Spitsbergen polar bear watching cruise
An 8 or 11 day expedition around the tundra and fjords of the Svalbard archipelago, with naturalist guides leading you through polar bear paradise.
Spitzbergen Longyearbyen Svalbard archipelago Polar bear watching Bird watching Arctic foxes Zodiac cruises Krossfjord Konigsfjord Monaco Glacier Hinlopen Strait Ny-Ålesund Northeast Land Edgeøya Hornsund Bellsund
Price
£2799To£4099 excluding flights
More info
This small group set departures onboard the M/S Expedition with up to 126 passengers.
Description of Spitsbergen polar bear watching cruise
Price information
£2799To£4099 excluding flights
This small group set departures onboard the M/S Expedition with up to 126 passengers.
Check dates
2022: 12 Jun, 19 Jun, 26 Jun, 6 Jul, 13 Jul, 23 Jul, 30 Jul, 9 Aug
Travel guides
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Reviews
1 Reviews of Spitsbergen polar bear watching cruise
5 out of 5 stars
Reviewed on 25 Jul 2018 by Val ODwyer
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your vacation?
Seeing polar bears, including one mother with cub, and being in Packice, and among icebergs in a zodiac! An emotional roller coaster.
2. What tips would you give other travelers booking this vacation?
Throw yourself into all the activities, follow the advice of the expedition team, relish meeting lovely people , including other travelers and the crew.
3. Did you feel that your vacation benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?
Yes. We spent our pre-embarkation night in a local hostel in Longyearbyen. The expedition took great care to minimise our impact, including recycling, refilling water bottles , reusing towels etc. Also in avoiding disturbing the wildlife and plants. They take part in citizen science, sending information to arctic research projects. Great care was taken not to contaminate the fragile environments we experienced, even shaming those of us who did not clean our wellies properly.
If you weren't already passionate about conservation you would be after such an amazing opportunity .
4. Finally, how would you rate your vacation overall?
Outstanding. Very emotional because of the wildlife, but everything was first class, from the wonderful food to the kindness of the crew , the care taken of us by the expedition staff when on zodiac operations to their knowledge and their patience. Expensive but if you love wildlife highly recommended.
Responsible Travel
As the pioneers of responsible tourism, we've screened this (and every) vacation so that you can travel knowing it will help support the places and people that you visit, and the planet. Read how below.
Planet
We always ensure that clients are aware that polar bears are dangerous and wild animals. Clients are given rules to abide by to ensure they do not come into danger and they do not make polar bears associate humans with food. A donation from each trip sold goes to helping preserve polar bears and the environment in which they live, local communities, projects and conservation agencies. We always encourage clients to respect and appreciate the environment they are in: on this trip there are presentations by the experts who lead this expedition who have over 30 years' experience. We reflect this in the running of the office in the UK where everything that can be recycled is and careful consideration is given to the environment. We attempt to do this through recycling of any office waste including, paper, plastic, cans, glass, refuse, in partnership with the Borough of Brighton & Hove.Responsible tourism is the way forward for travel in the 21st century; as we destroy more and more of our natural environment, we slowly begin to realise how much we need it. When visiting destinations we bear this in mind and remember how privileged we are to be able to see the wildlife and nature that you are visiting.
People
The purpose of our safaris is to contribute to local populations, communities and projects within the destinations. We give our travelers advise on how they might be able to interact with the local populations, flora and fauna in order to minimise any negative impact. We encourage the use of local guides in every destination and with every local agent. Even on our specialist led safaris we try to ensure that a local guide is also used, as we do not believe in taking jobs from local populations in order to provide for western needs. Where possible we will always use local suppliers in preference to others whether this is in the purchase of provisions, accommodation, transport or equipment. We believe the best way to learn about and enjoy the experience of being on safari with us is to make the effort to mingle with the local people, taste new foods and try new experiences.Popular similar vacations
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