In September 2010, Google added Street View imagery of Half Moon Island to its Google Earth and Google Maps services. The path begins on the south side of Menguante Cove, runs westwards along the beach to Cámara Base, then turns north along the head of Menguante Cove, and eventually ascends northeastwards to the top of Xenia Hill. There is a 2,000 m (2,200 yd) walking track on the southern part of the Island which allows tourists to get a close view of the wildlife (mainly chinstrap penguins and skuas), and of the surrounding mountainous scenery of nearby Livingston and Greenwich Islands. The island is used as a stop during Antarctic cruises, with the peak of visitation during November–March. Whales are often seen patrolling the shores.

Southern elephant seals have been recorded.

Weddell and Antarctic fur seals regularly haul out on the beaches. Other birds nesting on the island include chinstrap penguins (2000 pairs), Antarctic terns (125 pairs), kelp gulls (40 pairs), Wilson's and black-bellied storm petrels, Cape petrels, brown skuas, snowy sheathbills and imperial shags. The island has been identified as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports a breeding colony of about 100 pairs of south polar skuas. Plants found on the island include several lichen and moss species as well as Antarctic Hairgrass. The parallel gravel bars are a result of post-glacial (isostatic) uplift of the area after the much larger Pleistocene ice cap melted and the pressure was released. The crescent shaped island may be the result of an eroded caldera similar to the much more recent Deception Island volcano complex. The volcanism is not recent and may be millions of years old. The island is a series of gravel bars (tombolos) connecting volcanic bedrock islands. The naval base is operational occasionally during the summer, but is closed during the winter. It is only accessible by sea and by helicopter there is no airport of any kind. The Argentine Cámara Base is located on the island.

Its surface area is 171 hectares (420 acres). Half Moon Island is a minor Antarctic island, lying in McFarlane Strait 1.35 km (0.84 mi) north of Burgas Peninsula, Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands of the Antarctic Peninsula region.

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