage transfer from pick-up point to the vessel on the day of embarkation, in Ushuaia
  • Scheduled group transfer from the vessel to the airport in Ushuaia (directly after disembarkation)
  • All miscellaneous service taxes and port charges throughout the program
  • Comprehensive pre-departure material
  • Free short-term DAN diving insurance (upon request)

Extra cost

  • International and domestic flights
  • Visa
  • Pre- and post- land arrangements
  • Transfers to/from the vessel outside Spitsbergen
  • Meals ashore
  • Government arrival and departure taxes
  • Baggage, cancellation and personal insurance (which is mandatory)
  • Excess baggage charges and all items of a personal nature such as laundry, bar, beverage charges and telecommunication charges
  • Crew gratuities
  • Travel insurance

Program

Wandering albatrosses, cape pigeons, southern fulmars, Wilson’s storm petrels, blue petrels, and Antarctic petrels
Encounter humpback and minke whales
Opportunities also for kayaking and camping
Leopard seals, and crabeater seals

Day 1:
Starting in the afternoon, you embark from this small resort town on Tierra del Fuego, nicknamed “The End of the World,” and sail the mountain-fringed Beagle Channel for the remainder of the evening.

Day 2-3:
Over the next two days on the Drake Passage, you enjoy some of the same experiences encountered by the great polar explorers who first charted these regions: cool salt breezes, rolling seas, maybe even a fin whale spouting up sea spray. After passing the Antarctic Convergence - Antarctica’s natural boundary, formed when north-flowing cold waters collide with warmer sub-Antarctic seas - you are in the circum-Antarctic upwelling zone. Not only does the marine life change, the avian life changes too. Wandering albatrosses, grey-headed albatrosses, black-browed albatrosses, light-mantled sooty albatrosses, cape pigeons, southern fulmars, Wilson’s storm petrels, blue petrels, and Antarctic petrels are a few of the birds you might see.

Day 4-8:
Gray stone peaks sketched with snow, towers of broken blue-white ice, and dramatically different wildlife below and above. You first pass the snow-capped Melchior Islands and Schollaert Channel, sailing between Brabant and Anvers Islands.
Sites you may visit include: 
Danco Island - Activities here may focus on the gentoo penguins nesting on the island, in addition to the Weddell and crabeater seals that can be found nearby.
Neko Harbour - An epic landscape of mammoth glaciers and endless wind-carved snow, Neko Harbour offers opportunities for a Zodiac cruise and landing that afford the closest views of the surrounding alpine peaks.
Paradise Bay - You may be able to take a Zodiac cruise in these sprawling, ice-flecked waters, where there’s a good chance you’ll encounter humpback and minke whales.
Pléneau & Petermann Islands - If the ice allows it, you could sail through the Lemaire Channel in search of humpback and minke whales, as well as leopard seals.
Port Lockroy - After sailing through the Neumayer Channel, you may get a chance to visit the former British research station - now a museum and post office – of Port Lockroy on Goudier Island. You may also be able to partake in activities around Jougla Point, meeting gentoo penguins and blue-eyed shags.
At the nearby sites, such as Damoy Point there may be the opportunity for snowshoeing to the old ski-way, this is also one of our favourite camping sites.
Wilhelmina Bay & Guvernøren - This is a great place to spot humpback whales. You also may embark on a Zodiac cruise ending at the ghostly wreck of the Guvernøren, a whaling vessel that caught fire here in 1915. Around the Melchior Islands, amid a frozen landscape peopled with icebergs, you may encounter even more whales, leopard seals, and crabeater seals.
Charlotte Bay - We might encounter a variety of wildlife, including gentoo penguins, Weddell seals and possibly some migrating whale species such as humpback whales or minke whales.
Conditions on the Drake Passage determine the exact time of departure.

Day 9-10:
Your return voyage is far from lonely. While crossing the Drake, you’re again greeted by the vast array of seabirds remembered from the passage south. But they seem a little more familiar to you now, and you to them.

Day 11:
Check out from the yacht.

