Secret Atlas has been pioneering Expedition Micro Cruise since 2019, a 12 to 36-guest category built on one operating principle: fewer people changes what’s possible once a group is ashore.
Explorer Yacht Aureum is their first vessel built for that principle in Antarctica and South Georgia, currently the only vessel of her size operating in the region: 36 guests, four Zodiacs deploying at once, a 1:6 guide-to-guest ratio. Every guest lands together, in one deployment, no queue and no relay. 22 cabins, 8 of them single, more than a third of the ship’s cabins.
A FULL PROGRAM FOR 2027/28 AND 2028/29:
ANTARCTICA BY AIR (Fly Cruise) FROM PUERTO NATALES, SOUTH GEORGIA ONLY SIGNATURE VOYAGES, AND MORE
DATES OPEN FROM OCTOBER 2027
Why Aureum is filling the gap between super yachts and a large vessel:
- The only vessel built for 36 guests operating in Antarctica and South Georgia.
- No queuing narrative to overcome in the sales conversation
- With four zodiacs deployed together, every guest is ashore together
- Four products to choose from, for first timers and repeaters
- High number of single cabins
- FIT, Group bookings and Full charter options
- Season 2027/28 and 2029/29 open for booking
“Aureum enables us to bring our distinctive explorer-led approach Expedition Micro Cruises to Antarctica, on a vessel purpose-designed for just 36 guests.”
— Michele D’Agostino, Co-Founder of Secret Atlas
FIT, GROUP BOOKINGS AND PRIVATE CHARTERS ACROSS 4 UNIQUE EXPERIENCES
Antarctic Circle by Air
- 11 days
- Fly both ways from Puerto Natales (Gataway to Torres del Paine), skipping the Drake Passage, with a push toward the Antarctic Circle at 66°33’S on every departure
Antarctic Peninsula by Air and Sea
- 10 days
Sail the Drake one way from Ushuaia, fly the other, with a reverse-itinerary option available
South Georgia and Antarctic Shackleton Special
- 20 days
- The survival route in sequence, King Haakon Bay, Fortuna Bay, and Grytviken
- South Georgia in Depth →15 days
- A dedicated South Georgia expedition, not a stop between destinations
ABOUT EXPLORER YACHT AUREUM
Ice-class, hybrid propulsion, quiet enough that the water around her doesn’t change when she arrives. Five cabin categories. 36% are single cabins, no sharing, no supplement, and a bridge lounge with an open door, so guests can stand beside the captain and watch a route get decided in real time.
Purpose-Designed for a 36-Guest Micro Experience
Only 36 guests, the first ship of this size in Antarctica. Four Zodiacs, every guest ashore within minutes, no queue.
An ice-class vessel, built for safety in the polar regions. Fin stabilisers for comfort at sea.
Hybrid propulsion cuts emissions, low RPM cuts underwater noise, in waters where marine mammal behaviour is the reason for being there.
36 guests, 26 crew, six senior polar guides among them. A 1:6 guide ratio, and service that’s personal by design.
Open decks throughout, a forward observation deck, and the bridge lounge, each its own vantage point, wherever the wildlife is.
An open-door bridge. Step into the bridge lounge and watch the expedition unfold: ice charts, radar, the next course correction, all visible, all explained.
A ship that feels as good to come back to as it does to explore from.
MICRO ENOUGH TO ACCESS. SUBTLE ENOUGH TO STAY.
