Deception Island Vacations, Deception Island Vacation Reviews, Tourism Guide

Deception Island is one of the first 'safe havens' after the drake, but 'safe' can be a real deception. Inside it can storm as well!
Volcanic pressure on Deception Island resulted in a tremendous eruption that caused the island’s peak to explode. Its collapsed volcanic caldera is breached at Neptunes Bellows. The resulting caldera flooded with seawater, creating the unique landmass that you may visit today. Its total land area, including outlying islands, is 98.5 km². It is 15 km in diameter and rises to 539 m above sea level at Mount Pond. Over 57% of the island is covered by permanent glaciers. Kroner Lake is the only geothermal lagoon in the Antarctic.

Ships enter the relatively calm waters of Port Forster (12km/7.5mi wide) through the calderas breach that is surrounded by snow-covered hills that reach 580m (1900ft). The island has an interesting history - it was a base for several early exploratory missions - and is still a disputed territory between the Argentineans and the British, however nowadays they seem to get along.

The volcano is still very active and its eruptions have caused evacuations and considerable damage to the stations there (during the 1920-21 whaling season the harbor water boiled and stripped the paint off the ships hulls). The most recent eruption was in 1991-92.

Thousands of Chinstrap Penguins inhabit the volcanic slopes of the island, along with nesting Pintado Petrels and Antarctic Terns.