Kayaking in Antarctica

Kayaking in Antarctica is a very intimate experience with the Ocean and the sea life. You’ll be paddling in the ocean with the penguins, whales, seal and icebergs. You need to have had some kayaking experience and the pre-expedition instructions say that you must be able to do a wet exit. We had varying levels of experience in our group. On the Quark trip, the kayakers were the first off the ship and often the last to return. We generally paddled for 90 minutes and were on land for about 45-60 minutes. There were one and two-person kayaks. The two-person kayaks were very stable.

Book in Advance

Most ships have a limited number of kayaking spots available. These slots sell out quickly. If kayaking is a must-do for you, you’ll want to book 10-12 months in advance to guarantee your spot. There are some trips called base camp trips where there are more opportunities to Kayak. The base camp trips spend more time in an area and offer many more adventure opportunities.

The dry suit is in the middle. On the left side are only for people that are kayaking in Antarctica: life jacket, bootie and kayak skirt. On the right is for the zodiac cruising and landing: rubber boots and blue life harness. Everyone has a locker in the mudroom to store the gear.

Tips for Kayakers

1. Kayaking is expensive—it’s generally about $1,000 additional. It was worth it.
2. Quark provided dry suits, booties, life jackets, a dry bag and a skirt for the Kayak. You need to add several layers underneath the dry suit to stay warm. I usually had on three layers. Some of my fellow paddlers wore as many as six layers. Since you need to be able to move, a good base layer followed by thin layers works best.
3. Hands need to stay dry or you’ll not enjoy the paddle. I had neoprene gloves and the expedition leaders gave us dishwashing gloves to put on top. This combination worked very well.
4. Your feet will stay dry in the wet suit. You’ll have booties over the wet suit and these will get very wet. Make sure not to make a hole in your dry suit when you put it on and your feet will stay nice and dry. The booties were not so great on land—you will feel the rocks under your feet.
5. Many of my fellow paddler brought their DSL cameras on the kayak and there were no camera catastrophes. I brought a Lumix underwater camera because I did not want to worry about getting my camera wet. The downside was that I did not have my better camera for my pictures. Many people also brought GoPros.
6. We had seven kayak excursions. The expedition leaders told us that they try to guarantee 3-4. It was wonderful to have that much time on the water. Being on land offers a different kind of experience with the penguins and especially the chicks. Don’t be afraid to opt out of a kayaking session if you want to have some concentrated time on land.
7. For the first few paddles, it will take you a while to get on all of the gear. Make sure to leave enough time. If you are not ready on time, it will delay the off-boarding of the rest of the ship.
8. Have fun.

Kayaking is a very unique way to see the world. If kayaking in Antarctica seems too cold to you, why not try kayaking in South India on the Kerala Backwaters? Read this post from fellow travel blogger Travel Interesting.

For more on the experience of Kayaking in Antarctica, read In the Water with Penguins, Whales and Seals—Kayaking in the Antarctic