Massive waves pummeled a cruise ship during an Antarctica voyage, video footage from a passenger shows.
Lesley Anne Murphy posted clips to Instagram on March 26 that appeared to show the ship rocking back and forth, a woman sliding across the floor as the vessel lurched, and a TV slamming into a wall. At certain points, walls of water are nearly all that is visible from the windows.
Guests saw the 35-to-40-foot waves while crossing the Drake Passage, a notoriously treacherous waterway between Antarctica and South America. The travel journalist, who also appeared as a contestant on “The Bachelor,” compared the experience in her caption to a “48 hour rollercoaster.”
Murphy was leading a group of more than 20 women as part of her LimitLes retreats during a voyage that began on March 17. She captured the footage during their return to Ushuaia, Argentina.
“I’m a thrill seeker, so I really enjoyed – I sat there for a really long time just with my phone out, filming what was happening right in front of us,” she told USA TODAY. “So, I found it exhilarating.”
Murphy was onboard Quark Expeditions’ Ocean Explorer ship at the time.
“Quark Expeditions has over 30 years of experience navigating polar waters with a purpose-built, ice-class fleet and expert crew,” a spokesperson told USA TODAY in an emailed statement. “Safety remains our top priority, ensuring guests are well cared for in all conditions. The ship, crew, and passengers completed their polar voyage safely and without incident.”
Murphy noted that despite the rough seas, she “felt safe the entire time.”
“I had full faith in that ship, and the captain was amazing,” she added.
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Most expedition cruises to Antarctica cross the Drake Passage, which takes around two days. Travelers could experience a “Drake shake” like Murphy or a smooth “Drake lake.”
“The way down, we got the ‘Drake shake’ as well, and we thought that was bad,” Murphy said. “Little did we know what was in store for us on the way back to Ushuaia.”
I sailed to Antarctica with Aurora Expeditions in 2023, and my own experience on the way down was somewhere in the middle, with waves roughly 13 feet high.
Some cruise operators offer flights over the Drake Passage. However, Kristin Winkaffe, a luxury travel designer and founder of Winkaffe Global Travel, told USA TODAY last year that those itineraries are both “exponentially more expensive” and less reliable due to unpredictable weather in the area.
This story has been updated to add new information.
Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville. You can reach him at ndiller@usatoday.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Antarctica cruise pummeled by massive waves, video shows
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