Vanhoffen Bluff is a rocky bluff (225 m) immediately east of Jacka Glacier

Jacka Glacier

Jacka Glacier is a long glacier which flows northeast from Hayter Peak and terminates in icefalls opposite Vanhoffen Bluff on the north side of Heard Island in the southern Indian Ocean. The glacier appears to be roughly charted on an 1860 sketch map compiled by Captain H.C. Chester, an American...

 on the north coast of Heard Island. The German Antarctic Expedition under Drygalski, during its 1902 investigations of the area, applied the name Kap Vanhoffen to a cliffed feature about 1.5 nautical miles (2.8 km) to the northwest, near The Sentinel. The ANARE (Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions

Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions

The Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions is the historical name for the Australian Antarctic Program administered for Australia by the Australian Antarctic Division .-The ANARE Name:...

), during its 1948 survey of the island

Island

An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...

, transferred the Vanhoffen name to this bluff, reporting that no well-marked cape exists along the high cliffs to the northwest.