 

Routes can be affected by adverse weather conditions and unforeseen events, force majeure or other similar reasons (You may find a detailed map by the link)


Departure
  • Arrival at Ushuaia International Airport, Argentina.
  • Starting in the afternoon, you embark from this small resort town on Tierra del Fuego, nicknamed “The End of the World”
Return
  • Disembark in Ushuaia

Antarctica - Discovery and Learning Voyage (10 nights) (Ushuaia (Argentina)-Ushuaia (Argentina))

10 nights nights, ±0 dives,
Ushuaia (Argentina)
Malvinas Argentinas Ushuaia International Airport (USH)
16:00-17:00
Ushuaia (Argentina)
Malvinas Argentinas Ushuaia International Airport (USH)
8:30-9:00
Requirements: Minimum 0 dives, No diver's certification required or equivalent

Included

  • 10 nights accommodation
  • Full board
  • Snacks, coffee and tea
  • Shore excursions and activities throughout the voyage by Zodiac
  • Program of lectures by noted naturalists and leadership by experienced expedition staff
  • Free use of rubber boots and snowshoes
  • Luggage transfer from pick-up point to the vessel on the day of embarkation, in Ushuaia
  • Scheduled group transfer from the vessel to the airport in Ushuaia (directly after disembarkation)
  • All miscellaneous service taxes and port charges throughout the programme
  • Comprehensive pre-departure material
  • Free short-term DAN diving insurance (upon request)

Extra cost

  • International and domestic flights
  • Visa
  • Pre- and post- land arrangements
  • Transfers not stated in inclusions
  • Meals ashore
  • Government arrival and departure taxes
  • Baggage, cancellation and personal insurance
  • Excess baggage charges and all items of a personal nature such as laundry, bar, beverage charges and telecommunication charges
  • Crew gratuities
  • Travel insurance

Program

Wandering albatrosses, cape pigeons, southern fulmars, Wilson’s storm petrels, blue petrels, and Antarctic petrels
Humpback whales
Former British research station – now a museum and post office – of Port Lockroy on Goudier Island
Gentoo penguins

Day 1:
Onboarding, meeting the crew & briefing.

Day 2-3:
Over the next two days on the Drake Passage, you enjoy some of the same experiences encountered by the great polar explorers who first charted these regions: cool salt breezes, rolling seas, maybe even a fin whale spouting up sea spray. After passing the Antarctic Convergence – Antarctica’s natural boundary, formed when north-flowing cold waters collide with warmer sub-Antarctic seas – you are in the circum-Antarctic upwelling zone. Not only does the marine life change, the avian life changes too. Wandering albatrosses, grey-headed albatrosses, black-browed albatrosses, light-mantled sooty albatrosses, cape pigeons, southern fulmars, Wilson’s storm petrels, blue petrels, and Antarctic petrels are a few of the birds you might see.

Day 4-7:
Enter the Antarctic.
Gray stone peaks sketched with snow, towers of broken blue-white ice, and dramatically different wildlife below and above. You first pass the snow-capped Melchior Islands and Schollaert Channel, sailing between Brabant and Anvers Islands.
Sites you may visit include:
Danco Island – Activities here may focus on the gentoo penguins nesting on the island, in addition to the Weddell and crabeater seals that can be found nearby.
Neko Harbour – An epic landscape of mammoth glaciers and endless wind-carved snow, Neko Harbour offers opportunities for a Zodiac cruise and landing that afford the closest views of the surrounding alpine peaks.
Paradise Bay – You may be able to take a Zodiac cruise in these sprawling, ice-flecked waters, where there’s a good chance you’ll encounter humpback and minke whales.
Port Lockroy – After sailing through the Neumayer Channel, you may get a chance to visit the former British research station – now a museum and post office – of Port Lockroy on Goudier Island. You may also be able to partake in activities around Jougla Point, meeting gentoo penguins and blue-eyed shags. There are great opportunities also for kayaking and camping here, and when conditions are right, you can even snowshoe around the shore.

Day 8:
Scenes of South Shetland.
The volcanic islands of the South Shetlands are windswept and often cloaked in mist, but they do offer subtle pleasures: There’s a wide variety of flora (mosses, lichens, flowering grasses) and no small amount of fauna (gentoo penguins, chinstrap penguins, southern giant petrels). In Deception Island, the ship plunges through Neptune’s Bellows and into the flooded caldera. Here you find hot springs, an abandoned whaling station, and thousands of cape petrels – along with kelp gulls, brown and south polar skuas, and Antarctic terns. A good hike is a possibility in this fascinating and desolate volcanic landscape.
As an alternative, you may be able to engage in activities near Half Moon Island. Here chinstrap penguins and Weddell seals often haul out onto the beach near Cámara Base, an Argentine scientific research station. Conditions on the Drake Passage determine the exact time of departure.

Day 9-10:
Familiar seas, familiar friends.
Your return voyage is far from lonely. While crossing the Drake, you’re again greeted by the vast array of seabirds remembered from the passage south. But they seem a little more familiar to you now, and you to them.

Day 11:
Check-out from the yacht, group transfer to the airport.

 

Routes can be affected by adverse weather conditions and unforeseen events, force majeure or other similar reasons (You may find the detailed map by the link)