Day 1
• Arrival in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. Meeting at the airport. Transfer to the hotel, accommodation.
• 14:00 — 17:00 — Sightseeing tour with a guide through the city of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, a visit to the “Gorniy Vozdukh” (Group of Companies, Pobedy Avenue, Pobedy Square, Glory Alley, Railway Museum, Busts of the Discoverers of Sakhalin, Communist Prospect, Victory Memorial, Church of the Nativity).
• End of the excursion on the territory of the local history museum.
• Visiting the local history museum (unaccompanied guide)
• Self-return to the hotel
• 19:00 — Welcome dinner. Meeting with the tour leader, discussion of the upcoming program.
Day 2
· Breakfast
· Excursion by car to there are capes Ptichii and Velikan (excursion time 10:00 — 19:00).
· The cape Velikan — a monument of nature, one of the most beautiful and amazing sea coasts of Sakhalin. Bizarre cliffs, in the outlines of which someone sees a lion coming out of the sea, a mysterious castle, and others the head of a giant who was dozing off at the edge of the water, rising from Capes Ptichii and Velikan. Stone arches, created by the greatest architect — Nature, amaze with their grandeur. On the tops of the rocks and arches, screaming seagulls bustle around, cormorants sit proudly and swifts sweep about. Spruce-fir forests stretch along a narrow strip of a sandy beach on a sea terrace, where Christmas trees carefully hide from the cold sea wind, «turning» back to the Sea of Okhotsk. And here you can observe one of the most amazing phenomena of nature — the spawning move of Pacific salmon, named pink salmon, if your trip is during the period from July to August.
· Hot lunch on the shore of the Sea of Okhotsk (Sakhalin-style cuisine).
· Transfer to the city.
Day 3
· Breakfast.
· Excursion by car and walk rocky outcrop «LIAGUSHKA» (excursion time 10:00 — 15:00).
· The rocky outcrop «LIAGUSHKA» is the unique nature of the age of 70 million years, a very unusual energetic place. The journey along the ecological path to the foot of the mountain takes about 20 minutes. After there is a short but steep climb to the “Liagushka» remnant, which takes 20–30 minutes. An amazing landscape opens from the top and in good weather, it is possible to see the Aniva Bay, the lakes of Tunaicha and the Izmenchivoe.
· Light snack during a shortstop (dry ration).
· 14:30 — Transfer to city
· Free time
Day 4
· Breakfast.
· Excursion by car to the Tikhaya Bay and the mud volcano Maguntan (excursion time 08:00 — 19:00)
· Stop at the village Starodubskoye «Amber Coast». By the sea, you can collect local amber “Sakhalinite” as a Sakhalin souvenir. Amber has a beautiful color of black tea with a cherry tinge and will be a great addition to your jewelery collection
· 09: 40-Departure to Tikhaya Bay .
· On the way to the bay. In Vzmorye, you can visit the local market with seafood and wild plants, where you can buy fresh-caught crab and try it on a halt.
· 10:30 — Arrival in Tikhaya bay. Pedestrian walk around Tikhaya’ Bay, where you will see rock formations created by Mother Nature: rock-arch “Magic window”, stone “Elephant” and the island Notable (if the tide allows it).
· Lunch by the sea (dry ration)
· 12:30 — Departure to the Pugachev mud volcano Maguntan
· The Pugachev Mud Volcano (Maguntan) is the second largest volcano of this kind on Sakhalin. It looks like a group of mud circles (a large central one and two small ones in the neighborhood). From the satellite images are perfectly visible all three of them. In fact, under motley vegetation hides a field with a diameter of 4 km. At its core, there is the main mud field. The surface is flat and only slightly raised to the center. There is practically no vegetation in the ring. On the vast grass swamps there is a huge amount of grass, flowers and miraculously clinging to the soil oversaturated with moisture. Several interesting plants grow on the volcano, including Shchuchnik Tsvelev, which is found exclusively in the Sakhalin Region.
· 17: 00- Departure to Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk
· 19:00 — Arrival in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. Hotel accommodation.
