Great Lakes looking good from the bottom up
As the hatch shuts above our heads and the pilot prepares to descend, I’m wondering if a submarine dive is perhaps too far from my comfort zone. Water outside the craft’s thick windows morphs from sunlit-blue to progressively greener shades as we sink down to a secret world of short, weedy plants, among which tiny fish are sheltering.
I’m in one of two high-tech subs, each costing the best part of €4.6m, that form part of the excursion fleet aboard Viking Octantis, the first of Viking Cruises’ new breed of expedition ships, the other being Polaris. These identical vessels were built to serve Antarctica and North America’s Great Lakes, each allowing 378 passengers to explore these rugged regions in comfort and style.
My Great Lakes Explorer itinerary goes from Milwaukee in the US to Canada’s Thunder Bay, taking in Lakes Michigan, Huron and Superior.
As well as the submarines, the other on-board contraptions include 17 Zodiac inflatables, plentiful kayaks and two military-standard Special
Operations Boats (SOB). I join a SOB excursion one day and we zip off to explore a coastline of lichenpatterned boulders. A bald eagle soars over on broad, dark wings. It comes to rest on a cliff, unperturbed by the boatload of gawpers below.
Best-known among the Lakes’ gems is Niagara Falls, whose thundering waters tumble between Lakes Erie and Ontario – but the icons of my itinerary are the Great Lakes themselves. These mighty bodies of water are among the largest in the world. Their beauty reaches its peak on Mackinac Island, which sits where Lakes Huron and Michigan meet. Here I take a hike through the woods to reach British Landing, a beach whose turquoise waters mimic the Aegean.
Natural beauty also abounds on a tour of the Georgian Bay Biosphere Reserve, with a freshwater fjord and 30,000-strong archipelago.
As befits a luxury cruise experience, all excursions are included in the price. The result is an abundance of opportunities to connect with the Great Lakes’ many treasures.
A seven-night Great Lakes Explorer cruise from Milwaukee to Thunder Bay costs from €6,385pp (to book visit viking.com).