Papua Beach, Beach on the southeast shore of Cumberland West Bay, South Georgia

Papua Beach is a 2.5 km beach on the southeast shore of Cumberland West Bay, on the north coast of South Georgia. It lies at 54°15′S 36°34′W, and its name comes from a gentoo penguin colony once noted there.

The name comes from Papua Cove, given by the Swedish Antarctic Expedition under Otto Nordenskjöld (1901–04) after members found a colony of gentoo penguins (Pygoscelis papua) there. A. Szielasko charted the cove as Pinguinbucht in 1907. After its 1951–52 surveys the South Georgia Survey transferred the name to the 2.5 km beach itself.

The name comes from Papua Cove, a minor shore recession named by members of Otto Nordenskjöld's Swedish Antarctic Expedition (1901–04) after the gentoo penguins (Pygoscelis papua) they saw there. German zoologist August Emil Alfred Szielasko labelled the same cove "Pinguinbucht" on a 1907 chart, and Penguin Bay appears on some later charts.

Access is only by expedition cruise ships departing from South American ports, since no commercial flights serve the area. Visitors should prepare for rough weather and limited landing options.

The gentoo penguin's scientific name, Pygoscelis papua, gave the beach its name: expedition members saw a colony there and called the cove "Papua Cove". A 1907 chart by A. Szielasko labelled it "Pinguinbucht", and the 1951–52 South Georgia Survey transferred the name to the beach itself.