Customer Reviews

The lure of the Arctic’s whales and polar bears is strong, but what is it really like to cross the Polar circle with Swoop? We decided to let our customers do the talking and share their experiences below.

Kay & Richard Howells (Baker)  - UK Travelled: July 2018

10

Customer Rating On return from their adventure we ask customers: “On a scale of 0-10, with 10 being the highest, how likely is it that you would recommend Swoop to a friend or colleague?”

The highlight has to be the close up sightings of polar bears (all 13 of them!) and also few pods Beluga whales. The real "David Attenborough moment" was watching a large male polar bear walk along the sea shore and amble in between a massive haul-out of around 150 walrus. The walrus were clearly a little concerned and some reared up and bellowed, but that didn't put the bear off. We were mesmerised as we watched the scene unfold from the Zodiacs. The landscape was spectacular. As a geographer in the past, I've read and studied all about these landscapes and features so it was fantastic to be able to explore them up close. The huge expansive glaciers, the majestic icebergs, the sea ice - it was all breath-taking! Another highlight was the walk we did on an actual glacier! Not many of us ventured there but it felt so different from anything I'd done before. There were so many other aspects to the wildlife too - arctic foxes, reindeer, huge haul-outs of walrus and seals (bearded, ringed, harbour and harp seals). The bird life was also incredible. There were too many to mention but the most significant bird experience was the after dinner Zodiac trip we took to view the sheer cliffs with millions of guillemots nesting on tiny ledges. The sky was black with them and we watched them swooping and diving as we slowly made our way along the cliffs.

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Leslie & Nancy Steenbeke (Grossman)  - USA Travelled: June 2018

10

Customer Rating On return from their adventure we ask customers: “On a scale of 0-10, with 10 being the highest, how likely is it that you would recommend Swoop to a friend or colleague?”

Kayaking in the thick brash ice by a big glacier on a beatutful, sunny day was a highlight....but then again, so was when the walrus popped its head up out of the water right in front of me when in the zodiac....and watching and filming the polar bear that swam around our ship - so close. The swimming polar bear was a surprise, as was all the reindeer we saw up close and the freedom we had kayaking. The wildlife was beautiful. We did see some foxes and a lot of birds. I did not see much of the puffins, but I was kayaking the one day we went to where they were and the weather was not very good (a bit rainy and windy - a lot of wave action). The landscapes were increadible - a lot like Antarctica, but a lot closer and cheaper to get to - and you get to do excursions right away and much better weather than Antarctica. There were many Australians on the trip and I found them delightful - down to earth, very-well traveled, friendly - so wonderful to talk to. The down side is that I felt we disturbed the polar bears more than I would have liked to have. We spent a day in one spot watching a mother with two cubs. She was by a hole, waiting for a seal. I can't help but think a large, smelly ship nearby would not improve her hunting success. It seems to me there should be a limit, say 2 or 3 hours, that you can stay and watch one polar bear - in order not to disturb them too much or interfere with hunting. Also, it was a lovely day and to spend one day on the ship with no excursions, watching once polar bear and cubs was a bit much for me.

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Sarah  - USA Travelled: September 2022

10

Customer Rating On return from their adventure we ask customers: “On a scale of 0-10, with 10 being the highest, how likely is it that you would recommend Swoop to a friend or colleague?”

Traversing the Arctic Northwest Passage in the footsteps of my Ross explorers ancestors and landing at Fort Ross. The beauty of pristine landscape wildlife will be a lasting memory of a once in a lifetime trip. The Aurora Expedition team and Greg Mortimer Crew were top notch and made my dream come true.

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Helen  - UK Travelled: June 2022

8

Customer Rating On return from their adventure we ask customers: “On a scale of 0-10, with 10 being the highest, how likely is it that you would recommend Swoop to a friend or colleague?”

After watching a polar bear feed on land for an hour, the adrenaline from hearing about, then seeing then following another polar bear swimming directly for the first bear, and then witnessing the tense interactions that followed between them as they faced off for the food.

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