Latest Posts

In her new book A History of Polar Exploration in 50 Objects: From Cook’s Circumnavigations to the Aviation Age, polar historian Anne Strathie weaves the story of exploration in both the Antarctic and Arctic through a series of objects that often have surprising interconnections.  For Swoop, she has picked five of her favourites that help […]

Planning a trip to Antarctica? You’ve made the right decision. We firmly believe there’s nowhere quite like it on the planet for wild vistas and spellbinding wildlife encounters.  But before you travel to the Antarctic on an expedition cruise, there are some things you need to know to help you prepare to book and to […]

Very few people get to go scuba diving in Antarctica. The extreme cold water conditions mean that it’s a location reserved for experienced divers, but for those who are able to meet the challenge, it can be like no diving location on earth.  For some divers however, the idea of diving in Antarctica isn’t enough. […]

If you take an ice cube out of your freezer, you’ll see that it’s full of tiny bubbles: microscopic pockets of air that were trapped in the water the last time you refilled the ice cube tray, a week or a few months ago. Pluck a piece of floating glacial ice out of the water […]

Islands are nature’s laboratories. Their small self-contained ecosystems can allow animals and plants to flourish that wouldn’t be possible elsewhere. But their size means that those ecosystems can be fragile when exposed to outside influence. Within 60 years of the first sailors landing on the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius, the flightless dodo had been […]

The Subantarctic island of South Georgia is a marvel of the natural world. It’s a hundred mile long mountain range that erupts out of the Southern Ocean, with more marine wildlife than anywhere else on the planet. Penguins and fur seals here are counted by the million. It’s a scene that’s all the more extraordinary […]

Antarctica is one of the greatest whale watching destinations on the planet. There are few feelings quite so ecstatic as the joyful surprise when a humpback whale silently surfaces near your zodiac, and then fills the air with a krill-flavoured mist as it explosively exhales through its blowhole.  Their recovery after years of exploitation is […]

I don’t remember a time when I didn’t have my own phone. I’m part of Generation Z, so phones have always been as essential as breathing: endlessly scrolling or capturing content to put on my social media. My phone is glued to my hand most of the day. It’s my connection to the world – […]

Ask anyone to name an Antarctic bird and nine times out of ten they’ll answer ‘penguin’. It’s hardly a surprise really: few birds have better PR than penguins, and you’d have to have a heart of stone to be immune to their charms. So when I travelled south to the ice it was impossible not […]

Antarctica is one of the most exciting adventure travel destinations on the planet, but many expedition cruises ramp up the wildlife it’s possible to see by including a visit to South Georgia as well. This 100 mile (160 km) long island is a two day sail from anywhere, but is home to the greatest concentration […]

When choosing an Antarctic expedition cruise, people often concentrate on the ship and its amenities alongside the itinerary, but there is one element that’s all too often overlooked but that we believe, can transform a simple voyage into something truly extraordinary – the guiding team.  Expedition Guides bring an amazing wealth of polar experience to […]

At Swoop, we firmly believe that tourism can have a positive impact on both people and the planet, and that protecting the destinations we travel to should be at the heart of everything we do. As well as being a registered B Corp, we’re proud to be associate members of the International Association of Antarctic […]

Antarctica is known for its raw and wild landscape, and has long been associated with adventure and exploration. While this might paint a picture in travellers’ minds that Antarctic cruises are pretty basic or simple affairs, nowadays it’s quite the opposite.  Now, cruises to Antarctica offer a comfortable and refined experience, with many vessels providing […]

Two and a half years ago, the world marvelled at the news of the discovery of the wreck of the Endurance, the ship that was centre stage for the explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton’s greatest Antarctic triumph and tragedy. Organised and funded by the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust, the Endurance22 expedition found the ship more than […]

Sit someone down and ask them to make a list of Antarctic explorers, and most people would probably start to falter after the big three of Ernest Shackleton, Roald Amundsen and Robert Falcon Scott. Americans might throw in Admiral Robert Byrd, the first man to fly to the South Pole, while Australians will surely add […]

If you were looking down from space, it would appear that every winter the Antarctic continent more than doubles in size. That’s because the ocean around it freezes over creating a vast curtain of sea ice. It’s one of the planet’s most extraordinary seasonal cycles and it plays an important but little understood role in […]

Antarctica is a truly fascinating destination, but many people picking an expedition cruise choose to extend their time at sea by adding in the Subantarctic island of South Georgia, famed for its immense colonies of king penguins. These trips also have the advantage of spending time at the Falkland Islands, another great haven for wildlife […]

Antarctica and its Subantarctic islands are home to some of the world’s greatest wildlife watching experiences. The chance to see penguins in their natural habitat is a huge draw, but there’s another sight that is just as iconic when it comes to images of polar wildlife: a seal hauled up on an ice floe. Watching […]

Formed by an active volcano, the desolate landscapes of Deception Island in Antarctica is one of the most intriguing destinations in the Seventh Continent. Its barren environment is filled with ash-covered glaciers, volcanic beaches and slopes, and an enormous natural harbour guarded by narrow cliffs, as well as a rich human history.  One of the […]

Thousands of travellers visit Antarctica every year, sailing on the 70 or so vessels that make up the polar fleet. These come in a variety of shapes and sizes, from tiny yachts and expedition cruise ships that carry a hundred or so passengers, all the way up to larger ships that aren’t allowed to land […]