Since time immemorial Valparaiso has inspired writers, poets, musicians and artists alike. If the city is still a little rough around the edges, this only adds to its bohemian ambience; the architecture, style, street art, nightlife, and live music scenes of Valparaiso are some of the best in the world. Add colourful clifftop homes to the mix and you'll soon see why Valpariaso is many people's favourite Chilean city. The city was founded in 1536 by Spanish conquistador Juan de Saavedra, who named the city after his birthplace. Many of the colonial buildings he implemented are still standing today, despite the rain, wind, fire and several earthquakes (one of which almost levelled the city in 1906). Quirky architecture also abounds; poetry lovers and amateur architects will no doubt want to make the 45 km trip south to Chilean poet laureate (and Nobel Prize winner) Pablo Neruda’s ship-shaped house and museum for a taste of the extraordinary. The city and region are also extremely well known for their love of good food and wine. The vineyards of the nearby Casablanca Valley - first planted in the early 1980s - have earned worldwide recognition in a relatively short space of time. However, Chile’s viticulture history does date back much farther than that. De Saavedra brought grape vines on his voyage to South America in order to make his own wine and this led to a new grape brandy being created, Pisco. Today give any Chilean a Pisco and wherever they are in the world, they will be home.

Days at sea are the perfect opportunity to relax, unwind and catch up with what you’ve been meaning to do. So whether that is going to the gym, visiting the spa, whale watching, catching up on your reading or simply topping up your tan, these blue sea days are the perfect balance to busy days spent exploring shore side.

Robinson Crusoe Island is located 600 kilometres off the coast of Chile. The island is a rugged volcanic speck where 70 percent of its plant species are endemic, and is the largest of the Juan Fernandez Islands, a small archipelago that since 1935 is a Chilean National Park which in 1977 was declared a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve. This island has witnessed and played an important role in Chilean and world history. In 1704 the Scottish sailor Alexander Selkirk was marooned on the island and stayed for more than 4 years, eventually inspiring Daniel Defoe’s novel Robinson Crusoe –hence the name of the island. 1750 the village of San Juan Bautista was founded at Cumberland Bay and by 1779 there were already 7 small fortresses bristling with guns. The island’s isolation offered Spain a splendid place for setting up a penal colony, to which high-ranking Chilean patriots were deported in the early 19th century. In 1915, during the First World War, three British ships and a German one, the Dresden, engaged in a sea battle which ended with the scuttling of the German cruiser. Today there are currently around one thousand people living in the archipelago, most of them in the village of San Juan Bautista engaged in fishing for the “spiny lobster”, a delicacy exported to the mainland.

Think of Daniel Defoe’s classic novel Robinson Crusoe and you will be picturing an intrepid castaway, marooned on a paradisiacal island. That image might be ideal for movie lovers, but the actual inspiration for Robinson Crusoe was a salty Scottish seadog who went by the name of Alexander Selkirk. Selkirk was marooned in Chile’s Juan Fernandez archipelago for four years and four months, rescued by a British private warship. Despite Selkirk’s slightly chequered past, he was greeted as a celebrity upon his return to England. His adventures were given a gloss and immortalised in the much loved 18th century classic. Alejandro Selkirk Island is located 165 kilometres west of the other islands in the archipelago, for a surface area of just under 50 m2. The island was renamed from its Spanish name Isla Más Afuera in 1966 by the Chilean government in homage to the sailor. The topography is very different form the Caribbean dream that Defoe writes about, think dense woodland, rugged coast and peaks, shrouded (more often than not) in cloud. Sandy beaches can be found to the north of the island. Throughout much of its history, the island has been uninhabited, although there is a former penal settlement on the middle of the east coast, which operated from 1909 to 1930. During the summer months, Selkirk welcomes a small community of lobster fishermen and their families who come from Robinson Crusoe. As part of the Chilean National Park, it also holds the UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve title.

Days at sea are the perfect opportunity to relax, unwind and catch up with what you’ve been meaning to do. So whether that is going to the gym, visiting the spa, whale watching, catching up on your reading or simply topping up your tan, these blue sea days are the perfect balance to busy days spent exploring shore side.

