Sakhalin and the Black Island

The Ainu called Kunashir the Black Island — a chain of active volcanoes in miniature, with boiling lakes, fumarole fields and basalt columns lifted off the ocean floor. To reach it, you board the ferry Admiral Nevelskoy in the evening at Korsakov port and spend roughly twenty-one hours at sea: a four-berth cabin, dinner in the ship's restaurant, hot water on a schedule, and the morning a different coastline moves past the porthole. This route uses the Sakhalin leg as a separate two-day programme before the ferry — and a free day after — to make eleven days that feel like a full Far East itinerary rather than a single-island visit.

The route splits into three parts: two days on southern Sakhalin, six days on Kunashir, two days back on Sakhalin including the return crossing.

Sakhalin: two days before the ferry. Day one — arrival in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk and a city sightseeing tour through the original Japanese street grid and the 1937 regional museum. Day two — boat to Aniva Lighthouse, the 1939 Japanese structure on Sivuchya Rock at the cape, and an oyster lunch at Busse Lagoon, where oysters have been farmed since the 1970s. Evening transfer to Korsakov port and boarding for Kunashir.

Kunashir: five working days on the island. The fumarole field of Mendeleev Volcano — dozens of hot vents releasing steam jets with the unmistakable smell of sulphur, and bathing in the Kisly Stream pools. The Golovnin Caldera with Boiling and Hot lakes, where mud cauldrons reach 100 °C and the two lakes are connected by an artificial channel cut by the Japanese in the first half of the twentieth century. A sea trip to Rogachev Island. Coastal walks to Devil's Finger rock and Devil's Gates arch. The Stolbovskaya eco-trail to Cape Stolbchaty, whose basalt hexagonal columns rose from the ocean floor fifty million years ago — one of Kunashir's defining sights.

Return. Day eight — ferry departure from Yuzhno-Kurilsk back to Sakhalin. Day nine — arrival in Korsakov and transfer to Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. Day ten is free, with an optional jeep trip to Cape Ptichy and Cape Velikan on the south-eastern coast. Day eleven — departure.

Group of up to twelve, accommodation at Iceberg Hotel on Kunashir, local guides throughout, border zone permits processed for you. Hotel in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, ferry tickets and meals on the ferry, optional excursions — paid separately. Best season: mid-June to end of September, while the regular Kuril navigation is running.

Eleven days — Sakhalin and Kunashir as one continuous Far East trip, not a single-island detour. The ferry crossing each way is part of the experience; guests come back with the smell of sulphur in their hair from the Mendeleev fumarole field. The Korsakov–Kunashir crossing is weather-dependent; we book first-class cabins where available and recommend a buffer day on the return. Drop a brief enquiry to the booking office.