Crozet Islands

The Crozet Islands (French and very commonly in English: Îles Crozet) are an uninhabited Subantarctic archipelago that makes up one of the five districts of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands in the southern Indian Ocean. The only sign of human civilisation that exists is, a research station on Île de la Possession.

The volcanic archipelago is remote – the closest other islands are the Prince Edward Islands a little over to the west, Kerguelen around  ESE and the Heard Island and McDonald Islands  to the southeast, keeping in mind that these islands are mostly uninhabited.

Islands
The Crozet Islands consists of five volcanic islands and can be divided up into two groups: l'Occidental meaning Western Group and l'Oriental meaning Eastern Group. The Eastern Group consists of Île de la Possession and Île de l'Est, the two largest islands while the Western Group consists of the other smaller islands to the west.

History
The archipelago was discovered on 24 January 1772 by Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne, who named them after his second-in-command Jules Crozet who claimed the archipelago for France whilst en route towards New Zealand. Unfortunately, much of the crew, including Captain Marion, died in conflict with the Maori, but Crozet survived and led his survivors back to Mauritius. When Cook set sail for the archipelago, he decided in 1776 to name all of these islands after their two discoverers, Marion and Crozet Islands, but only the name of Crozet was kept. Later, the toponym Marion was used to refer to the western group and Crozet to the eastern – the western group now refers to the Prince Edward Islands administered by South Africa, while the eastern referred to the Crozet Islands.

Like many Subantarctic and Antarctic islands, the Crozet Islands were popular with sealers and had almost exterminated them by 1835; likewise, whalers had also nearly exploited the islands' whale population, which was completely legal – it would take almost a century for conservation efforts to grow. However, as the archipelago's seal and whale population had been near-exploited, the islands were seldom visited until the early 20th century.

France reasserted its sovereignty of the islands in 1923 and between 1924 and 1955, the archipelago was administered from Madagascar (back when it was a French colony) and almost a century after the archipelago's seal and whale population was near-exploited, the islands were declared a nature reserve in 1938. After 1955, the islands became a part of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands and the Alfred Faure research station was set up six years later and is the only human activity on the archipelago where they perform meteorological, biological and geological research.

Flora and fauna
The vegetation is tundra-like, but there is no permafrost. The rich wildlife was partially wiped out in the 19th century, but penguins (golden-crested penguins and king penguins) and seabirds have returned.

Climate
The archipelago's climate is generally cold as with many Subantarctic islands and is best visited during summer and fluctuates within the single digits year-round. Keep in mind that winter can get very windy – winds exceeding occur about 100 days of the year.

Visitor information

 * Official archipelago blog
 * taaf.fr website

Get in


There is no air service, and only a small landing pier on the main island of Île de la Possession. This is visited four times a year by the support ship Marion Dufresne II, which starts from Réunion and sails on from Crozet Islands to Kerguelen, Île Saint-Paul, Île Amsterdam then back to Réunion. Until 2019 tourist berths were available on these sailings; they were suspended because of Covid and in 2024 it was announced that they will not resume.

Get around
The only way to get around is by using the same boat you arrived in – the Marion Dufresne will likely have that organised for you.

See and do

 * Wildlife: If you've come this far from pretty much everywhere, it's almost certain you've come here to see the archipelago's pristine wildlife. If you haven't already read the flora and fauna section, most of the islands are filled with penguin colonies and seals can be found on the larger islands.

Buy
Being an official French possession, the official currency is the euro but there is no economic activity on this archipelago. All supplies must be brought with you.

Eat and drink
As there is no economic activity on the archipelago, all food must be brought with you, but this should be handled by your tour operator – make sure to check with them before leaving. The little food available is usually for the staff working at the research station.

Sleep
Accommodation should be handled by your tour operator – you'll likely be staying on the Marion Durfense as the few beds and pillows at Alfred Faure are for the researchers only.

Go next
You have go wherever your tour is heading. On the Marion Dufresne that will be to Kerguelen, Île Saint-Paul where you may not go ashore, then Île Amsterdam and back to Réunion.