Island trip: Sakhalin — Kunashir — Shikotan

08:00 Breakfast in the hotel restaurant.

09:00 Departure from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk by bus.

Travel time with stops is approximately 3 hours, 135 km, paved federal highway.

On the way, we will stop at the amber coast and collect amber, watch the seals resting on the rocks.

We will visit the Japanese Torii gates of the Karafuto governorate period, which were installed in front of Shinto temples.

An intermediate stop is in the fishermen's village of the Seaside, where you can buy freshly boiled crabs and taste them during lunch.

There is a quiet walk along the coast in the bay, after which you will have a hot gastronomic lunch – delicious Sakhalin fish soup with red fish, Far Eastern delicacies, caviar, tea with herbs, Sakhalin sweets.

19:00 Return to the hotel.

Dinner (on your own).

08:00 Breakfast in the hotel restaurant.

09:00 Transfer to Korsakov port.

Registration on the ship.

12:00 Departure of the Admiral Nevelskoy motor ship to Kunashir Island.

The ship leaves the port of Korsakov and follows the coastline of the Tonino-Aniva Peninsula for 4 hours.

You can see the Aniva Lighthouse from aboard the ship, and dolphins and killer whales are likely to be seen during the passage through the Sea of Okhotsk.

Lunch and dinner on the boat in a cafe on your own.

09:00 The ship's approach to the port of Yuzhno-Kurilsk, Kunashir Island.

Meeting at the port.

Breakfast at the cafe.

Transfer to the hotel. We leave our things.

Departure to the route of medium difficulty "Large fumarole field of the Mendeleev volcano".

By car for 30 minutes, then trekking for 2-2.5 hours through bamboo with a constant climb, 3 km in one direction.

A path with stops for a short rest.

Parking on the fumarole field ~ 2 hours.

Fumaroles and solfatars are among the largest, if not the largest, on all the Kuril Islands. From the erupting hum and high-temperature gases, it's even scary to imagine what's going on inside.

Lunch (dry ration).

Bathing in wild thermal springs (optional).

Dinner at the cafe.

Return to the hotel.

09:00 Breakfast at the cafe.

10:00 Departure for the route of medium difficulty "Cape Columnar" — one of the most amazing and unique places on earth.

Residents of Kunashir say, "Whoever has not seen Cape Columnar has not seen Kunashir." Millions of years ago, as a result of the eruption of the Mendeleev volcano, basalt lava flowed towards the sea.

Physico-chemical processes have created such columnar structures in the form of five-hexagonal columns. But once you get here, it's impossible to accept that nature created it.

A mystical place with its own music. The cape, open on three sides, is located on the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk.

A difficult passage through small shelves of broken pillars.

Relaxing at the cape, swimming in the sea.

There are many sea urchins in the littoral lagoons.

Then 2 km along the shore to our cozy parking lot, where a bonfire lunch will be organized – delicious fish soup.

Dinner at the cafe.

Return to the hotel.

09:00 Breakfast at the cafe.

10:00 Departure for the route of medium difficulty "Volcano Golovnina. The Lakes are Boiling and Hot."

40 minutes by car, then trekking 2.5–3 hours along the path, 7 km in one direction.

The entire journey is accompanied by beautiful fields of cedar elderberry and Kuril bamboo, completely impassable to humans.

The volcano is a caldera about 4 km in diameter, surrounded by a ridge with a maximum height of 541 m.

There are four small domes and two crater lakes at the bottom of the caldera, Boiling and Hot.

The parking time in the caldera is ~3 hours.

Lunch (dry ration).

You can not swim in Boiling lake, there are hot springs, mud boilers and hot steam at the bottom of the lake and along the shores. It's possible and necessary to have hot things in the lake.

Dinner at the cafe.

Return to the hotel.

09:00 Breakfast at the cafe.

10:00 Departure by car to the Veslovsky peninsula, Golovnino settlement, the southernmost part of the island.

Visit to the memorial sign at the site of the founding of the Russian settlement on the island of Kunashir in 1778. Golovninsky Cliff is an extremely impressive natural site.

The giant outcrops of this unique relief form capture the main stages of the Golovnin volcano's activity and climatic events over the past 2 million years.

