Inside Australis Cruises' Patagonia Expedition, Which Reaches the Wildest Stretches of the World

The Zodiac bucks across the water, rubber hull slapping hard as I grip a rope to steady myself. The passengers around me do the same—laughing, bracing, hoping not to be jettisoned into the icy waters below. As the pace slows and wind dies down, a collective gasp spills out from our dropped jaws. Ahead, an island comes into focus covered in reeds and dozens of tuxedoed penguins scrambling along the jagged cliffs before slipping into the churning break below.

We've just arrived at Tuckers Islets—a series of micro islands located in the Magellan Straits, home to Magellanic penguins. It's one of the signature stops on an Australis Cruise. It might sound like an unorthodox pitstop, considering most popular cruises tend to deliver their guests to more tropical locales for a day in the sun, or unleash them in eager hordes upon port towns. But this is a different side of cruise travel. It’s one for the adventure-minded, and it's rapidly growing in popularity. 

In fact, according to the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), expedition and exploration cruises are the single fastest-growing segment of the entire cruise industry, and are up a staggering 71 percent since 2019. In 2024 alone, a record 34.6 million people took ocean-going cruises globally, and the adventure end of that market seems to be where the real momentum is.

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Australis has been ahead of the curve, helping eager passengers explore some of the world's most remote corners since its first voyage took off in 1990. The Chilean expedition cruise company has built a reputation for its low-impact approach to navigating travelers through the waterways of southern Patagonia, and remains the only cruise company in the world authorized to land passengers at Cape Horn. Beyond bringing guests to the tip of the world, Australis’ itineraries slip into fjords and bays otherwise inaccessible, from the sheer ice wall of Pia Glacier to the forests of Wulaia Bay, once home to one of the largest Yámana indigenous settlements. (Charles Darwin even paid a visit.) 

Its two vessels—the Stella Australis and the newer Ventus Australis, which launched in 2018— each carry a maximum of around 200 passengers through the Strait of Magellan and the Beagle Channel on four- or eight-night itineraries operating from September through April. For context, the average capacity of a cruise ship is around 3,000.

Size Matters, but Age Doesn’t

Size, in the case of adventure cruising, is a winning feature rather than a limitation. The ships Australis operates are compact, with shallow drafts designed specifically to slip through tidal fjords and remote channels where larger vessels can’t go. 

The Zodiac boats we hopped on to reach destinations like the Tucker Islets extend that reach farther, only able to ferry small groups off the ship and right up to shorelines, glaciers, and islands that would otherwise be completely inaccessible. It was thanks to a Zodiac boat that my fellow passengers and I were also able to visit far flung places like Ainsworth Bay, where we hiked through a sub-Antarctic Magellanic forest, plucking and eating pink calafate berries from low lying thorny bushes as we made our way up the moraine by way of paths carved by glacial runoff. Eventually, our group of 20 reached a stunning viewpoint of bright blue water that surrounded us. 

That’s another win for passengers on a smaller ship size: less crowding makes each activity feel more personal, like you’re part of a group trip with new friends, especially considering most of the activities are split based on activity level. 

In the case of Ainsworth Bay, for example, we all gathered the night before for a presentation and lecture on what to expect from our upcoming excursion, as well as historical and scientific information on the area. The next morning split the cruise into two, allowing us to choose between a gentler trek through the forest along the water and a more rigorous moraine hike. Those groups were splintered further by language. It’s for that exact reason that almost every guide on an Australis cruise is able to speak at least three languages, according to Angeles Rodriguez, an onboard expedition guide and a biologist.

“What distinguishes Australis is that it is a very, very good school,” Rodriguez explains. “Most of my colleagues have studied translation, so they all have a strong basis in languages. They’re able to go deeper with guests to share particular knowledge. Before the beginning of every cruise season, the guides also get multiple weeks scheduled to learn from specialists in Punta Arenas, who are doing research on the glaciers, wildlife, and local anthropology.”

Splitting the cruise up this way didn’t just make it more manageable for expedition guides—it also allowed for passengers to enjoy the trip to a level they personally felt comfortable with. The most demanding moments of any given day, for those who want them, are optional. For those who don't want to or aren’t able to partake, there's always the picture window in the cabin, the lounges, and the unobstructed view of a glacier they've never seen before and will probably never see again. There’s also the open bar. 

It makes sense that Australis, and many adventure cruise operators, would make accessibility a core part of their programming, with the average age of cruise passengers hovering around 42 to 55 years old as of most recent data. That’s down from an average age of over 60 years old in previous years. 

Adventure Is Out There

Adventure travel has long been marketed as a young person's domain, with strenuous activities like backpacking journeys and off-the-grid hiking and camping dominating the conversation. The growing market of adventure-focused cruise culture is showing that there’s another part of that picture people hadn’t previously seen. 

“We're having much more young passengers lately, and even for those older than, say, 65, I think the experience is very different from your typical cruise because it's more immersive. You're walking through the forest, learning about it, and that gives you the sensation you really get to know this place. It's a part of you now,” says Rodriguez. 

Many of the best, most adventurous-feeling parts of the cruise with Australis had nothing to do with rigorous physical activity, or much physical activity at all. 

On day three, we found ourselves sailing along the northwest arm of the Beagle Channel and navigating through what is commonly referred to as Glacier Alley—a 100-mile-long passage lined with blue ice glaciers descending from the Darwin Mountain Range. 

An announcement on the loud speakers called us to gather in the Darwin Lounge for a celebration, and as I made my way upstairs the mood was high. Passengers had finally gotten their sea legs, and were happily grabbing glasses of Champagne as servers made their rounds with full trays. French music, then Italian music, then German music played in the background as we passed glaciers named after European countries.

The scene outside our windows, or right in front of our eyes from outside on the deck, was otherworldly: rugged peaks, waterfalls cascading down in ribbons, and bright blue ice walls connected the cold water below with the misty horizon above.

Our journey also brought us up close and personal with several glaciers, from a daring and mud-slicked boulder hike to reach a one-of-a-kind vantage point of Pia Glacier, to riding Zodiac boats through ice-filled waters, advancing between high rocky walls all the way up to the sheer, icy face of Condor Glacier. 

One of the most anticipated stops on a cruise through Patagonia is, of course, Cape Horn, and, according to crew, it's also the most frequently cancelled due to rough weather. We were the lucky ones who got to walk up the short but steep path, which winds up through wind-bent scrub and blossoming white flowers to the monument at the island's southern tip: a steel sculpture of an albatross, honoring the thousands of sailors who died attempting to round the Horn.

Being able to step foot on Cape Horn is the definition of a bucket-list item, but it was actually the lesser known itinerary points that felt the most adventurous for me. One such stop brought us deep inside the Agostini fjord to a shore covered in sea shells and driftwood, which we walked along until a ravine brought us inland and delivered us a view of the melting Aguila Glacier, which pooled out into a milky blue lagoon. While it wasn’t a flashy stop on the cruise, its remote location and otherworldly feel was what made it feel so special. You're one of very few who will get to experience it. 

This kind of adventure is what's now drawing more people to hop on vessels to witness the far reaches of the world. Unlike many other comfort-based cruises, these travelers don't come to these rugged locales for the amenities, though the food on board is legitimately excellent, the Chilean wines are well chosen, and the beds are a comfortable reward after a day on a Zodiac in 40-degree winds. You come because Patagonia is one of the few places left that still genuinely feels like the edge of the earth.

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