Salas y Gomez is the tip of an underwater mountain range some 390 kilometers east-northeast of Easter Island. Although the small island of 0.15 square kilometers was never inhabited, it was known to Easter Islanders as the site of Hau Maka, their Creator God. The modern name refers to the two Spanish explorers who either discovered (Salas) or first visited it (Gomez) in the late 18th and early 19th century. The inhospitable rocky shore makes landings extremely difficult. The highest elevation is 30 meters above sea level, yet the Chilean Navy has built a small lighthouse to warn seafarers of its existence. Several bird species have made Sala y Gomez their home and among the Christmas Shearwater, Masked Boobies, and Brown Noddies the Sooty Terns and Great Frigatebirds are of special interest -they are the two bird species relating to the birdman ceremonies on Easter Island. In 2010 the Chilean government created the Salas y Gomez Marine Park, which in 2018 was joined with the Marine and Coastal Protected Area of Easter Island to form one of the largest no-take marine reserves in the Pacific.

Easter Island, the easternmost settled island of Polynesia, received its European name in 1722 when the island was seen by a Dutch expedition under Roggeveen on Easter Sunday. The triangular-shaped island of 163 square kilometers is famous for the hundreds of statues known locally as moai. Rolling hills covered in grassland, eucalyptus forest and a rocky shore surround Hangaroa, the island’s only village on the southwestern coast. This is where Captain Cook landed in 1774, where missionaries built the first church and where ships find the best protection from winds and swells. Small beaches and transparent waters invite swimmers and snorkelers, but it is the cultural aspect which attracts visitors. Since 1935 the island has been a National Historic Monument and today 43.5% of the island is a national park administered by the Chilean National Forest Corporation and Mau Henua, a local community group. The island’s national park has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995. Found slightly more than 3,500 kilometers west of Chile, the island was annexed in 1888. Used as a sheep ranch for many decades, the island was opened in 1965 and an airstrip was built. The US Air Force set up a base to record the behavior of the earth's outer atmosphere and by 1987 NASA had the runway extended as an emergency runway for the space shuttle. This never happened, but tourism benefitted from this improvement and today the island receives more than 100,000 visitors a year.

Days at sea are the perfect opportunity to relax, unwind and catch up with what you’ve been meaning to do. So whether that is going to the gym, visiting the spa, whale watching, catching up on your reading or simply topping up your tan, these blue sea days are the perfect balance to busy days spent exploring shore side.

Discovered in 1606 by Pedro Fernandez de Quiros on his way to the Solomon Islands, Ducie is a small isolated atoll and is the easternmost of the Pitcairn Islands. The island’s most prominent bit of history is the 1881 wreckage of the ship Acadia, which ran aground on the island when the lookout mistook the island for a cloud due to its white beaches. Ducie is a mere speck in the surrounding expanse of ocean, uninhabited except for the estimated 500,000 nesting seabirds that reside among the two plant species (Beach Heliotrope and at least one specimen of Pemphis) that grow over seventy percent of the island. Bird species that visitors may be able to see include Murphy's Petrels, White Terns, Great Frigatebirds and Masked Boobies. Under good conditions the wreck of the Acadia or the atoll’s lagoon waters offer interesting snorkel opportunities.

Henderson Island is a raised coral atoll comprising 86% of the land area of the British Overseas Territory of the Pitcairn Islands. In 1820, a sperm whale rammed and sank the whale ship Essex, shipwrecking the crew on Henderson, the inspiration for Moby Dick. Locals from Pitcairn Island use Henderson as a source of valuable miro wood, and tantalising archaeological discoveries have been made indicating habitation by Polynesian settlers in the past. The area was under the sway of the Polynesian society based around the Gambier Islands. When these islands saw environmental and economic decline, it seems Henderson Island was abandoned. It was formally annexed to the British Empire in 1902 by Captain G. F. Jones, along with his crew of Pitcairn Islanders. Henderson is one of the two raised coral atolls in the world which have been relatively untouched by humans, and was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988. Due to its splendid isolation, many species here are found nowhere else in the world, including ten flowering plants, all four of its land birds (such as the Henderson Lorikeet), and many of its invertebrates, along with many species found across the Pacific, such as the giant coconut crab.

