(Last update : end of December 2023)
This page includes also non-expedition voyages.
My Top 10
Antarctic Peninsula, Peter I Island, Ross Sea (aboard the icebreaker Kapitan Khlebnikov)
South Georgia, South Sandwich Islands & Weddell Sea (aboard the icebreaker Kapitan Khlebnikov)
Crozet, Kerguelen, St Paul & Amsterdam (TAAF) (aboard Marion Dufresne)
Iles Eparses (TAAF) (aboard Marion Dufresne)
Svalbard (aboard M/S Stockholm)
Geographic North Pole & Franz Josef Land (Russia) (aboard the nuclear icebreaker Yamal)
Tuamotu Islands & Marquesas Islands (aboard Aranui 3)
Ascension Island & St Helena (aboard RMS Helena, now retired from St Helena service)
French Polynesia, Pitcairn Archipelago & Easter Island (aboard The World)
Galapagos (aboard Darwin Explorer)
Antarctica, Sub-Antarctic Islands & Mid-Atlantic Islands
Sub-Antarctic Islands (Southern Ocean) & Mid-Atlantic Islands (March April 2015) (aboard M/V Ortelius)
Ushuaia (Argentina) - South Shetland Islands (King George Island) - South Orkneys Islands (Laurie Island) -
South Sandwich Islands (Southern Thule Island) - Bouvetøya (Bouvet Island) - Gough Island - Tristan da Cunha Archipelago -
St Helena Island - Ascension Island
Bouvetøya is the most remote island in the world and the most inaccessible one ... A thick icecap, which covers 90% of the island, forms vertiginous icy walls on the already steep rims of the island. The Ortelius circled it completely offering good views, but, due to the very strong winds, a zodiac landing was out of question, which is rather usual there(chances are 1 out of 10 to be successful ...). Tristan da Cunha is the most remote inhabited island in the world. Due to a pandemia, we were not allowed to disembark and saw the small hamlet of about 200 inhabitants only from the ship. We disembarked on a deserted island of the archipelago though ....
South Georgia, South Sandwich Islands & Weddell Sea (November December 2004) (aboard the icebreaker Kapitan Khlebnikov)
Falklands Islands (East Falkland Island) - Shag Rocks - Soutn Georgia -South Sandwich Islands (Southern Thule Island) -
Atka Bay & Neumayer - Larsen Iceshelf - chartered flight inland Antarctica to Aboa (mountains emerging from the icecap) -
Drescher Inlet - Halley Station - Brunt Iceshelf - Stancombe Wills - Snow Hill Island - Cockburn Island - Paulet Island -
Deception Island -Greenwich Island - Ushuaia (Argentina) (w/o landing at Shag Rock)
Some highlights of this voyage were three very 'firsts' : very first time that an expedition tourist ship reached so far South in the Weddell Sea ; very first time that Antactic tourists set foot on Halley Station (a British station on Brunt Iceshelf) ; very first time that people visited the huge Emperor Pinguins rookery of Snow Hill Island (this rookery wasn't discovered until an overflight in 1997, and wasn't visited until we, the staff and passengers of the Kapitan Khlebnikov, reached it, for the first time, in 2004).
Antarctic Peninsula, Peter I Island, Ross Sea & Campbell Island (January 2003) (aboard the icebreaker Kapitan Khlebnikov)
Ushuaia (Argentina)- Deception Island - Gerlache Strait - Port Lockroy - Palmer Station - Torgerson Island - Lemaire Passage -
Rothera Station - Peter I Island - Bellinghausen Sea - Amundsen Sea - Ross Sea - Ross Iceshelf - Cape Royds (Shackleton's Nimrud Hut) -
Cape Evans (Scott's Terra Nova hut - Dry Valleys (Taylor Valley) - Canada Glacier - Drygalski Ice Tongue - Cape Hallett -
Campbell Island - Lyttelton (New Zealand)
One of the highlights of this voyage was desembarking on Peter I Island, one of the most remote islands in the world whose approach is close to impossible and therefore very seldom visited (I was lucky !)
