When to visit the Northwest Passage

The Northwest Passage is a sea route connecting the North Atlantic and Pacific Oceans via waterways through the islands of the Canadian Arctic archipelago.

For centuries explorers sought the existence of a navigable passage, however it wasn’t until 1903–1906 when the Norwegian Roald Amundsen made the first successful transit.

Anchorage, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa are the main international gateways for onward scheduled and charter flights to the start and end points for Northwest Passage cruises further north.

These start and end points are typically Nome in Alaska; Cambridge Bay, Resolute and Kugluktuk (Coppermine) in the Canadian Arctic; or Kangerlussuaq and Nuuk in West Greenland.

The search for the fabled Northwest Passage stretched across four centuries and is a fascinating story of failure, disaster and tragedy, but also of great heroism and endurance which continues to resonate and be of great interest.

Recent changes in the Arctic climate and the viability of an ice free Northwest Passage for commercial shipping has further peaked interest in this incredibly rich historical region.

There are three main variables - alongside luck, which none of us can control - to bear in mind when it comes to giving yourself the best chance of seeing polar bears:

1. Length of trip: Put simply, the longer your trip the greater your chances of wildlife encounters

2. The Itinerary: While polar bears are very nomad, there are well-known polar bear ‘hotspots’ (e.g. Coningham Bay, Lancaster Sound, Croker Bay and Bellot Strait)

3. Calibre and size of the expedition team: You want a big and very experienced team, as that means there will always be lots of sets of eyes on watch for wildlife. And, secondly, from experience, they’ll also know where to look, which will further improve your chance of successful sightings

With the sadly increasing summer temperatures in the Arctic and resultant melting of the ice, successfully transiting the Northwest Passage is now all but guaranteed, in a way that it wasn’t 20 years ago.

This is a key question, and in the Northwest Passage there are several ways to think about it:

Firstly, you should consider what's most important to you, as there are trade-offs. A smaller ship typically lends itself to a more intimate experience, where you’ll get to know a greater proportion of your fellow passengers, and getting on and off the ship will be speedier.

However, the anonymity of a larger ship, alongside normally more on-ship amenities and a wider choice of dining locations (particularly on a longer voyage) can be attractive. There’s no right or wrong answer, it's simply down to personal choice.

The other way to look at it – given the relatively limited number of Northwest Passage itineraries and ships – is to focus on choosing the right trip first, as depending on which you choose, there may only be one or two ships from which to choose.