The structure of the cliff deposits is very complex: the ashes of ancient volcanic eruptions alternate with strata of marine sediments and include peat bogs of different ages. The cliff is "alive", constantly crumbling, and autumn storms play a particularly important role in this.

It is possible to drive to the cliff only at low tide.

Lunch by the ocean.

Dinner at the cafe.

Return to the hotel.

Room release.

Breakfast at the cafe.

11:00 Registration on the ship.

13:00 Departure of the motor ship "Igor Farkhutdinov" to the island of Shikotan.

17:00 Arrival in Malokurilskoye settlement, Shikotan island.

Meeting at the port, transfer to the hotel.

Shikotan is a special place, a small Kuril island in the ocean, unlike any other.

Shikotan – if the island has a soul, then it is here, among bamboo expanses, meadow terraces, juniper thickets and inaccessible cliffs with edelweiss blooming on them.

There are no volcanoes, thermal springs, bears or snakes on Shikotan.

Shikotan has the most beautiful coves! You can't find them anywhere in the Kuril Islands.

A trip around the neighborhood.

Dinner at the hotel.

Breakfast at the hotel.

Cape Edge of the World is a long (protruding into the ocean at 800 m) and flat cape surface breaks off into the ocean on three sides with 40-meter walls. And you realize that you are really on the edge of the world... both literally and figuratively. There are 7,000 km of the Pacific Ocean ahead.

Bezymyannaya Bay – in these places S. Govorukhin shot the film "Robinson Crusoe" starring Leonid Kuravlev in 1972.

Cape Crab, the lighthouse of Shpanberg (1943) is the last lighthouse built by the Japanese on the Kuril Islands from the remaining large lighthouse construction program that was not implemented due to the war.

The lighthouse is named after the brave traveler and navigator Martin Petrovich Shpanberg, who explored the Kuril Islands.

Lunch is hot on the coast.

Return to the hotel in the evening.

Dinner at the hotel.

Breakfast at the hotel.

On shore, briefing, boarding sea kayaks is a safe and comfortable vessel.

There is always a boat with the group on insurance.

Shikotan has incredibly beautiful bays with sandy beaches, surrounded by steep cliffs and protruding capes, with multiple kekurs and arches.

A walk through such places will give you great pleasure from the pristine splendor and endless Pacific Ocean.

Lunch on the coast.

Then departure by jeep to the foot of the island's most important mountain, Shikotan (412 m), from the top of which you can enjoy a magnificent panorama of Shikotan Island and the neighboring islands of Kunashir and Iturup (in clear weather).

A simple hike up the mountain.

Dinner at the hotel.

According to the weather, the route can be arranged on another day.

Room release.

Breakfast at the hotel.

Transfer to the route "Snezhkova Bay" to the village of Krabozavodskoye, then 8 km on foot.

Have you ever crossed an island from one coast to another? Probably not. It's going to happen to you today – we're going from the west coast to the east coast.

A very pleasant, full of impressions walk with the delicious smells of juniper, the rustle of leaves of the endless bamboo fields here, the conversation of the ocean and the island coming from afar. No serious ascents or descents.

Snezhkova Bay is small, cozy, with a sandy beach. You fall into it like into a trap and you don't want to leave anymore.

Lunch lunch box in the bay.

Dinner at the hotel.

20:00 Transfer to the port, registration on the ship.

22:00 Departure of the Admiral Nevelskoy motor ship.

Lunch and dinner on the boat on your own.

Breakfast and lunch on the boat on your own.

20:00 Arrival at the port of Korsakov.

Transfer to the hotel.

Breakfast at the hotel restaurant.

Free day (reserved in case of late arrival).

Walking through the beautiful Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk with a large number of alleys and parks, fragrant flower beds and many fountains will give you pleasure.

In the evening, land in one of the cozy restaurants with Japanese, Korean or pan-Asian cuisine.

We also recommend visiting:

1. Sakhalin Museum of Local Lore.

2. Pobeda Memorial Complex with interactive expositions and panoramas using various modern technologies. The Pobeda complex has entered the top of the best military museums in Russia.

3. Shops with Korean and Japanese goods.

4. Souvenir shops and a fish market with a wide variety of fresh seafood and Sakhalin delicacies. You can't think of a better gift for your family and friends!

Breakfast at the hotel.

Transfer to the airport.

Departure.