Tell us about your company.
Heritage Expeditions is New Zealand's pioneering and only small ship conservation-based expedition cruise company. Founded in 1984 by the Russ family in Christchurch we are still proudly family owned and operated. Pioneers in environmentally-responsible travel, each year we share and explore some of the most unique and remote islands, coasts and shorelines on Earth with intrepid travellers aboard our luxurious, purpose-built 140-guest flagship Heritage Adventurer and 18-guest expedition yacht Heritage Explorer on voyages ranging from 5 – 29 days. Our intimate group expeditions allow guests to explore and experience bucket list adventures from the islands of Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Philippines, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Australia’s iconic Kimberley coast and coastal New Zealand down to the Subantarctic Islands of New Zealand and Australia and into the ‘heart of Antarctica’ the Ross Sea. Each voyage contributes to conservation through experiential learning with opportunities to take part in authentic citizen science initiatives and provides funds for research and management.
Photo credits @Heritage Expeditions
What are your unique selling points?
Heritage Expeditions longstanding relationships with government agencies, conservation programmes and remote tribes and villages ensures guests have access to areas and experiences off limits to other operators. Each expedition is meticulously planned and led by a team of botanists, ornithologists, naturalists, historians and experts in their field, ensuring guests maximise every opportunity to learn, discover and experience as much as possible, while minimising the impact of their visit and returning as ambassadors for these very special places. We have a fleet of 14 Zodiacs on Heritage Adventurer and 2 on Heritage Explorer ensuring each guest is able to join every excursion. All Heritage Expeditions voyages offer genuine all-inclusive travel including pre-cruise hotel accommodation with dinner and breakfast (on applicable voyages); all on board accommodation and meals; house wine, beer and soft drinks with lunch and dinner; all excursions (excluding optional extras); pre and post cruise transfers and lecture series by noted naturalists.
What is your most popular itinerary/destination?
Our In the Wake of Scott & Shackleton voyage, which follows in the footsteps of these heroic explorers, is the ultimate in bucket list travel. Due to impenetrable pack ice guests can only visit during January and February, sailing through the roaring forties, furious fifties and screaming sixties crossing the Antarctic Circle and into the silent seventies and realm of 24-hour daylight. Guests travel with our team of expert biologists, geologists and historians as we spend 12 days exploring the Ross Ice Shelf, Zodiac cruise icebergs, visit research stations, observe whales and seals, visit some of Antarctica's largest penguin colonies, walk on the ice with Emperor Penguins and step inside the preserved historic huts of Scott and Shackleton. This voyage also includes the wildlife havens of New Zealand and Australia's UNESCO World Heritage-listed Subantarctic Islands which break up our voyage down to and back from the ice.
What is new for 2024/25?
This season Heritage Expeditions launched a new voyage to Japan and added some exciting new destinations to our Indonesia and Melanesia voyages aboard Heritage Adventurer, along with 2 new Fiordland voyages on board Heritage Explorer. New voyage Japan’s National Parks, Art & Culture combines a circumnavigation of Japan’s main island exploring the wilderness, culture and rich history with the country’s world-renowned arts scene including Japan’s famous Art Island Naoshima travelling with New Zealand Arts Foundation Laureate Brett Graham. New 5-day Fiordland voyages Undiscovered Dusky Sound start and conclude with a thrilling scenic helicopter flight between Te Anau and Supper Cove and explore some of the most unique and wild parts of Fiordland while Fiordland Explored pairs two of the most remote, hard to reach and spectacular of Fiordland's destinations World Heritage Area Dusky Sound and New Zealand's deepest fiord Doubtful Sound or the 'Sound of Silence'. This season sees Heritage Expeditions introducing photography workshops with professional photographer Ewen Bell and opportunities to travel with legendary mammalogist, conservationist, author and scientist Professor Tim Flannery and multi-award-winning BBC and National Geographic wildlife filmmakers Neil Nightingale and Karen Bass.
Meet the team
Aaron Russ, Commercial Director & Expedition Leader
Aaron has grown up surrounded by wildlife and wilderness. He has been Expedition Leader on more than 100 expeditions to the world’s most remote regions. With a degree in zoology, a passion for photography and a desire to showcase the world’s premier natural history destinations, Expedition Leading comes naturally. From the Deep South to the High Arctic he has travelled as a way of life and a hobby to many of the world’s most remote and biologically diverse regions. Starting his ocean exploring in the Subantarctic and Antarctic waters south of New Zealand, he then spent a number of years dedicated to travelling leading expeditions to destinations including the Canadian Arctic, Greenland, Svalbard, Russian Far East, Antarctica, Western tropical Pacific and the Galapagos. He is a keen photographer, a hobby which combines well with travelling to some of the world’s premier natural history destinations! Aaron is the Commercial Director at Heritage Expeditions as well as the Managing Director at Wild Earth Travel (a sister company to Heritage Expeditions) a specialist touring company in offering small ship and expedition cruises, and somehow still finds the time to expedition lead for both companies.
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