"Pristine Primorye" — Cruise No. 1

National Geographic included Vladivostok in its ranking of the most beautiful coastal cities in the world. Vladivostok is located on the Muravyov-Amursky Peninsula and is surrounded on three sides by the Sea of Japan.

It is a modern city that is rapidly changing before your eyes. In just the past few years, unique structures have been built here — the Russky and Golden Horn bridges, a vast university campus, and the Primorsky Opera and Ballet Theater. The city hosts world-class events, including the APEC Summit and the Eastern Economic Forum.

Photo: Raita Futo, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Rimsky-Korsakov Archipelago is a group of islands in the western part of Peter the Great Gulf in the Sea of Japan. The archipelago comprises six major islands and about a dozen smaller islets and sea stacks (called kekurs). The largest island is Bolshoy Pelis.

Since the 1970s, the Rimsky-Korsakov Islands have been part of the Far Eastern Marine Reserve. Access to the islands is strictly limited.

The archipelago serves as a critical resting, feeding, and breeding site for migratory birds, including the Japanese and Daurian cranes, Chinese egret, Japanese snipe, cinereous vulture, white-tailed eagle, Steller’s sea eagle, golden eagle, and peregrine falcon. Seabirds such as the black-tailed gull and Japanese cormorant also nest on the cliffs.

Due to the area’s protection from maritime traffic, marine mammals such as dolphins, harbor porpoises, false killer whales, minke whales, and sei whales are often spotted near the shores. The main highlight, however, is the presence of large haul-out sites of spotted seals (Phoca largha), with an estimated population of around 600 individuals. In summer, up to 80% of the southern population of these seals gathers in the reserve.

The islands are also notable for their vegetation density, with about eight species per hectare—an exceptional diversity resulting from the isolation and remoteness of the island ecosystem. For comparison, the Lazovsky Nature Reserve has eight times less species density.

Gamov Lighthouse, formerly known as the settlement of Gamov Lighthouse, was a small settlement associated with the lighthouse in the Khasansky District of Primorsky Krai, Russia, from 2002 to 2011. It is part of the Zarubino municipal area.

The lighthouse is located on the Gamov Peninsula, at Cape Gamov, and is connected by a 61 km road to the nearby town of Slavyanka.

Photo: Painting "Gamov Lighthouse" by Vyacheslav Ivanovich Ovchinnikov, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International.

Two centuries ago, Askold was a center of gold mining. Today, its main attraction is the picturesque lighthouses perched on high rocky cliffs. The older lighthouse was built in the late 19th century; the newer one—still functioning but weathered and all the more romantic for it—dates back to the first half of the 20th century.

We’ll climb the steep stairways leading up to them, take in the sweeping panoramic views, and, if we’re lucky, witness a breathtakingly beautiful sunset.

Photo: Dimasigida12, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.

Petrov Island is part of the Lazovsky Nature Reserve, whose main territory lies on the mainland. Only a few thousand people visit the island each year, as human impact is strictly limited. And for good reason: this tiny patch of land — just 0.32 square kilometers — is home to more than 400 species of plants, including Far Eastern endemics like the Korean pine and dimorphanthus.

The island’s main treasure, however, is its ancient yew grove, with many trees 200 to 300 years old. The twisted, vine-entwined trunks create a truly enchanting atmosphere. If a magical forest really exists anywhere, it’s here.

Photo: Daria Marienko, Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Vladimir Bay is a bay of the Sea of Japan located in the southeastern part of Primorsky Krai. The Northern, Middle, and Southern bays serve as inner harbors of the bay.

Vladimir Bay indents the mountainous northwestern coast of the mainland between Cape Vatovsky in the south and Cape Balyuzek, located 1.4 miles to the north. A lighthouse is situated on Cape Balyuzek.

The bay’s shores are formed by the slopes of surrounding hills, which descend toward the bay and drop off into the sea as steep rocky cliffs. The shoreline is gently sloping and sandy only where river valleys and streams flow into the bay, significantly shaping the coastal landscape.

Water depths in Vladimir Bay exceed 20 meters. In the area of Southern Bay, there is a freshwater lake named Presnoye.

Photo: NASA World Wind, public domain

Moneron Island is located in the Tatar Strait, 43 km off the southwestern coast of Sakhalin. From 1905 to 1945, the island—then known as Kaibato—was part of the Japanese Karafuto Prefecture. Today, Moneron is part of the Nevelsk Urban Okrug in Russia’s Sakhalin Oblast.

In the southern part of the island, there is a lighthouse and a meteorological station. Currently, the island has no permanent population, although evidence of active human activity dates back to the 1st millennium BCE.

The surrounding cliffs are famous for large seabird colonies, and Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) and seals often haul out on some parts of the shoreline.

Photo: Victor Morozov, Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.5)

The largest island in Russia. It is washed by the warm waters of the Sea of Japan to the south and west, while its eastern shores face the harsh Okhotsk Sea. Sakhalin is separated from mainland Asia by the Tatar Strait (which is only 7.3 km wide at its narrowest point—the Nevelskoy Strait—and freezes over in winter), and from the Japanese island of Hokkaido by the La Pérouse Strait.

The island changed hands several times between Japan and Russia, and you can still find examples of traditional Japanese architecture here.

The best time for a first trip to Sakhalin is between June and September, when the sun has warmed the land and rainfall is infrequent.

Photo: Lupus-sapiens. CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0)