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Must See Guide

South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands

A glacier-draped island at the edge of the Southern Ocean, with vast king penguin colonies, ghostly whaling stations and Shackleton's last resting place.

Best time to go
November to March, the only season expedition ships visit; November and December for seal pups and courting penguins, January to March for chicks and calmer weather
Local time
–
Currency
British Pound (GBP)
Reading time
9 min
Language
English

South Georgia is a crescent of mountains and glaciers about 170 kilometres long, rising straight out of the Southern Ocean some 1,400 kilometres east of the Falkland Islands. It has no permanent population, no airstrip and no hotels: the only people ashore are a handful of government officers, museum staff and British Antarctic Survey scientists. Yet for wildlife it is one of the richest places on the planet. Hundreds of thousands of king penguins crowd its beaches, millions of fur seals breed on its shores, elephant seals sprawl in the tussac grass, and wandering albatrosses, the largest flying birds, nest on its outlying islands. The rusting whaling stations along the north coast, and Sir Ernest Shackleton's grave at Grytviken, add a human story that most visitors find as moving as the wildlife.

The territory, which also includes the remote volcanic South Sandwich Islands far to the south-east, is a British Overseas Territory run by a commissioner based in the Falklands. Argentina also claims it. In practice, visiting means joining an expedition cruise ship, or occasionally a private yacht, with a government entry permit, strict biosecurity checks and landings run by trained guides. This guide is an honest look at how that works and what you can expect to see.

Most voyages that include South Georgia sail from Ushuaia, call at the Falkland Islands, spend three or four days around South Georgia, and often continue to the Antarctic Peninsula; the whole trip usually takes around three weeks. The landing sites below are listed roughly west to east, the order in which many ships work along the north-east coast, but the actual programme depends entirely on the weather, sea swell and the permits each ship holds.

The top 10 in South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands

  1. 1

    Prion Island

    A small, tussac-covered island in the Bay of Isles, Prion Island is one of the few places in the world where visitors can watch wandering albatrosses at the nest. A wooden boardwalk and viewing platforms climb from the beach through the fur seals to the breeding sites, keeping feet off the fragile ground. With luck you may see a chick on its nest or an adult with a wingspan over three metres gliding in. Landing numbers are tightly limited, and the island is closed during part of the early summer when fur seals are breeding on the beach.

    TipStay strictly on the boardwalk; the albatrosses nest only metres away and must not be disturbed.

  2. 2

    Salisbury Plain

    Across the Bay of Isles, a broad glacial outwash plain holds one of South Georgia's biggest king penguin colonies, tens of thousands of pairs stretching back towards the Grace Glacier. The noise and smell hit you as the Zodiac nears the beach, where fur seals and elephant seals guard the shoreline. Walking routes keep visitors at the edge of the colony, from where the scale is overwhelming: adults in orange and silver, brown woolly chicks standing in huddled crèches, and a constant traffic to and from the sea.

    TipIn November and December the beach can be packed with territorial male fur seals. Your guides will judge whether a landing is safe.

  3. 3

    Fortuna Bay and the Shackleton walk

    Fortuna Bay is a beautiful glacial inlet with its own king penguin colony, but it is best known as the start of the "Shackleton walk". In May 1916, after sailing a small open boat from Elephant Island, Ernest Shackleton, Frank Worsley and Tom Crean crossed South Georgia's unmapped mountains to reach help at Stromness whaling station. Many ships offer passengers the chance to walk the final stage, about five or six kilometres over a pass to Stromness, past a lake and down a waterfall valley the three men descended. Ships pick up walkers in Stromness Bay.

    TipThe walk is steep and uneven and depends on conditions; good boots, fitness and waterproofs are essential, and it can be cancelled at short notice.

  4. 4

    Stromness

    The whaling station where Shackleton's party arrived in 1916, ending one of the great survival journeys, is now a ruin of rusted machinery and collapsing buildings. Like Husvik, Leith Harbour and Prince Olav Harbour, it lies inside a 200-metre exclusion zone because of dangerous structures and asbestos, and entry without a permit is an offence. Visitors can see it from the shore and from the valley where the walk ends, often with fur seals and gentoo penguins on the beach.

  5. 5

    Grytviken

    In a sheltered cove of King Edward Cove, Grytviken was the first whaling station on South Georgia, founded in 1904 by the Norwegian Carl Anton Larsen, and operated for some six decades, processing many thousands of whales. Its tanks, boilers, flensing plan and beached whale catchers have been made safe, and visitors can walk among them with interpretive signs. The white wooden Norwegian church, built in 1913 and still used for occasional services and weddings, stands above the station, and a post office sells South Georgia's own stamps.

    TipFur seals and elephant seals lie among the ruins and on the paths. Give them a wide berth; young fur seals can be surprisingly aggressive.

  6. 6

    South Georgia Museum

    The station manager's former villa now houses the South Georgia Museum, run by the South Georgia Heritage Trust. It covers the island's discovery by James Cook in 1775, sealing and whaling, the heroic age of Antarctic exploration, the 1982 conflict and the remarkable restoration of the island's ecology, including a full-size replica of Shackleton's lifeboat, the James Caird. The museum shop helps fund conservation and heritage work.

