By Gary Buchanan, Cruise Writer

Some of us want more from our holiday than a tan and an expanded waistline. It seems we like to be challenged and energised – and there are few better places to achieve this than on a cruise. Traditionally excursions organised by cruise lines have offered little more than light adventure. But off-ship tours have been reinvented and there are now excursions that offer an endeavour that’s far from tame, as well as some activities that are definitely geared towards adrenalin junkies.

Few cruise passengers would associate pursuits such as quad-biking, power-boating, kayaking, mountain biking or zip-wiring with the genteel art of cruising, but excursion brochures are now bursting with activities that are the antithesis of those staid bus trips which are little more than frenetic route-marches from fountains to forums or ruins to relics. Cruise companies have become expert at including activities far-removed from the madding crowd.

Imaging taking a cable car ride to the base of the main crater of Europe’s highest active volcano, where budding geologists and adventurers alike embark four-wheel-drive vehicles for an exploration of Mount Etna’s craters, cones, recent lava flows, and continually-hissing vents.

From the Red Sea port of Aqaba you can explore Wadi Rum where Lawrence began his revolt against the Turks in 1917. Climbing aboard 4-wheel-drive vehicles this dessert quest forges deep into the Valley of the Moon, past wind-sculpted hills and Bedouin communities. There’s the chance to see the Seven Pillars of Wisdom Mountain, Nabataean inscriptions and rock art.

In Alaska a helicopter will take you from the frontier-town of Juneau on a flight-seeing tour over glacier-carved peaks to the awesome Mendenhall Glacier. At the dogsled camp a professional musher and teams of dogs are on hand for an exhilarating sledding experience that offers a taste of the gruelling 1,000-mile Iditarod Race. There’s also the opportunity to fly high above historic homesteads, forested mountains, pristine lakes and sparkling waters of the fabled Inside Passage. You’ll see salmon spawning and black bear feeding, as well as spotting Sitka black-tailed deer, bald eagles, mink, and marten.

Just 20 miles off the pretty settlement of Bar Harbour nature lovers can see finback, humpback, and minke whales aboard a catamaran in the Gulf of Maine. Expert naturalists are on hand to explain the habitat of these graceful creatures that make frequent appearances along with seals, dolphin, and porpoises.

At the other end of the earth you can navigate the fjords of Chiloe from Puerto Montt in Chile aboard a Northwest Seascape II double sea kayak. You get the chance to observe black-necked swans, and flamingoes, as well as dolphins.

Even further south, a specially-chartered flight can whisk you from Punta Arenas to the White Continent, crossing the Straits of Magellan, Tierra del Fuego and Cape Horn. Landfall is made at Frei Base on King George Island from where this Antarctic adventure begins in earnest. At Las Estrellas Village you encounter colonies of Adelie, chinstrap and gentoo penguins, as well as Weddell seals, Antarctic fur seals and elephant seals. All around, steep-sided, flat-topped icebergs are illuminated with the glow of the sun.

Spending seven days in the land that time forgot is a cruise unlike any other. The Galapagos Islands, 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador, were the inspiration for Darwin’s Origin of Species. Sailing from one enchanted island to the next, there’s the chance to enjoy close encounters with marine iguanas, frigate birds, sea lions, and giant tortoises, all of whom have no fear of humans.

Pushing personal boundaries is part and parcel of any visit to Dominica. A tree-top assault course above the steamy rainforest is pure Lara Croft-style adventure. Participants on the trail move from tree to tree; walking, swinging, and crawling across rope and cable footbridges before scrambling over rope nets suspended above the untamed rainforest floor. To conclude the aerial acrobatics there’s a zip-wire trip across the Layou River.

Cruise passengers seeking something more challenging than a rum-factory tour in Barbados can revel in the thrill of being part of the crew in one of two 80-foot mono-hull yachts that were successful competitors in the 1989 Whitbread ‘Around the World’ Race. After hoisting the sails, the race begins in earnest. With nobody keel-hauled, there’s the chance to splice the main brace at a victory party back ashore. Who said cruising’s boring?

© Gary Buchanan