Antarctica bucket dive 2017

[meex56]

Hello everyone,
I am writing this post because I am un-oficaly the co-organizer for planning a dive trip to Antarctica

One problem however,
Finding information is incredibly difficult as far as who is good and who is bad or even just cost estimates

If anyone has any information on who to contact or if you yourself have been lucky enough to dive it yourself please post and lend some support in how to get this started

Thank you everyone and please post as much information as possible from start-finish

Thanks again,
Meex56

[camerone]

A search is your friend on this one through the board. A few of us have been down there diving... depending on what you want to do, it can be more or less complicated, and more or less expensive. I got out on the really cheap end of things... I think it was around $6000 p/p, but I have friends who used a different operator and it was closer to $20,000 p/p. We had different objectives, and different logistics concerns on the trip. We tagged along on a larger (50 person ship) and ran things basically on our own. The $20k folks chartered a sailboat and crew that did everything for them.

Regardless, it's a great experience... There are very few operators that go down there for diving, and the bigger ones are very restrictive, just due to the remoteness of the geography.

This photo was from 2009 (or 2008... I forget which one it was...) I might've posted before with the travelog.

[Joshua Smith]

Keep us up to date with your plans, please. I'd LOVE to dive there some day.

[meex56]

A search is your friend on this one through the board. A few of us have been down there diving... depending on what you want to do, it can be more or less complicated, and more or less expensive. I got out on the really cheap end of things... I think it was around $6000 p/p, but I have friends who used a different operator and it was closer to $20,000 p/p. We had different objectives, and different logistics concerns on the trip. We tagged along on a larger (50 person ship) and ran things basically on our own. The $20k folks chartered a sailboat and crew that did everything for them.

Regardless, it's a great experience... There are very few operators that go down there for diving, and the bigger ones are very restrictive, just due to the remoteness of the geography.

This photo was from 2009 (or 2008... I forget which one it was...) I might've posted before with the travelog.

Mind if I ask what was the name of the operator for $6000? The 20000 would be a little out of my price range :(

[camerone]

Sure. We used Oceanwide, before they were all commercial about it. We did a special charter, brought in gear in a shipping crate to Ushuaia, did a lot of self service things, etc.

They've now formalized their diving in the years since, so it's more expensive, but much easier to do, as anyone can sign up if they're qualified. PNW divers with reasonable skills and good equipment won't have any issues down there. Recreational gear configs survived just fine, even, but were enough of a nuisance in the water that I quit buddying with people not in tech gear after the second day.

Just FYI - the prices I mentioned are only for the boat. You still need to get yourself to Ushuaia and spend a few nights on layovers in Burnos Aires and Ushaia. However, if you go, definitely spend some time in Argentina. It's beautiful, the people were so helpful and friendly, and the steak and the Malbecs are the best in the world. Go up to Salta, or see the falls, or just hang in BA.

I think the minimum Oceanwide trip is currently running at $5850 or so, but there is a diving supplement on top of that, just FYI. I think it's about $1200.

Yeah, I had such a good time I was going to go back and looked