Cruising to The Falklands

By guest blogger Steve Newman

Each year, thousands of tourists make the journey to the Falkland Islands onboard a cruise ship or expedition vessel. This increasingly popular method of travel allows people to visit many sites that remain largely inaccessible to land-based tourists in the Falklands, all from the comfort and safety of a world-class vessel. Ships have the opportunity to land on the outlying islands of the Falklands archipelago, including Carcass, Saunders and Sea Lion Island.

A wide variety of shore excursions and tours are available for passengers to experience the unique wildlife and fascinating history of the Islands. From the capital, Stanley, join the award-winning Bluff Cove Lagoon Tour, where you can stroll along the white sandy beach, home to 1,000 breeding pairs of gentoo penguins and a growing colony of king penguins and chicks, or watch the sea lions and dolphins often seen swimming in the surf.

Visitors can also take part in tours to Volunteer Point, a cornucopia of bird activity and home to king, gentoo and Magellanic penguins – as well as waterfowl and endemic sub-species like the dark-faced ground tyrant, Falkland pipit and thrush. Or enjoy the acrobatic antics of rockhopper penguins as they navigate and hop over the rocks on the Murrell tour.

New activities and tours for cruise passengers for this season are the Lorenzo Penguin & Nature Tour and the North Pond Penguin Tour. Both take guests on an adventurous 4 x 4 trip with a local guide and close experience of the penguins for which the Falklands are famous. Also recently added is a 2.5 hour guided historical walking tour of Stanley to convey the capital’s pioneering history and its British roots.

For more information, visit http://www.falklandislands.com/. For cruising, day tours and a list of operators who visit the Falklands, visit the Cruise Line Ltd or call 0800 008 6677.

World of Cruising magazine has a special feature on the Falklands in the next (Winter) issue, publishing December 28. Why not get yourself a copy by subscribing online on this link.

(Image of Rockhopper Penguins running by Alan White)

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