· Dinner (on your own).
Day 5
· 08:00 — Breakfast at the hotel
· Excursion by car to the Gastronomic tour: “Gathering oysters and lunch with seafood at Lake Busse” (excursion time:
· Places to visit and stop: Viewpoints of Korsakov, Russia’s first LNG plant for the production of liquefied natural gas, an oil terminal and the first Russian port of Prigorodnoye, built specifically to serve Russian and international vessels carrying liquefied natural gas tankers, a walk along the coast along Lake Busse (On request and according to weather conditions, a small boat will sail to the lake (seating 10 people) to collect oysters on an oyster island. The cost of the service is 3,000 rubles/person).
· Lunch of freshly caught seafood (scallop, oyster, sea urchin) skillfully prepared by our professional chef).
· Busse Lagoon — a natural monument located in the Korsakov district of Sakhalin Island. The lake in the form of a lagoon is connected by a channel with the Aniva Bay of the Sea of Okhotsk. This place is a storehouse of natural gifts. It generously shares everything: magical views, generous catch, rich flowering shores, new sensations. Only here you can catch and eat fresh oysters, sea urchins. Also in the lake, you can see such mollusks as rapid, Sakhalin spizoula, scallop. In addition to mollusks, shrimps live in the lake, called Sakhalin residents — Chilim.
· 15:00 – departure to city
· 16:30 – arrival to Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk
Day 6
• Breakfast at the hotel.
•Airport transfer.
• Departure to Kurilsk (departure time will be published in March 2019!)
• Arrival in Kurilsk (is. Iturup). Transfer to the hotel. Accommodation at the hotel (according to the contract).
• Transfer to the Iturup Hotel. Accommodation in double rooms with private facilities.
• Drive to Yankito, which is a plateau of lava flows. Beautiful landscapes from the foot of Chirip volcano
• Camping lunch (packed lunch)
• Hot springs in the village. «Fishermen»
• Dinner in a cafe
Day 7
· Breakfast
· Excursion by car to the White Rocks (duration of the excursion is 7-8 hours)
We move along the coastline along the White Rocks by car, the thickness of the pumice stone of which the White rocks consist appear smooth. It was formed already in historical time as a result of the colossal eruption of a hot gas cloud. The people of the Stone Age could well have been witnesses or even victims of this event before which the eruption of Vesuvius, which had fallen asleep to Pompeii.
· Camping lunch (packed lunch)
· Hot Springs “Hot Water” (1 hour).
· Dinner in a cafe
Day 8
· Breakfast
· Excursion by car to the volcano Baransky (duration 5-6 hours)
The volcano Baransky is one of the most accessible volcanoes of the island Iturup. At its foot, we can observe picturesque volcanic landscapes: mud pots, fumaroles, hot lakes with an acid of an unusual turquoise color, and hot mineral streams. At 12 km from the foot at the top of 516 m. There is a trigonometric sign, therefore the top is called “Trinoga”. Rise to the top of a protracted. From the top of “Trinogi” a panoramic view opens up: from the west, the Kuril Bay, the village of Kitovy, the city of Kurilsk; Volcano Bogdan Khmelnitsky from the north; in the east, Prostor Bay, s. Raid, White Rocks; in the south, the volcanoes Baransky (altitude 1132 km.), Teben’kova, Grozny, Mount Volchok. From the bowels of the earth beat healing springs, a hot river flows from a deep boiling lake. Descending from the volcano, you can swim in the hot springs and enjoy the majestic beauty of the volcano!
ATTENTION! In the area of fumarolic fields precautions — you can fall into the hot mud, in the area of mineral sources — get chemical burns. You can swim only in springs with a certain temperature of water.
· Camping lunch (packed lunch)
· Dinner in a cafe
Day 9
• Breakfast
• Visit the fish factory in Kurilsk.
• Airport transfer
• Departure to Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk (departure will be published in March 2019)
· Arrival in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. Meeting at the airport. Transfer to the hotel, accommodation
Day 10
• Breakfast.
•Airport transfer.