Skimming past giant tortoises or swimming near manta rays. Diving to see an underwater Grand Canyon. Or watching polar bears lounge on icebergs near the Arctic Circle. Starting in February 2026, Aqua Expeditions is sending the new ship, Aqua Lares, its sixth, on the type of explorations for which this off the beaten track, small luxury ship company is known. The new destinations are the Indian Ocean around the Seychelles, Tanzania and Zanzibar and the fjords of Norway and the Arctic Circle.
The New Ship
This company, which launched its first expedition in the Peruvian Amazon aboard the Aqua Amazon in 2008, has gradually expanded its itineraries to intriguing destinations around the world; in recent years, on the Mekong River between Vietnam and Cambodia; around the Galapagos and four destinations in Indonesia including Raja Ampat and Komodo National Park. The 15 cabin, 253 foot Aqua Lares, a former icebreaker transformed through a luxury refit, will launch off the coast of East Africa, offering both charters and single cabin bookings, the first superyacht in the region to offer both. And because of its size and design, it will be able to access destinations that larger ships can’t. To provide top level service and cuisine, there will be a 33 person crew for the maximum 30 guests.
The Founder’s Special Connection
“East Africa has held a special place in my heart since my first safari at age seven, and it’s surreal to now return with our own expedition yacht,” says Francesco Galli Zugaro, the company’s Founder and CEO. “From the wild beauty of the Seychelles to Aldabra Atoll’s 150,000 giant tortoises, this region offers a rare kind of adventure—one that perfectly complements our voyages in the Galapagos and Indonesia.”
The Itineraries
Itineraries will be offered in 5-14 day lengths, embarking either in Mahé, the main island of the Seychelles or Zanzibar. Naturalists will lead the tours to, among other points, the vast coral atoll of Aldabra, the home of the world’s largest collection of giant tortoises and a UNESCO World Heritage site, the multicolored coral around Remire island southwest of the capital and the Grand Canyon underwater at Astove. On land, guests explore the Vallée de Mai forest on Praslin, the second largest island in the archipelago and once thought to be the Garden of Eden, to observe black parrots and fruit bats surrounded in the water by sharks and rays. In Tanzania, a notable stop is the port city Kilwa Kisiwani that is the former home of sultans, a stop on the Spice Route and a UNESCO World Heritage site dating back to the 1300s. After the February launch, cruises in this region will sail from November to April.
The Arctic Circle
Starting in June 2026, the ship changes course and heads north to the Arctic Circle, again as the only superyacht available for charters and individual cabin bookings in the region. Trip itineraries will explore the ice fields and wilderness around Svalbard; the town of Tromsø, known as the Paris of the North, the dramatic Norwegian Fjords; the northern Scottish Isles and beyond.. Instead of tortoises and palm trees, the views will be of Arctic foxes, polar bears, migratory whales and the forbidding beauty of ice floes. The trips here also range between 5 and 14 nights and will run from June to September.