Dive & Snorkel Antarctica

07/12/2024

Diving Antarctica is special. You go from a monochrome world into a colorful one underwater. What do we see? Icebergs, anemones, sea stars, seals, penguins, shipwrecks and whale bones. Walls and so much more.

03/12/2024

Today I feel like I’m on top of the world, yet ironically I’m at the bottom of it. I met the Emperor and it was everything and more than what I imagined. We set off Monday morning from our expedition ship MV Ortelius in helicopters over the Weddell Sea. We flew, over giant tabular icebergs frozen into the fast ice (seasonal ice attached to land) and landed on the ice at Snow Hill Island. We walked about 10 minutes over the snow and ice to a colony of Emperor penguins and their very photogenic chicks. There were tears of joy from me and my group because it was overwhelming and completely emotional experience that’s difficult to describe. We will likely be the first people these penguins meet. They didn’t seem bothered by and if anything were very curious. We constantly found ourselves backing away or having tall 3-foot tall Emperor penguins sneak up behind us to investigate. They’d toboggan by us on the ice and the chicks would call out to their parents brining back food from 20 miles away. The chicks can’t help but make you smile as they fall down, flap their wings and churp for parents. We flew away and landed on the ship that was stopped in the ice. That afternoon we walked down the gangway and walked out on the ice again. More curioius Emperors coming back from feeding curiously approached. We stayed up until the sun went down watching these tenacious penguins walk across the sea ice in the firey orange sunset. It was a dream come true just to spend one day with the colony. Sometimes making it here has less than a 50% success rate so you have to be flexible. I only wished for one day and then Sara and the OceanWide team surpassed that dream and we got a second day with the colony since we had such incredible weather conditions. We flew out again on Tuesday to a different group and spent another day observing and photographing the penguins. It was nice to get different lighting conditions and just be there. It truly felt Antarctic even though I’ve been here eight times. This was the most adventurous and incredible Antarctica trip I’ve experienced. I feel overstimulated and elated with happiness. Expedition Emperor is an incredible success! I hope you enjoy a few images with more to come!

A massive thank you to my incredible group that joined me here on this memorable adventure. A big thank you to mother nature and the universe for delivering us such great conditions and the chance to spend time with the biggest penguin on the planet. I will be back.

25/10/2024

What's your favorite penguin? King, Gentoo, Rockhopper, Chinstrap, Adelie, Emperor or ?

17/09/2024

Diving an Iceberg is one of the most unique kinds of scuba diving! Descending into the blue, clear and icy waters seems scary at first but seeing the white wall of ice that sparkles like diamonds and shimmers in the light is very surreal. Sometimes the ice is translucent and we see glacial till or rock embedded inside it sometimes. Ice is dynamic and always changing so you can't dive the same iceberg twice. We see small bubbles fizzing from them and they can flip and pieces can break off creating a whole different look. You'll notice some of the icebergs in the video have huge ripples and others look like golf ball divots and there can be arches, holes and cracks. You may even have a curious leopard seal show up and check you out! I always look forward to diving icebergs and even though it water color looks tropical blue its a balmy 29f to 32f degrees. Enjoy the sounds of our breathing and relax in the icy depths. If you'd like to join us on an Antarctica trip someday we go every year and it's one of the most amazing experiences!

This is a mix of icebergs from the past 4 Antarctica trips I've been on. Sorry it took so long to edit and please share with anyone from our Feb & March 2023 trip and Jan & Feb 2024 trips! Faith Ortins Kitrina Godding Rick Witter Lee Rosenberg Laurie Thompson Richard Kelch Rachel Voeltzel Trisha Stovel John Humphreys Mike Will Carol Strachan Marc Steurer

Diving an Iceberg is one of the most unique kinds of scuba diving! Descending into the blue, clear and icy waters seems scary at first but seeing the white w...

01/09/2024

NEW VIDEO: This was an exploratory dive near Vega in Antarctica. This part of the Weddell Sea hasn't seen many divers. We found a sloping bottom with no idea what to expect. The water was very clear, 30f degrees and there were icebergs in the area . At first the bottom looked muddy and absent of life. As we descended slowly done the slope we saw big gouges in the bottom from grounded icebergs at one time. There were so many Giant Isopods and Nematine, or giant sea worm that can grow to several metres long. These were all over the bottom along with seas stars and some other life. These Giant Isopods and sea worms are a good example of “polar gigantism”. This happens because the near-freezing waters hold more dissolved oxygen when compared to warmer waters, allowing organisms to grow to larger sizes. This is probably my favorite dive I've ever done in Antarctica out of the 56 dives i've currently done there. I really enjoyed seeing these Giant Isopods so active and what I thought was a muck bottom had so much life. Antarctica is a pretty incredible place with many diverse environments from walls to icebergs, rocky areas and muck bottoms. Enjoy the video, it's pretty raw video but I liked that! This was shot in February 2023.

