Antarctica is one of the most exciting adventure travel destinations on the planet, but many expedition cruises ramp up the wildlife it’s possible to see by including a visit to South Georgia as well. This 100 mile (160 km) long island is a two day sail from anywhere, but is home to the greatest concentration of marine wildlife anywhere on the planet. There are colonies of bright king penguins hundreds of thousands strong, while fur seals line the beaches in their millions. A visit here is like stepping inside the best nature documentary imaginable.
South Georgia weaves a magic spell on all those who dream to sail there, but when you’re bound for this amazing Subantarctic island, you may be wondering exactly where you’ll be heading when you arrive. To help you, our team of experts have shared the top 10 places to visit in South Georgia to see during a once-in-a-lifetime polar adventure. Although exact itineraries can never be guaranteed on any expedition cruise (Mother Nature and her wild weather can be thanked for that), we hope to give you a taste of what you might experience on South Georgia.
St Andrews Bay
If South Georgia is famous in the wildlife stakes for one reason, it’s because of its huge and raucous colonies of king penguins. Of these, St Andrews Bay is home to the largest.
There are somewhere between a quarter of a million and 400,000 king penguins on show here. The effect of their massed ranks is undeniable: the air is thick with the metallic calls of adults and the whistling of woolly chicks singing for their supper. And it has to be said, the fishy guano smell of so many penguins is pretty powerful as well.
Of all the South Georgia king penguin colonies, St Andrews Bay is perhaps the hardest to make a landing at, thanks to its exposed shore and steeply shelving beach, but even a shoreline safari in a zodiac here is an incredible experience, with countless penguins coming and going among the fur seals and elephant seals.
Salisbury Plain
Salisbury Plain is home to one of South Georgia’s largest and most charming king penguin colonies. The rookery sits on the edge of a wide plain, behind a beach that is usually packed with fur seals and elephant seals: it’s good to linger here to watch the shoreline action.
Thick tussac grass fringes the king penguin colony, giving Salisbury Plain a pleasing green aspect. It also means that there is the chance to see other wildlife here: listen out for the song of the South Georgia pipit, the island’s only songbird, which is increasingly heard since the successful eradication of human-introduced rats from the island. Skuas also nest in the tussac here, so your expedition guides will give advice on where to walk to avoid accidentally disturbing them.
Gold Harbour
Of the four largest South Georgia king penguin colonies one of the particular favourites of many expedition guides is Gold Harbour. It isn’t the largest by some degree, but it’s regarded by many as having the most spectacular location.
Gold Harbour is almost completely surrounded by cliffs and craggy mountain slopes, giving it the atmosphere of a vast natural amphitheatre. The sense of drama is heightened by the presence of a beautiful hanging glacier that sits above the penguin colony. A cool blue white in the day, it glows brightly in the late afternoon sun as if it was gilded, giving the location its name.
One particular attraction of Gold Harbour is the hillside walk through the tussac grass at the far end of the beach, which offers a tremendous scenic view of the king penguins, and the beaches of the bay lined with fur seals and elephant seals.
Grytviken
The historic whaling station at Grytviken is the one place that (weather permitting) nearly all expedition cruise ships visit, to undergo biosecurity and customs checks. It’s a fascinating place to wander, with a brilliant museum telling the island’s story, set amid the rusting remains of old machinery once used to turn whales into oil. A couple of beached, picturesque whaling catcher ships add to the atmosphere.
A trip to the charming wooden whitewashed Norwegian Church is an essential stop in Grytviken, along with sending a postcard home from one of the most isolated post offices in the world. Finally, all visitors take the time to visit Shackleton’s Grave at the cemetery on the edge of Gryvtiken: an experience that’s so central to any trip to South Georgia that it’s worthy of its own entry on this list.
Shackleton’s Grave
Sir Ernest Shackleton died in Grytviken from a heart attack in January 1992 at the beginning of his ill-starred Quest expedition, and he was buried in the whaler’s cemetery with his grave facing south to Antarctica. Next to him lie the ashes of Frank Wild, his faithful lieutenant on several occasions, including the Endurance expedition. There are many Shackleton locations across South Georgia, but this is the most unmissable.
It’s traditional for modern visitors to drink a toast to Shackleton at his grave, usually after a few words of tribute from one of the expedition guides. Even those with only a casual interest in the explorer often find this a moving occasion. While visiting Shackleton’s grave, note the sturdy fencing around the cemetery: it’s an essential requirement to prevent disturbance of the site by fur seals.
