Antarctica Unlocked
English
Antarctica Unlocked
Find Departures
Browse
Operators Ships Seasons
Destinations
All Destinations Embarkation ports Landing sites Antarctic Peninsula South Georgia Weddell Sea Falkland Islands South Shetland Islands
Guides
Cruise styles Activities Wildlife Packing list FAQ About & methodology Compare departures

Antarctic Peninsula · 62°00′S · 58°00′W

Cruises visiting South Shetland Islands

Volcanic Isles • Penguin Rookeries & Calderas

671 upcoming Antarctic expeditions with South Shetland Islands on the route, from $5,995.

Filter & compare all 671 departures

The South Shetlands are the first land most ships reach after the Drake Passage, about 120 km off the Peninsula. The archipelago packs volcanic beaches, steaming calderas and enormous penguin and seal colonies into a single day's sailing.

Highlights include the flooded volcano of Deception Island, chinstrap colonies numbering hundreds of thousands, and southern elephant seals on the beaches. Fly-cruise itineraries start here, at King George Island's airstrip.

South Shetland Islands — Key Facts At a Glance
Available departures 671
Price range (per person, USD) $5,995 – $82,950
Typical duration 6–43 days
Active fleet coverage 13 operators · 32 ships
Geographic sector Antarctic Peninsula
Coordinates 62°00′S · 58°00′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.

Whales & Dolphins

Humpback Whale

A 14–17 metre baleen whale known for breaching and long pectoral fins, often seen feeding on krill in loose groups along the ice edge.

Seals & Sea Lions

Leopard Seal

The leopard seal is the Antarctic's second-largest seal after the elephant seal, built long and muscular with a spotted, leopard-like coat. It is the region's top predator, hunting penguins, fish, and even other seals along the ice edge.

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.

Albatrosses & Seabirds

South Polar Skua

A large, heavy-built seabird of the skua family, the south polar skua ranges the Southern Ocean and its ice edges with an unmistakable, gull-like silhouette. Its older name, MacCormick's skua, recalls the naval surgeon who collected the first specimen.

Whales & Dolphins

Fin Whale

The fin whale is the second-longest animal on Earth after the blue whale, reaching up to 27 metres. Its long, slender, countershaded body is most often seen slicing through open water rather than breaching.

Albatrosses & Seabirds

Snowy Sheathbill

The snowy sheathbill is the only land bird native to the Antarctic continent, and one of just two sheathbill species in the world. Look down, not up: it spends its time walking the shoreline and rocks rather than flying.

Albatrosses & Seabirds

Antarctic Shag

The Antarctic shag is the only cormorant species found on the continent, easy to pick out by its blue-ringed eyes as it stands stiffly upright on ice floes and coastal cliffs. It nests in small colonies apart from the penguin rookeries along rocky shorelines.

Iconic landing sites

By embarkation port

By operator

By month

Compare all Antarctic departures across operators →