  7. 7

    Shackleton's grave

    Shackleton died of a heart attack aboard his ship Quest in King Edward Cove in January 1922, at the start of a new expedition, and at his wife's request was buried in the small whalers' cemetery at Grytviken. A granite headstone marks his grave; since 2011 the ashes of Frank Wild, his right-hand man, have lain beside him. Visitors traditionally raise a toast to "the Boss" here, a ritual many expedition staff keep.

  8. 8

    King Edward Point

    Across the cove from Grytviken, King Edward Point is the territory's administrative base, with the government officers who meet every ship, inspect permits and biosecurity, and a British Antarctic Survey research station focused on fisheries science. Visitors pass it rather than tour it, but it is a reminder of how small and isolated the island's human community is.

  9. 9

    St Andrews Bay

    Many consider St Andrews Bay the finest wildlife sight on South Georgia: the island's largest king penguin colony, numbering in the hundreds of thousands of birds including chicks, spread across a plain beneath glaciers and peaks. A short walk leads to a viewpoint above the colony, where the sheer mass of birds fills the valley, with elephant seals on the beach and meltwater rivers to ford. Heavy swell often makes landing impossible, so treat any visit here as a bonus.

  10. 10

    Gold Harbour

    Near the south-eastern tip of the island, Gold Harbour gets its name from the early-morning light on its cliffs, with the hanging Bertrab Glacier spilling above the bay. King and gentoo penguins, elephant seals and fur seals crowd a narrow beach, and light-mantled albatrosses wheel past the cliffs. Ships often arrive at dawn, and when the swell is too high to land, a Zodiac cruise along the shore can be just as memorable.

When to go

South Georgia is visited only in the southern summer, from late October or November to March, when expedition ships operate. Each part of the season has its character. November and December bring elephant seal pups, courting penguins and fur seal males staking out territory, with snow still low on the mountains. December and January see fur seal pups and the year's longest days. From January to March, penguin chicks fill the colonies, the fur seals are more settled, and the weather can be slightly calmer. Whenever you go, expect cold, wind, sleet and sudden katabatic gusts off the glaciers; landings are often cancelled or switched.

Getting around

There is no airport and no independent transport to South Georgia. Almost every visitor arrives on an expedition cruise ship run by a member of the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO), sailing from Ushuaia or from Stanley in the Falklands, on voyages of around two to three weeks. A small number of private and charter yachts also visit. In the region of 15,000 people visit each year.

All visitors need an entry permit under the territory's Entry Control Ordinance; cruise operators apply on their passengers' behalf, and the cost is built into the fare. Ships must be self-sufficient, carrying their own medical staff: there are no medical facilities for visitors on the island and no search and rescue service, and the nearest help is days away by sea. Anyone planning to camp ashore, fly a drone, carry out research or film professionally needs a separate permit, and aircraft, including helicopters, are not allowed.

Once there, the ship is your hotel and your transport. Passengers go ashore in inflatable Zodiac boats, usually in wet landings onto beaches, in groups limited by site rules, and spend a few hours at each site with expedition guides. There are no roads, vehicles or shore facilities beyond Grytviken.

Biosecurity and visitor rules

South Georgia has been the scene of one of the world's most ambitious conservation projects. Rats, brought by sealers and whalers, devastated ground-nesting birds for two centuries; a multi-year eradication led by the South Georgia Heritage Trust, along with the removal of introduced reindeer, has allowed songbirds such as the South Georgia pipit to return. Keeping new pests and diseases out is now a top priority.

  • Before landing, all outer clothing, boots, bags, tripods and walking poles must be inspected and cleaned of soil, seeds and plant matter; government officers or ship staff check them.
  • Boots are washed and disinfected before and after every landing.
  • Never take food ashore, and never leave anything behind.
  • Keep at least five metres from wildlife, more from fur seals, and never block an animal's path to the sea.
  • Stay with your group and within the areas guides mark out.
  • Do not touch or remove anything from whaling stations, historic sites or the beaches.
  • Report sick or dead birds or seals to your expedition staff rather than approaching them.

Local tips

  • Pack waterproof trousers, a waterproof jacket, warm layers, gloves and a hat; ships usually lend tall rubber boots for wet landings.
  • Bring seasickness remedies: the crossing from the Falklands is often rough.
  • A long camera lens is useful but not essential; the wildlife is often close.
  • The Grytviken museum shop and post office are the only places to spend money ashore; ask your expedition staff which payment methods they currently take.
  • Expect changes: a planned landing may become a Zodiac cruise, or be swapped for another bay entirely.

The South Sandwich Islands

Some 700 kilometres south-east of South Georgia, the South Sandwich Islands form a chain of volcanic islands, several of them active, rising from one of the deepest ocean trenches on earth. They are almost permanently shrouded in fog and ice, with no safe harbours. Zavodovski Island holds one of the largest chinstrap penguin colonies in the world. The islands and their waters lie within a huge marine protected area, and visits are very rare: only occasional specialist expedition voyages attempt them, usually with no landing at all.

A short history

James Cook landed and claimed South Georgia for Britain in January 1775, naming it after George III; his reports of seals brought sealers within a few years, and fur seals were hunted almost to extinction by the mid-nineteenth century. Modern whaling began at Grytviken in 1904, and over six decades the island's shore stations processed many thousands of whales before the trade collapsed. Shackleton's 1916 crossing and his burial in 1922 tied South Georgia to the story of Antarctic exploration. In April 1982 Argentine forces landed at Grytviken during the Falklands conflict; British forces retook the island later that month. Since then, the territory has focused on fisheries management, science and conservation.