Deception Island Antarctica South Shetlands
Antarctica
Frequently Asked Questions
Through Neptune's Bellows, a gap a few hundred metres wide framed by dark cliffs. Beyond it opens Port Foster, a ten kilometre enclosed lagoon : you are literally sailing inside a collapsed volcanic crater.
At Whalers Bay, the main landing site, a black sand beach curving to the right just past the narrows. Zodiacs drop visitors there; there is no pier and no permanent resident.
The remains of the whaling era : rusted tanks from the Norwegian rendering works of the early 20th century, split barrels, whale bones bleached by the decades. Alongside stand the buildings of a British research base, evacuated after the 1969 eruption.
Yes. Fumaroles sometimes rise from the shore and in places the sand gives off an unexpected warmth underfoot. Scientists monitor the island continuously and expeditions adapt their plans to conditions.
That is the ritual the place is famous for : the polar plunge, a few seconds in freezing water to the applause of the group. Nobody has to do it, and the warm patches of sand do not warm the sea.
A site at the far end of the inner bay where a guided hike climbs to the rim of a recent crater : a mineral landscape, ash as far as the eye can see, and the sense of walking on land still being made.
Chinstrap penguins along the beaches, fur seals sprawled near the ruins, terns and gulls nesting on the slopes. In calm seas some expeditions approach Baily Head on the outer face, home to one of the largest chinstrap colonies in Antarctica.
No. Outings are guided and depend on weather as well as volcanic activity. As everywhere in Antarctica, the programme is decided the same morning.
Dark volcanic sand beaches and protected historic sites, where you move only with the expedition team. Tall boots are essential : landings are wet, into shallow water.
The austral summer, November through March, the only sailing season in the South Shetlands. Neptune's Bellows can be transited at any hour, but the light at the start and end of the day is particularly fine.
