Three priorities map cleanly onto three parts of the season, and picking your priority is a better way to choose than picking a month. Landscape, deep snow and the snow-dependent activities go early. Penguin chicks go mid. Interactive whales, wildlife behaviour and the best pricing go late. Everything else, including temperature, moves too little to decide on.
| Early, Nov to early Dec | Mid, mid Dec to early Feb | Late, Feb to Mar | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wildlife | Courtship, no chicks | Chicks hatch and fluff up | Chicks moving, leopard seals, whales |
| Landscape | Deepest snow, pristine sites | Sites opening up | Fresh snow, iceberg graveyards |
| Light | Sunrises and sunsets | 24 hour sun | Golden, sun setting again |
| Activities | Camping and snowshoeing best | Good | Snow-dependent ones fading |
| Price | Softer | Highest | Lowest, 20 to 40 percent under peak |
The seasons blend into each other. The one real break is around mid February, when the trip stops being about colonies and starts being about whales and predation.
What doesn't change enough to matter: the temperature difference across the whole season is about one extra fleece, and the Drake is equally unpredictable in every month.