This site is an editorially independent resource — no operator has paid for inclusion, and no placement is available for purchase. Our rankings reflect documented operational data against five published criteria. We review operator submissions quarterly and assess each against the same criteria applied to all operators currently in the ranking.
Selection criteria — what we assess
- IAATO full membership (not provisional or associate) — verified via the public IAATO member directory at iaato.org
- Published Zodiac fleet size and ship passenger capacity — documented on your website or in your expedition program materials
- Documented average shore time per day — published figures only, not estimates; marketing language ("up to X hours") does not satisfy this criterion
- Minimum 3 completed Antarctic seasons with shore landings — we do not evaluate first-year operators
- Publicly verifiable naturalist guide staffing ratio — number of naturalist guides per Zodiac (or per passenger) stated in published program materials
Submission Form
What happens next
- We acknowledge receipt within 5 business days.
- We verify all submitted data against publicly available sources — IAATO directory, your published program materials, and expedition industry records.
- If your operator meets all five criteria, we add it to our review queue for inclusion in the next ranking update (quarterly).
- Meeting the criteria does not guarantee inclusion in the ranking. We rank a limited set of operators and prioritize those with the strongest documented zodiac landing programs.
- No operator pays for placement or ranking position. Submission does not create any commercial relationship between your operator and this site.