For our dive and photography expeditions to Antarctica we have chartered ice-strengthened polar vessels well suited to our purpose. Our mission is the exploration of Antarctica’s underwater environment, a truly unique experience for the advanced diver. You will see amazing ice formations and marine life seemingly from another planet, such as the Giant Isopods and salps. Seals race fearlessly by, graceful in a way not possible above the surface. Sunlight from above creates a stunning, ever-changing spectrum of color among the diverse benthos. Take your time to explore an environment few diver have ever experienced: the kelp walls, sea snails, crabs, sea butterflies, Shrubby horsetails, jellyfish, squid, Sea hedgehogs, starfish, krill and various Antarctic fish.
The waters of the Southern Ocean also support an economically important world fishery of fin fish, squid and krill, and the waters of the Southern Ocean affect all other world oceans. The beautiful surroundings of the Antarctic Peninsula is a paradise for all, divers, adventurers, naturalists and photographers with its amazing array of colours and moods and diverse wildlife.

In 2010, the heroic spirit of Sir E. Shackleton lives on through a new team of explorers: To follow his footsteps, not for the glory of being the first to cross the Antarctic or the first to climb the highest mountain but to produce a momentous documentation of one of the most beautiful places on Earth. This production will serve as a gift for future generations with an imaging epic that guarantees to inspire, invigorate and challenge for preservation of planet earth. Elysium is a project that draws upon the world’s finest nature artists and scientists to document the vista, flora and fauna of the Antarctica Peninsula and South Georgia. The area is regarded as one of the most enchanting wilderness regions of our planet, yet volatile and under severe threat from the warming of the world’s climate. The production promises the most awesome and most stunning audio visual interpretation ever seen of Antarctica.

To achieve the desired outcome, some of the most world’s most celebrated explorers have been selected for the principal team which includes David Doubilet, Jennifer Hayes, Wyland, Amos Nachoum, Heather Angel, Leandro Blanco, Jonathan Shackleton, Göran Ehlmé, Paul Nicklen, Michael AW and Jamie Watts.

Sailing in comfort aboard the comfortable and well-appointed Akademik Ioffe, we begin this 10 night expedition at the tip of South America. We chart a course through the Drake Passage and make visits along the way through the South Shetland Islands. When we arrive at the Antarctic Peninsula, be prepared to be dazzled. Even our experienced crew members many of whom have visited the southern region a hundred times or more are still astonished by its pristine beauty. The abundance of wildlife here is truly extraordinary including five seal species, massive penguin rookeries of gentoo, Adélies and chinstraps as well as a profusion of seabirds from albatross to skuas. It is nature you will experience up close and personal on frequent excursions inland.
Our journey will take us to Petermann Island or Wilhelmina Bay where we encounter colossal icebergs and, of course, the ice landscapes that stretch as far as the eye can see. Hardy adventurers or those with a yen for history have the chance to camp out on the ice overnight and feel the thrill and audacity of early explorers who attempted to conquer this continent.