Scenic Discovery Yachts has laid out its 2027 expedition season in Chile and Patagonia, with the Scenic Eclipse sailing a run of voyages through one of the planet's least-developed coastlines. The twist compared with a regular cruise: this is expedition-grade travel, with helicopter flightseeing, submersible dives and Zodiac excursions led by on-board experts.
The route reads like a highlight reel of southern South America. Guests can expect calls at Chiloé, the island famous for its brightly painted timber houses, and transit of tight, dramatic passages such as the English Narrows and Puerto Edén. Wildlife is the big draw — humpback and blue whales, both Magellanic and Humboldt penguins, sea lions, Andean condors — plus hanging glaciers spilling into quiet waterways. Scenic's discovery operations director Jason Flesher summed up the pitch: a wilderness where the silence is broken by cracking ice or the breath of a passing whale, best experienced from every angle, whether that's a Zodiac in a hidden cove or a helicopter above the fjords.
Four itineraries anchor the 2027 season. The Chilean Fjords & The Glaciers of The Beagle Channel runs 14 days from Santiago to Buenos Aires, departing March 8, 2027. Ancient Kingdoms and Natural Treasures: Chile to Panama is a 14-day Santiago-to-Panama City sailing departing March 21, 2027. For the deepest dive into the region, Fjords & Glaciers of Southern Chile and Patagonia is an 18-day round trip from Buenos Aires leaving February 28, 2027. And for those who want to keep going south, Ultimate Chilean Fjords & Antarctica's Weddell Sea is a 24-day Santiago-to-Buenos Aires expedition departing November 13, 2027.
Worth flagging: Scenic says only a limited number of these expedition departures remain for 2027, so anyone serious about the Patagonia season shouldn't sit on it. These aren't budget cruises — Scenic Eclipse is a luxury discovery yacht — but the trade-off is a ship built for exactly this kind of coast, where big-ship liners simply can't go.
For travellers, this is a rare way to see the Chilean fjords: the region's narrow channels and glacier-studded coast are barely reachable by land, and a small expedition ship with helicopters and a submersible opens up viewpoints no road trip can match. If whale season, penguin colonies and Andean condors against Patagonian peaks are on your list, this is one of the more complete ways to tick them off in a single trip.