TAAF (Terres Australes & Antarctiques Françaises) (Kerguelen & others) (October December 2003) (aboard Marion Dufresne)
Ile de la Réunion - Crozet Archipelago (Ile de la Possession) - Kerguelen (trek in this large island) - Ile St Paul -
Ile d'Amsterdam - Mauritius - Ile de la Réunion
This voyage was aboard the Marion Dufresne, a research and supply vessel having two main missions: logistics (4 times every year) for the French Austral Islands and oceanographic research. The Ile St Paul is an extinct volcano and is astonishing for its wildlife (large rockhopper penguins colony) ; we disembarked there and went up the rim of the crater (it is now forbidden to disembark on this island which has been declared a "Réserve Naturelle Intégrale" in 2006)
Arctic
Jan Mayen & Svalbard (April / May 2023) via Shetlands et Faroe (aboard M/V Ocean Adventurer)
Aberdeen - Fair Isle - Faroe (Torshavn, Funningur ...) - Jan Mayen - Isbukta (Sørkapp Land) - Hornsund - Julibrenn - Ny London - Smeeren Bay - Bellsund Fjord - Longyearbyen
Svalbard (July 2016) (aboard M/S Stockholm)
Longyearbyen - Pyramiden - Barentsburg - Prins Karls Forland Island (Cape Poole Pynten) - Magdalenefjorden -
Danskøya (Virgohamna site) - Amsterdamøya (Smeerenburg site) - Alkefjellet cliff - Wahlbergøya -Kvitøya (Andreenset site) -
Icepack (polar bears) - Karl XII øya - Nordaustlandet (Kapp Brunn, Prins Oscars Land) - Chermsideøya -
Friesland (Mossellaguna sites : Nordensköld's hut & Polheim hut, lake Femmilsjøen) - Ny-Ålesund -
Ossian-Sars-Fjellet - Longyearbyen (øya = island)
Greenland & Canadian Arctic (Baffin Island, North of Quebec Province, Hudson Bay) (July August 2014) (aboard the Sea Explorer)
Kangerslussuaq - Sisimiut - Disko Bay (Ilulissat) - Davis Strait - Monumental Island - Akpatok Island -
Baffin Island (Kimmirut, Cape Dorset) - Mallikjuaq Island - Eric Cove (Wolstenholme Post site in North of Quebec Province) -
Digges Island - Cape Wolstenholme - Walrus Island - Marble Island - Morse Island - Churchill (Manitoba)
Chukotka, Bering Strait & Wrangel Island (July 2005) (aboard the icebreaker Kapitan Khlebnikov)
Anadyr (Chukotka)- Novoye Chaplino - Providenya - Yttigran Island (Whalebone Alley site) - Yanrakynnot - Kolyuchin Island -
Wrangel Island (Cape Uering …) - Uelen - Cape Dezhnyov (easternmost point of Asia, Naukan ruins) -
Inland Chukotka (Chukchi people) - Gilmymyl Bay - Anadyr (Chukotka)
Northwest Passage (Bering Strait, Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut) (July August 2005) (aboard the icebreaker Kapitan Khlebnikov)
Anadyr (Chukotka) - Beaufort Sea - Herschel Island - Victoria Island (Holman, Johansen Bay, Cambridge Bay) - Victoria Strait -
Bellot Strait - Devon Island (Blanley Bay, Radstock Bay) - Beechey Island (tombs & memorials) - Resolute (Cornwallis Island)
Up to end of 2019, complete transits of the Northwest Passage have been made by 239 different vessels (several with changed names). We were the 101th one !
Geographic North Pole & Franz Josef Land (Russia) (July 2004) (aboard the nuclear icebreaker Yamal)
Murmansk - across icepack - North Pole - Jackson Island (Cape Norvegia) - Payer Island - Champ Island (Cap Fiume) -
Alger Island - Hooker Island - Rubini Rock - Murmansk
Canadian Arctic & North Greenland (August 2003) (aboard the icebreaker Kapitan Khlebnikov)
Resolute (Cornwallis Island) - Devon Island (Dundas Harbour - Qanaaq in North Greenland (Knud Rasmussen's hut) -
Arctic Ocean (Lincoln Sea) - Ellesmere Island (Dobbin Bay) - Pim Island (Starvation Camp) - Ellesmere Island (Buchanan Bay) -
Etah in North Greenland ('Paradise Valley') - Coburg Island - Beechey Island - Resolute (Cornwallis Island)
Others
Tierra de Fuego & Cape Horn (January 2023) (aboard the Stella Australis)
Ushuaia - Cabo de Hornos (Cape Horn) - Isla Navarino - Pia & Porter Glaciers - Fjord Agostini - Aguila & Condor Glaciers - Isla Magdalena - Punta Arenas - Ainsworth Bay - Isletos Tuckers - Avenida de los Glaciares - Cape Horn again - Wulaia - Ushuaia
Chagos Archipelago in Indian Ocean (BIOT, British Indian Ocean Territory) (February 2019) (aboard the sailboat Antsiva)
Mahé (Seychelles) - Chagos Archipelago (Peros Banhos Atoll) - Gan (Addu Atoll, The Maldives)
Access to the whole Chagos Archipelago is normally forbidden but disembarcation at Peros Banhos was completed ! .
