South Georgia Landing Sites

For understandable reasons, seeing South Georgia's king penguins are at the very top of the list for most visitors.

The largest king penguin colony on the island (and possibly in the world) is at St Andrews Bay and is an extraordinary assault on the senses in every way. The beach here can sometimes make landings tricky however so visits are far from guaranteed. The two other largest colonies are those at Salisbury Plain and Gold Harbour.

Smaller king penguin colonies can be found at Fortuna Bay and Right Whale Bay and in many ways offer more relaxed and intimate viewing.

Other species of penguins are also available of course. Stromness Harbour and Godthul are good for gentoo penguins, and Elsehul for macaroni penguins. Cooper Bay is the only place on the island where you can see a chinstrap penguin colony – in fact it's the only spot where all four species of South Georgia's penguins are known to breed.

Not all birds on South Georgia are penguins. Some of its most enchanting species will have followed your ship from either the Falkand Islands or the Antarctic Peninsula: South Georgia is a place for albatross lovers.

Top of many people's wish-list for a trip here is a visit to Prion Island, where you have the possibility of seeing wandering albatrosses on the nest. Access is restricted: smaller than usual numbers of tourists are allowed per visit, and they must stick strictly to the wooden boardwalk through the nesting area. Prion Island is completely closed to visitors between 20 November to 7 January inclusive.

The cliffs of Elsehul offer another treat for albatross fans. Grey-headed albatross and light-mantled albatross (for our money, the two most beautiful albatross species) nest here, and the skies are full of wheeling birds, as well as many other seabird species. Right Whale Bay is another good spot for a wide variety of nesting seabirds.

While some landing sites in South Georgia overwhelm you with their wildlife, others bring the island's history into sharp focus.

All visitors to the island call in at the old whaling station at Grytviken. Its rusting machinery speaks to a dark past while its reclamation by the wildlife points to a more optimistic future. Be sure to check out the excellent museum as well as raising a toast at Shackleton's grave here.

To get closer to Shackleton, retrace the final leg of his 1916 survival trek across the mountains with the hike from Fortuna Bay to the whaling station Stromness Harbour. It's a rare treat to visit the other side of the island to see where he first landed at King Haakon Bay.

The more modest landing sites at Godthul and Jason Harbour also contain relics of South Georgia's whaling days, as well as offering great wildlife viewing opportunities.

South Georgia is home to some of the most dramatic landscapes you'll encounter anywhere. It could hardly be otherwise when the whole island is a mountain range rising straight out of the sea and topped with snow and glaciers. But some locations remain especially jaw-dropping.

If your ship sails around the southern tip of the island there's a good chance that you'll call at Drygalski Fjord, a long tongue of water surrounded by dramatic peaks and capped with some truly incredible glaciers calving into the sea. Glaciers are also a feature of Gold Harbour, where a large king penguin colony is overlooked by a beautiful hanging glacier that glows in the early morning light.

Sailing between the Falkland Islands and South Georgia, look out for the jagged teeth of Shag Rocks erupting for the sea and thick with seabirds.