Since 1775, when Captain Cook became the first to land on South Georgia, the island has been a base camp for sealers, whalers and Antarctic explorers. Norwegians established the island’s first whaling station in Grytviken in 1904, with six others to follow. Of all the explorers, best known is Ernest Shackleton, who with five of his men, sailed a lifeboat 800 nautical miles across the Southern Ocean, then hiked across the island’s unmapped interior to raise a rescue for the men he left behind on Elephant Island. Join your Discovery Team historian in the Grytviken cemetery to raise a toast at the graves of Shackleton and his right-hand man, Frank Wild, and tour the open-air whaling station, museum and gift shop.
Join your Discovery Team guide for all-inclusive kayaking and paddleboard excursions off the island’s largest king penguin rookeries, as birds zoom underneath and all around your craft. Become one of the first people ever to explore the deep waters surrounding South Georgia in the custom-built submarine, Scenic Neptune.
And relax in truly all-inclusive luxury as you continue along the Scotia Arc through waters that are home to all the great whale species, including blue, fin and sei whales. Depending on ice, weather and sea conditions, we may stop by the South Orkney and Elephant islands, as we follow the Scotia Arc to Antarctica.