Volunteer Point

About this place

Volunteer Point is a headland on the east coast of East Falkland, about 25 km in a straight line north of Stanley, at the end of a narrow peninsula that shelters Volunteer Lagoon. It is named after the ship Volunteer, which visited the islands in 1815, and it is home to the largest king penguin colony in the Falkland Islands. The headland was declared a National Nature Reserve in 1968 and lies within Johnson's Harbour Farm, which is privately owned and locally managed. Its landscape is a 3.2 km white sand beach, Volunteer Beach, backed by grassy banks and rolling ground, with hard quartz-sandstone formations that are among the oldest sedimentary rocks in the islands. The king penguins, tall birds with golden-orange patches on the neck, stand together on the grass, often with fluffy brown chicks among them. Gentoo and Magellanic penguins also breed here, along with Falkland steamer ducks, ruddy-headed geese and more than 40 other bird species, and southern sea lions are often seen near the shore. Volunteer Point is reached by a four-wheel-drive journey of about three hours from Stanley, much of it off-road, and entry needs the landowner's permission, so most visitors come on a guided tour. Keep your distance from the birds, stay outside any marked areas around the colonies, and expect strong wind.