Making the most of Snow Hill Vega Island
Use these notes to shape a realistic day ashore, then confirm any time-sensitive information for the date of your call.
Arriving at the port
As cruise ships are not able to dock here you will be tendered by inflatable zodiac boats.
Sightseeing
Snow Hill Island is an almost completely snowcapped island, 20 miles (32 km) long and 6 miles (10 km) wide, lying off the east coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. It is separated from James Ross Island to the northeast by Admiralty Sound. Snow Hill Island was where the adventurer Otto Nordenskjold and some of his party had to endure two winters in 1902 and 1903 before a miraculous rescue. Reachable only with an icebreaker and helicopters, Snow Hill Island is undoubtedly the most accessible emperor penguin colony in the world.
It was discovered on January 6, 1843 by a British expedition under James Clark Ross who, uncertain of its connection with the mainland, named it Snow Hill because its snow cover stood out in contrast to the bare ground of nearby Seymour Island. Its insular character was determined in 1902 by the Swedish Antarctic Expedition under Otto Nordenskiöld, who spent the winters of 1901, 1902, and 1903 there, using it as a base to explore the neighboring islands and the Nordenskjold Coast of the Antarctic Peninsula.