Tourism started in Antarctica by the sea in the 1960s. Air overflights started in the 1970s with sightseeing flights by airliners from Australia and New Zealand, and were resumed in the 1990s. The (summer) tour season lasts from November to March. Most of the estimated 14,762 visitors to Antarctica from 1999–2000 were on sea cruises. During the 2009 to 2010 tourist season, over 37,000 people visited Antarctica.
10 things not to miss.
- Penguins
- Antarctica
- South PoleOne of the mythic landmarks of human exploration, the South Pole is now reachable by commercial tours—but it’s still extreme.
- Blood FallsIron oxide turns this outflow of the Taylor Glacier in the McMurdo Dry Valleys into a gore-colored cascade.
- Vinson MassifIf you’re an adventurous mountaineer, it’s hard to resist the clarion call of the Ice Continent’s 16,050-foot high point.
- Half Moon IslandThis popular cruise stop in the South Shetland Islands gives you up-close looks at seabirds, chinstrap penguins, and seals.
- Lemaire ChannelEnclosed by dark, snow-streaked cliffs and surfed by icebergs, this Antarctic Peninsula strait is breathtaking.
- Cierva CoveZodiac cruises through this icy inlet often yield sightings of Antarctic pinnipeds, including the formidable, penguin-gulping leopard seal.
- Cape RoydsThis Ross Sea headland includes a wooden shack built by British explorer Ernest Shackleton during his Nimrod Expedition to Antarctica (1907-1909).
- McMurdo StationThis famous U.S.-run research outpost, Antarctica’s biggest, lies on Ross Island, dominated by the great volcano Mount Erebus.
