Southern elephant seals have a nearly circumpolar distribution in the southern Hemisphere. Although they reach the Antarctic continent and even very high latitude locations such as Ross Island, they are most common north of the seasonally shifting pack ice, especially in Subantarctic waters where most rookeries and haul-outs are located. Notable exceptions include the northern breeding colonies at Peninsula Valdés, in Argentina and on the Falkland-Malvina Islands.

Some pups are also born on the Antarctic continent. Southern elephant seals prefer sandy and cobble beaches, but will haul-out on sea ice, snow and rocky terraces and regularly rest above the beach in tussock grass, other vegetation, and mud wallows. At sea, females and males tend to disperse to different feeding grounds. Wandering and vagrant southern elephant seals reach southern Africa, southern Australia, New Zealand and Brazil in South America. An Indian Ocean record at Oman on the Arabian Peninsula represents a northernmost record.