Clipperton Island & Revillagigedo Islands (January 2017) (aboard the Nautilus Explorer)
San José del Cabo (Baja California, Mexico) - Isla San Benedicto - Clipperton (remote uninhabited French territory in the Pacific Ocean) -
Roca Partida - Socorro - San José del Cabo (Baja California) (w/o landing in Revillagigedo Islands - forbidden!)
The Maldives (March 2016) (aboard a local 'dhoni')
Male - Thilafushi Island - Viligili Island - Hulhumale Island - Bodu Bandos Island - Himmafushi Island - Dhiffushi Island -
Asdu Island - Thulusdhoo Island - Huraa Island - Ihuru Island - Vabbinfaru Island- Male
Chilean Fjords (January 2015) (aboard a Navimag Ferry)
Puerto Montt - Golfo de Penas - Angostura Inglesa - Puerto Eden - Puerto Natales
TAAF (Terres Australes & Antarctiques Françaises) (Iles Eparses) (April May 2009) (aboard Marion Dufresne)
Ile de la Réunion - Europa - Juan de Nova - Mayotte - Glorieuse - Tromelin -Ile de la Réunion
The 'Iles Eparses', whose name can be translated as 'Scatterred Islands', are small uninhabited islands, comprising Europa, Juan de Nova, Glorieuse & Tromelin, lying between Madagascar & Africa, and north & northeast of Madagascar.
They are extremely seldom visited and quite difficult to reach due mainly to regulations ; before 2009, access was limited to the French army, but, in 2009, the Marion Dufresne performed for the first time an exceptional mission (collecting waste) and brought there a handful of passengers ; now, about every two years, the Marion Dufresne performs a supply mission there).
French Polynesia, Pitcairn Archipelago & Easter Island (November December 2006) (aboard The World)
Papeete - Pitcairn Island - Henderson Island - Ducie Island - Easter Island
A 'luxurious' voyage aboard the World, which is a quite unordinary ship : the largest private residential ship (studios, up to 3 bedrooms flats .. for about 150 passengers) which continuously circumnavigates the globe ... I rent a studio for a leg of her itinerary which allowed me to visit Pitcairn (all around by foot) and two of Pitcairn 3 uninhabited dependencies : Henderson & Ducie.
Tuamotu Islands & Marquesas Islands (June July 2006) (aboard Aranui 3)
Papeete - Fakarawa (atoll in Tuamotu Archipelago) - Ua Pou - Nuku Hiva - Hiva Oa - Fatu Hiva - Tahuata - Ua Huka -
Ua Huka - Rangiroa (atoll in Tuamotu Archipelago) - Papeete
Aranui is a mixed passenger cargo ship operating as a supply ship for the Marquesas Island.
Ascension Island & St Helena (November 2005) (aboard RMS Helena)
Tenerife (Islas Canarias) - Ascension Island - St Helena Island (one week there)- Walvis Bay (Namibia)
This voyage was aboard tne RMS Helena, which, at that time was the last working Royal Mail Ship in the world ; this ship was retired from service to St Helena in 2018 when the new St Helena Airport was opened. It was a wonderful experience.
Galapagos (April 2003) (aboard Darwin Explorer)
Baltra - Santa Cruz - Santa Fé - Española - Floreana - Isabela - Rabida - Santiago - Bartolome - Seymour - Baltra
Down the Sepik River (August 1982) on a dugout canoe, stopping at traditional villages on the way
Ambunti - Pagwi - Korogo - Yoguna - Timbuke - Angoram
Down the Panhandle in Alaska (June 1974) (aboard ferry)
Haines - Wrangell - Ketchikan - Prince Rupert
Greek Islands (August 1965) (aboard the cruise ship Romantica)
Athens - Rhodes - Bodrum - Kos - Patmos - Delos - Mykonos - Crete - Santorin - Athens