Home to the original mutineers of the Bounty, Adamstown’s is today the capital of all four Pitcairn Islands. The islands – the last British Overseas Territory in the Pacific – include the namesake Pitcairn Island itself, plus the uninhabited Oeno, Henderson and Ducie. Pitcairn is the archipelago’s only inhabited island, with the population of just 50 centred in Adamstown. It is no surprise that the nine mutineers along with six Tahitian men, 12 Tahitian women and one child stopped on Pitcairn in 1790; with its sloped and varied landscape, lush tropical promise and equidistant location between Peru and New Zealand, Pitcairn would have seemed an ideal hiding spot for the mutineers to settle. The ship was burnt to avoid detection (the ballast stone remains of the wreck in Bounty Bay). However, the ideal bucolic life that mutineer leader Fletcher Christian had envisaged was not to be. Poor treatment of the Tahitian men led to alcoholism, chaos and carnage and by 1800 only John Adams – who had recently discovered Christianity – remained. Adams taught the women and children to read and write from the bible. The capital is named after him. Not only had the island been misplaced on early maps of the region, but it can also be very difficult to come ashore as large breakers tend to build up just in front of the small harbour of Bounty Bay. The local museum houses the HMS Bounty Bible, the same bible that Adams taught the women and children to read and write from in the early 19th century.

Days at sea are the perfect opportunity to relax, unwind and catch up with what you’ve been meaning to do. So whether that is going to the gym, visiting the spa, whale watching, catching up on your reading or simply topping up your tan, these blue sea days are the perfect balance to busy days spent exploring shore side.

In the Gambier Islands of French Polynesia, Mangareva is the largest island with a population of over 1,200 people. Most live in Rikitea, the largest village on the island. A high central ridge runs the length of Mangareva peaking with Mt. Duff, which rises over 440 meters from the sea on the island's south coast. The island has a large lagoon sprinkled with coral reefs whose tropical fish and the black-lip oysters have helped islanders survive much more successfully than on other nearby islands. Small ships are able to enter the lagoon of Mangareva. Ashore visitors can walk through the town, see the remains of the massive stone and coral buildings dating back to the 19th century or climb up Mt. Duff. The highlights in town include the cathedral with its mother-of-pearl shell altar and objects designed and built in the 1830s and 1840s and partially restored by the students of Rikitea’s school just a few years ago.

Days at sea are the perfect opportunity to relax, unwind and catch up with what you’ve been meaning to do. So whether that is going to the gym, visiting the spa, whale watching, catching up on your reading or simply topping up your tan, these blue sea days are the perfect balance to busy days spent exploring shore side.

Ridges and cliffs form the beautiful, rocky Fatu Hiva, the southernmost of the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia. The half-moon-shaped Omoa Bay encircles the village of Omoa, where about 250 people reside near the island’s main church. They make tapa cloth in a traditional way with beaten bark decorated in inked traditional Polynesian designs. The island is covered in lush jungle vegetation that is divided in some places by narrow ravines marked by sharply dropping cliffs. The ruggedly beautiful Bay of the Virgins, appears as if its palm tree-lined, jutting rocky ridges were carved by some great hand into stone sculptures Situated in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, Fatu Hiva is the most isolated island of the most isolated archipelago on the planet. Sometimes called the ‘island at the edge of the world’, Fatu Hiva is also the greenest, wildest and most mountainous island of the Marquesas. And what mountains! The island’s dramatic cliffs and lush valleys, illuminates the extraordinary Polyenian countryside, will give you the impression of being in a Paul Gauguin painting. On your arriving in this tropical paradise, you’ll be welcomed with the traditional welcome to the Marquesas Islands, ‘Mave Mai’, involving ancestral dances. Let yourself be carried away by the Haka rhythm before discovering the charming village of Hanavave. After strolling among the village’s picturesque fare houses, the authentic Marquesan constructions, uncover the island’s hidden gems and secrets. Stunning waterfalls hurling down from impressive peaks forming magnificent lagoons and rushing fresh rivers. Nothing better than a hike to properly appreciate and admire the fabulous scenery that surrounds you. Real highlight of the island, the spectacular Baie des Vierges is said to be one of the most beautiful bays on Earth. These crystal-clear waters are home to myriad of marine life species like manta rays or sea turtles swimming into a ballet of multicolour fishes. What more do you need to believe Fatu Hiva is a true paradise?

