Penguins in Faulklands -- Info

[Vickiville]

I received the following info from the Faulklands about the different sites for viewing penguins:

----

Volunteer Point is at the north east tip of the Falklands and is approximately 2.5 hours drive from Stanley. It is home to the largest king penguin colony in the Islands and there are also large gentoo and magellenic colonies. It is generally recognised as being the premier penguin location on East Falklands but is somewhat exclusive due to its remote location with the 12 miles of overland driving taking 1.5 hours of the 2.5 hours travelling time.

 

Bluff Cove is on the south shore of East Falklands and is exclusive to the cruise ships who have a 'closed shop' arrangement with the landowner. The trip involves a short 25 to 30 minute coach ride followed by a 30 minute trip by 4x4 to the penguins. There are a few kings there along with gentoos and magellenics.

 

Similarly Sparrow Cove is exclusive to cruise ships and involves a short launch ride from ship or shore to a jetty and then a 4x4 trip to the colonies, again mainly gentoo with the possibility of a few migrant Kings.

 

Gypsy Cove is close to Stanley (about 15 minutes drive on gravelled road) and is the summer home to around 90-100 magellenic penguins. The penguins by nature live in burrows that are often some distance from the roped-off walkway so sometimes they are difficult to see or get close to, there are a couple of sand beaches that they often congregate on but again these are distant and far from ideal especially for photo opportunities. The area also gets very busy on large cruise ship days as a large percentage of the passengers who haven't pre-booked a shore excursion elsewhere visit the area as it is the only place to get a glimpse of penguins.

----

Hope this helps anyone else who may have been confused by all the posts here at Cruise Critic (where I found the names of the sites.) I have more info too but it seems we are no longer able to post info about vendors - which I think is absolutely ridiculous -- isn't this why we view these blogs in the first place? :)

[shipshape sam]

Thanks for the great info! :) We are going early next year and Martha wants to see the penguins!