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Falklands & South Georgia · 60°35′S · 45°30′W

Cruises visiting South Orkney Islands

Ice-Bound Isles • Orcadas Base & Adélie Rookeries

23 upcoming Antarctic expeditions with South Orkney Islands on the route, from $12,520.

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The South Orkneys are a lonely, ice-bound archipelago between South Georgia and the Peninsula, visited as a wild stop on Scotia Sea crossings. Over 85% glaciated, they feel more Antarctic than the Peninsula itself.

Landings — ice permitting — bring Adélie and chinstrap colonies and a visit to Orcadas, the world's oldest continuously operating Antarctic station.

South Orkney Islands — Key Facts At a Glance
Available departures 23
Price range (per person, USD) $12,520 – $44,906
Typical duration 19–43 days
Active fleet coverage 3 operators · 9 ships
Geographic sector Falklands & South Georgia
Coordinates 60°35′S · 45°30′W
Prices last verified 48-hour verification methodology

Wildlife you can spot here

Penguins

Gentoo Penguin

A stocky, orange-billed penguin of the genus Pygoscelis, closest kin to the Adélie and Chinstrap. Its loud, trumpeting call, delivered with head thrown back, carries across the shoreline colonies where expedition landings are made.

Penguins

Chinstrap Penguin

Named for the thin black band under its chin, the chinstrap penguin looks as if it is wearing a helmet. Listen for it before you see it: it has one of the loudest, harshest calls of any penguin.

Seals & Sea Lions

Antarctic Fur Seal

A small, quick-moving seal named almost by accident after the German ship that first collected it near Kerguelen, not for the continent it's rarely seen on. Despite the name, most encounters happen on subantarctic beaches, not the Antarctic mainland.

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