Step inside an active Antarctic volcano via its narrow sea entrance, Neptune's Bellows, landing on black volcanic beaches inside the caldera of Deception Island — a surreal, steaming landscape laced with the ruins of a 19th-century whaling station.
What to expect
Your Zodiac threads through the dramatic gap of Neptune's Bellows into a flooded caldera of startling scale — steaming fumaroles vent from the black beach and the ruins of Hektor Whaling Station emerge from the volcanic sand like a ghost story made real. A volcanologist explains the island's last eruption in 1970 and points to the geothermal hotspots where you can (briefly) dig down to warm water. Chinstrap penguin colonies nest in the rusted station buildings, utterly indifferent to the history around them. It is one of the most atmospheric landings in all of Antarctica.
Good to know
Access to Deception Island is controlled by Antarctic Treaty authorities and landings can be refused on safety or conservation grounds — cherish it when it opens. Wear waterproof boots rated for wet volcanic sand landings. Plan for a half-day ashore.