Cooper Bay

Lying near the southern tip of South Georgia, Cooper Bay is a charmingly green landing site. It has a relatively sheltered location, meaning that it often avoids the worst of South Georgia's weather. The bay is named for Lieutenant Robert Cooper, who served on Captain James Cook's voyage here in 1775.

There are three coves in the bay, surrounded by dramatic cliffs and facing Cooper Island, which gives the bay much of its protection against storms. Until the successful conclusion of the rat eradication programme in 2018, Cooper Island was a key retreat for the South Georgia pipit, whose song can now be happily heard by those landing on the mainland here.

As the most southerly landing site in South Georgia, Cooper Bay is often visited in conjunction with a ship cruise to nearby Drygalski Fjord. The contrast between with vast blue ice cliffs of the glaciers there and the comparatively cosy green of the tussock grass and fellfield of Cooper Bay is one of the most striking on the island. 

The wildlife at Cooper Bay is simply tremendous. All four of South Georgia's breeding penguin species can be spotted here: macaronis, gentoos, chinstraps and kings. Light-mantled sooty albatross, southern giant petrels and brown skuas all nest here, along with smaller burrowing petrels who make their home in the tussock, including white-chinned petrels and Wilson's storm petrels. Their numbers have increased since the successful rat eradication programme, along with South Georgia pipits and pintail ducks.

The beaches at Cooper Bay are thick with fur seals and elephant seals throughout the summer months.