Making the most of South Shetland Islands
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
Because cruise ships cannot dock here, inflatable zodiac boats tender passengers ashore.
Sightseeing
The South Shetland island chain lies off the north western coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. William Smith discovered it in 1819 and claimed the islands for Britain’s King George III. Sealing followed: on Smith’s fifth return to the South Shetlands in 1820-1821, his two vessels alone took over 60,000 fur seal skins, and by the end of 1821 the fur seals had almost disappeared. Some of Antarctica’s first tourism occurred here when the first Antarctic tourist flight passed over the islands and Antarctic Peninsula in 1956. The islands in the chain are largely…