Gude Adventures

Gude Adventures | Travel Blog - to 628 Destinations in 64 Nations that we visited

Elephant Island, Antarctica - Things to See and Do

What to see and do at Elephant Island, Antarctica

Booking through these agencies from here will help support this site at no extra cost to you.

Viator — book tours, activities and excursionsTravel booking offerVrbo vacation rentalsTravelex — travel protection insuranceUS Ghost Adventures — Tampa ghost tourLast Minute Travel Deals

Elephant Island is a mountainous ice-covered island off the coast of Antarctica

Elephant Island is located in the Southern Ocean at the north end of the South Shetland Islands. Elephant Island was named after the elephant head shape of the island and the sighting of elephant seals on the island by Captain George Powell in 1821.

Mount Pendragon is the tallest mountain on the island and is 3,192 ft high. The weather around the island is normally foggy with lots of snow and high winds which can reach 100 mph or more.

We visited Elephant Island on 1/30/2024. We experienced winds up to 78 mph when we arrived at the island. We cruised eastward along the south coast of the island and then along the north coast to the west to Point Wild. While passing between Elephant Island and Clarence Island we encountered over 100 humpback whales and thousands of chinstrap penguins feeding in the passage along with numerous sea birds.

Viator offers numerous tours in the Elephant Island area. Click here for details.

Pictures from Elephant Island

Point Wild in front of a glacier on Elephant Island.

Point Wild in front of a glacier on Elephant Island.

Shackleton's camp at Point Wild on Elephant Island.
The passage between Elephant Island and Clarence Island.
Cape Petrel sea bird near Elephant Island.
Chinstrap penguins near Elephant Island.
A pair of Humpback whales near Elephant Island.
An Albatross flying low over the ocean.
Chinstrap penguins on an iceberg near Elephant Island.
Endurance Glacier is the main glacier on the south side of Elephant Island.
The Endurance Glacier is very large and has many outflows into the ocean.
Two more of the Endurance Glacier outflows into the ocean.
Another one of the Endurance Glacier outflows into the ocean.
Cruising along the coast of Elephant Island.