The largest of the southern islands, Hiva Oa, the master pillar or finial post of the ‘Great House’ - which represents the Marquesan archipelago in the local mythology - has always been the rival of Nuku Hiva. The island is shaped like a seahorse and has a mountain range running southwest to northeast whose main peaks, Mt. Temetiu and Mt. Feani form a real wall around Atuona. Atuona, a peaceful little port at the head of the Taaoa Bay, also known as Traitors Bay, has emerged from obscurity due to having had the privilege of being the last resting place of Paul Gauguin and of the singer Jacques Brel. The tombs of these famous personalities are on the side of the Calvary cemetery looking out across the bay and are places of great pilgrimage. In the village, the Gauguin Museum displays items related to the painter's stay there at the beginning of the century and has copies of his works. If you’re looking for a perfect incarnation of Polynesia’s unparalleled beauty, you just found it. Discover mesmerising Tahuata and unveil all its secrets. Part of the Marquesas, this is the tiniest inhabited island of the archipelago, with only 700 inhabitants. This croissant-shaped piece of land was discovered in 1595 by Spanish navigator Alvaro de Mendana de Neira and has been a dreamy destination for many travellers since. Indeed, its spectacular and idyllic scenery, made of contrasts between impressive mountains and sandy beaches, would inspire every poet – and not only! How can’t you be impressed admiring Meae Ufa, a 3181-feet volcano and the stunning twin bays Ivaiva Nui and Ivaiva Iti? The island is also nicknamed ‘Monoi Island’ thanks to the great quality of its tiaré oil, heritage of traditions and secrets orally transmitted generation to generation. Tahuata has a huge reputation across French Polynesia for another savoir-faire, its rich craftsmanship. The craftsmen excel at carving beautiful pieces, spears, puzzles, dishes they produce on bone or rosewood. These unique creations are exhibited in the craft centre of the pretty village of Hapatoni and in the Vaitahu Town Hall Museum. Very close to one another (15-min boat ride or 30-min walk), these two tiny villages are absolutely worth a visit with their charming mixt of Polynesian and European atmosphere. And don’t forget to have a swim at Hana Moenoa beach, the island’s most beautiful one. Maybe you’ll come across sea turtles in its crystal-clear waters.

Days at sea are the perfect opportunity to relax, unwind and catch up with what you’ve been meaning to do. So whether that is going to the gym, visiting the spa, whale watching, catching up on your reading or simply topping up your tan, these blue sea days are the perfect balance to busy days spent exploring shore side.

Attention, you’re about to discover a super protected, remote and stunning piece of land in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Welcome on Manihi, a beautiful oval-shaped coral atoll surrounded by a necklace of islands with white sandy beaches that stretch indefinitely. Long neglected by visitors, this island is however one of the most beautiful ones you can find in French Polynesia. Situated 400 miles northwest from Bora Bora in the Tuamotu Archipelago, Manihi has a very small population of around 650 people. Nothing comparing to its marine population! Manta rays, reef sharks and multiple fish species such as the famous butterfly fish all living together in majestic coral reefs. The lack of frequentation allowed nature to keep its original and untouched beauty. Many protected areas have been established and given its geography, not everyone has the opportunity to visit this atoll. Lucky you! Then, this lagoon holds another precious secret. Its waters have the perfect temperature, salinity and brightness to be home to Tahiti’s most important black pearl farm. Its pearl production is particularly renowned since the 1960’s. You can visit the farms that border the lagoon and meet the passionate local producers. On the atoll, tiny shops among the stilt houses, notably in the village of Turipaoa, sell these beautiful jewels shaped by the sea.

Translated from Tuamotuan as “peaceful landing,” Tikehau lives up to its name as one of the most breathtaking places in the beautiful French Polynesian Islands. Part of the Tuamotu Islands, the 17-mile coral atoll is made up of two palm tree-lined islands and a number of smaller islets connected by a clear, bright turquoise lagoon. Expect secluded white and pink sand beaches, views of nesting sea birds, and ideal snorkeling conditions as the lagoon is teeming with life underwater. According to the famous marine explorer Jacque Cousteau, Tikehau has the highest concentration of fish than any other lagoon in French Polynesia.

Papeete is the center of the tropical paradise of French Polynesia, where islands fringed with gorgeous beaches and turquoise ocean await to soothe the soul. This spirited city is the capital of French Polynesia, and serves as a superb base for onward exploration of Tahiti – an island of breathtaking landscapes and oceanic vistas. A wonderful lagoon of crisp, clear water begs to be snorkelled, stunning black beaches and blowholes pay tribute to the island's volcanic heritage, and lush green mountains beckon you inland on adventures, as you explore extraordinary Tahiti. Visit to relax and settle into the intoxicating rhythm of life in this Polynesian paradise.

The excursions are provided as a sample of what may be offered on this voyage and are subject to change.