Royal Bay is a bay

Bay

A bay is an area of water mostly surrounded by land. Bays generally have calmer waters than the surrounding sea, due to the surrounding land blocking some waves and often reducing winds. Bays also exist as an inlet in a lake or pond. A large bay may be called a gulf, a sea, a sound, or a bight...

, 4 miles (6 km) wide and indenting 5 miles (8 km), entered between Cape Charlotte

Cape Charlotte

Cape Charlotte is a cape that forms the southeast side of the entrance to Royal Bay on the north coast near the eastern end of South Georgia in the Atlantic Ocean. It was discovered in 1775 by a British expedition under Captain James Cook, who named it for Queen Charlotte, wife of King George III...

 and Cape Harcourt

Cape Harcourt

Cape Harcourt is a headland on the eastern extremity of Harcourt Island on the north coast of South Georgia, forming the north side of the entrance to Royal Bay. The name dates back to at least 1920 and is now well established....

 along the north coast of South Georgia.

Like other parts of the archipelago, many birds breed here, including king penguin

King Penguin

The King Penguin is the second largest species of penguin at about , second only to the Emperor Penguin. There are two subspecies—A. p. patagonicus and A. p...

s, gentoo penguin

Gentoo penguin

The Gentoo Penguin , Pygoscelis papua, is easily recognized by the wide white stripe extending like a bonnet across the top of its head and its bright orange-red bill. The gentoo penguin has pale whitish-pink webbed feet and a fairly long tail - the most prominent tail of all penguins. Chicks have...

s, and blue-eyed cormorants.

History

Royal Bay was discovered and named by a British expedition under James Cook

James Cook

Captain James Cook, FRS, RN was a British explorer, navigator and cartographer who ultimately rose to the rank of captain in the Royal Navy...

 in 1775.

In 1882 a German group of the International Polar Year Investigations  expedition under Schrader was sent out to observe the transit of Venus

Transit of Venus

A transit of Venus across the Sun takes place when the planet Venus passes directly between the Sun and Earth, becoming visible against the solar disk. During a transit, Venus can be seen from Earth as a small black disk moving across the face of the Sun...

was stationed at Royal Bay. They were based on the north shore of the bay in 1882-83. The group came in on the Moltke which was the first powered vessel to reach South Georgia. Moltke Harbour, a one-mile wide bay on the northwest side of Royal Bay is named after it.