Faith Ortins Rick Witter Kitrina Godding Oceanwide Expeditions Amy Moran Carol Strachan

This was an exploratory dive near Vega in Antarctica. This part of the Weddell Sea hasn't seen many divers. We found a sloping bottom with no idea what to expect.…

31/08/2024

Determination....

19/08/2024

Hi, I wanted to welcome all of our new members! Thanks for following our page on diving and snorkeling Antarctica! We hope this will be a place you can meet other adventurous people, ask questions about how to dive or snorkel in Antarctica and more! Welcome and feel free to make posts!

Until then enjoy some photos from our past dives and snorkeling fun in Antarctica!

16/08/2024

We could hear the sounds Belugas were making even when we weren't underwater. We'd submerge our faces into the cold water they'd appear around us. It was exciting to hear them before seeing them. I hope you watch the video I posted yesterday. There's nothing like hearing the incredible sounds they produce and seeing their curiosity. This is one of the last images I took capturing our two worlds colliding.

Joan Kagan Sara Jenner Rick Witter Eli Martinez
Fourth Element Nikon

15/08/2024

Have you ever wondered what it's like to come face to face with a Beluga Whale? The water may have been murky and challenging with haloclines creating a blur at times but being able to hear the pod coming before I could see them was exhilarating. They'd come right up to investigate us and their curiosity is beyond words. These are intelligent animals that are social and extremely vocal. Make sure your sound is on to hear the sounds they make.

Adult Belugas are white but they're born gray. Some of the females would bring their calves around to us over and over again. A few decided to put their melon head up against the camera and others zipped by and playfully opened their mouths.

I was amazed when they'd swim by and turn their heads to look us right in the eye. We were surrounded by dozens of belugas at times and they seemed just as interested in us as we are in them. I hope you enjoy the video. Make sure your sound is on!

Rick Witter Joan Kagan Sara Jenner Eli Martinez
Seiko Luxe USA SANTI Diving Aquatica Digital

Beluga Whales are some of the most vocal animals in the oceans which is why they are known as Canaries of the Sea. Make sure you have the sound on while you watch…

14/08/2024

There are those who Dream of Exploration
There are those who Explore the Dream

Photo
Becky Kagan Schott- Underwater Photographer

06/08/2024

What an indescribable day with Beluga Whales. We had so many playful and curious juveniles that were so fascinated with the camera and the zodiac. This one gave me some lip! I can't really describe how it feels to see Belugas face to face. They might be one of my favorite marine mammals now. The way they move, the way a calf holds onto its mother and their curiosity is very special.

Rick Witter
Sara Jenner
Eli Martinez

31/07/2024

We have a few spaces left for our November 19-30th Antarctica Adventure to Snow Hill. This trip includes helicopters out to Snow Hill where we'll be searching for Emperor Penguins and their photogenic chicks! This isn't offered on any other trips we do so it's very special and has to be done in November! We'll travel into the Weddell sea past amazing icebergs and other wildlife including whales, seals and a large variety of seabirds and other penguin species. Emperor Penguins are the largest species of penguin and this colony is the furtherest north to find them. Join me on this really exciting and memorable Antarctica trip. For more info and pricing email me [email protected]

Photo by Sara Jenner our Expedition Leader.

13/07/2024

A few Arctic spots still open for 2025! The curious walrus are waiting!
Email me for details [email protected]

Welcome to the world of the Walrus. They are found across the Arctic and in the summer time colonies of them lounge on rocky beaches. They are extremely soci...

10/07/2024

It's about 90f degrees today and I'm thinking about the cool iceberg dives we did back in February in Antarctica. I was diving with Lee Rosenberg on his first iceberg and decided to make that 29f degree water feel a little more "tropical" by pulling out a lei. He wore it well don't you think? There's not fun in cold water diving! WHAT! That's not true!

16/04/2024

Antarctica and South Georgia are beyond amazing to see with your own eyes.

06/04/2024

Did you know penguin dads are some of the most devoted dads in the Animal kingdom. Females will lay eggs then go out to sea to hunt. Female penguins like to choose chubbier mates so they have more incubating area. These are King Penguins and they do not build nests, instead they stand upright and incubate a single egg on the tops of their feet. A loose abdominal fold can cover the egg to keep it warm. In these photos behind the cute fluffy chick you can see an egg being tended. Penguins are amazing birds.

29/03/2024

Dive gear set up for Dive & Snorkel Antarctica You must be scuba certified, drysuit certified and have over 30 drysuit dives to dive on a trip. This is the rule and also it's to set you up for success in having the best trip possible! You have to own your own drysuit and dive gear. The ship will provide the tanks and weights. This is the set up we use. We can help you with this! If you're a diver but don't own a drysuit or can't get the time dives in then we do offer snorkeling. We will also provide the drysuit and undergarments for you as part of the trip! No experience is needed. I've gotten some of my best experiences in the snorkel zone with seals, penguins and playing around icebergs. Contact us for more info and check out the video below. (Becky)

Polar diving gear configuration for Antarctica and Arctic scuba diving Using a H Valve thats DIN on a single steel tank you want your regulators set up as be...