Stromness Harbour
The abandoned and rusting remains of the whaling station at Stromness Harbour offer one of the most atmospheric places to visit in South Georgia, and give a hint at the bloody years of environmental exploitation that underwrote much of the island’s history.
While it’s not safe to walk among the ruins of the whaling station due to asbestos and the risks of flying debris, it’s possible to land here and walk to gentoo penguin rookery and inland to the famous Shackleton Waterfall. This was the last hurdle in the epic hike that Shackleton, Tom Crean and Frank Worsley made across South Georgia as part of the rescue effort for the crew of the Endurance stranded on Elephant Island. The old Manager’s Villa at Stromness, where they arrived at the station can still be seen during a zodiac cruise around the harbour. A new plan to conserve and protect it is currently being worked on by the South Georgia Heritage Trust.
Elsehul
Elsehul bay is a rarity in South Georgia in that it’s not all about king penguins or Shackleton. It’s not even about the fur seals and elephant seals, though they are found here. This is a place that expedition guides love for its large numbers of sea birds – and albatrosses in particular.
The bay at Elsehul is mostly lined with cliffs with only a narrow strip of beach, which makes it a good spot for zodiac cruising and seeing how South Georgia’s birds like to organise their nests on such sheer surfaces. On the bare rocks, macaroni penguins act like improbable mountaineers, climbing high to form their rookeries. Where softer slopes allow tussac grass to take hold, albatrosses breed in large numbers. Black-browed albatrosses, grey-headed albatrosses and light-mantled albatrosses all breed here, and watching them come and go from their nests is a marvel. Down on the shore line, a few gentoo penguins nest in the grass, uninterested in the aerial ballet that’s going on above their heads.
Fortuna Bay
Fortuna Bay is home to one of the four large South Georgia king penguin colonies. It is probably the smallest of the four, but size is relative here. In fact, many visitors are known to remark that the relative intimacy of Fortuna Bay makes it their favourite place to see these magnificent birds.
The penguin rookery sits on a narrow plain, with a beautiful glacier at its head and a number of waterfalls tumbling down the cliffs on either side of the valley. As well as its king penguins, and beaches thick with fur seals and elephant seals, Fortuna Bay is another South Georgia location associated with Shackleton: it’s sometimes possible to do the Shackleton Walk from here, walking over the mountain ridge to Stromness Harbour – a stunning hike of a few hours that recreates the final stretch of his famous walk across the island in 1916.
King Haakon Bay
Virtually all of the places in South Georgia that an expedition cruise visit are on the sheltered eastern side of the island, tucked away from the extremes of the weather. But ships do sometimes call in at King Haakon Bay on the west coast.
Why? Well, the answer (as with so many things in South Georgia) is related to Shackleton. It was at King Haakon Bay where he and his men made landfall in the James Caird after their heroic small boat voyage from Elephant Island.
The first place they touched land was in the tiny Cave Cove, which is incredibly hard to access safely. Should your ship visit it will more likely be at the head of the bay, on the beach near the glacier where the men made their incredible march across the island to raise the alarm about the fate of Endurance. There’s little wildlife to see, mostly just elephant seals, but it’s a rare and special thing to be able to follow in Shackleton’s footsteps
Drygalski Fjord
Drygalski Fjord sits at the very southern tip of South Georgia, and is often a first or last stop between the island and the Antarctic Peninsula, depending on which direction the Antarctic cruise is sailing in.
Drygalski is all about showcasing South Georgia’s majesty in its rawest form. It’s a ship cruise only destination, so there are no landings or zodiac cruises to be had here: instead it’s all about standing out on deck and letting the scenery take your breath away. Jagged mountains erupt straight out of the sea, only slightly softened by their snowy blankets. At the head of the fjord, the blue tongues of glaciers extend into the water, occasionally calving into glaciers. Throw in a sky thick with the large numbers of petrels whose nests line the cliffs and you have one of South Georgia’s greatest shows.
Experiencing South Georgia
Expedition cruises to South Georgia visit the island as part of a longer trip that also takes in the Antarctic Peninsula and the Falkland Islands. Here at Swoop Antarctica, our team of experts travel south every year and know the entire polar fleet inside out, to help find the best experience for you. If this tour of the best places to visit in South Georgia has whetted your appetite to start planning your own polar trip of a lifetime and you’d like to take the next step or find out how to get to South Georgia or when to go, get in touch with our team to find out how we can help you.
*
