Sea of Okhotsk in Luxury

Embark and set sail.

We clear Russian immigration in this port on Sakhalin Island and spend some time exploring the town before driving to the capital city, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. Here, enjoy a visit to the Orthodox church, newly built in traditional style without nails, the fascinating natural history museum and a bustling local market. Later, we are entertained by a local Cossack music and dance troupe.

Captain's welcome cocktail party and dinner tonight.

Cruising the Sea of Okhotsk looking for marine wildlife and birds from deck.

After lunch we have our first expedition Zodiac excursion close to Piltun Lagoon on Sakhalin Island. The entrance to the river is home to grey whales and we hope to see some feeding close to shore. We plan to land near a lighthouse and climb to the top for panoramic views. Birds to spot here include the spectacular Steller's sea eagle as well as Aleutian terns, pine grosbeaks, Siberian rubythroats and dusky warblers.

This small and isolated island is teeming with wildlife - Steller's sealions take up every available space on the rocks, whilst thousands of birds land on and circle around the cliffs. Birders' highlights are the whiskered, least and parakeet auklets along with northern fulmars and Brunnich's guillemots.

These islands are at the westernmost part of the Sea of Okhotsk and we look out for minke and orca whales, the latter hunting for the many species of seals that are in the area, including Largha, bearded, ringed and ribbon. Hopefully, we can land here and walk through the larch and spruce forests looking for Steller's sea eagles and maybe, bears.

These tiny islands teem with birds - here, we hope to see both horned and tufted puffins, ancient murrelets, rhinocerous, parakeet and crested auklets, common, Brunnich's and spectacled guillemots, as well as Steller's sea eagles.

In the afternoon, depending on sea and ice conditions, we hope to land at Fedora and take a walk through the larch and birch forest to a viewpoint.

This small city, with its unpaved streets was once the most important in the region and was where Bering set sail from on his two expeditions in the 18th century. There is an interesting local museum and, towering over the main square, a massive statue of Lenin. We may enjoy a local dance show here.

Talan Island is home to massive colonies of crested and parakeet auklets, horned and tufted puffins, ancient murrelets and spectacled guillemots. During the summer is is also where red foxes from the mainland compete with the Steller's sea eagles and prey on the birdlife, having crossed the ice from the mainland.

In the afternoon and looking out for bears, we plan a landing on Zaviyalova Island. Harlequin ducks and goosander can be seen here.

We now land on the western side of the Kamchatka Peninsula where the Utkholol and Kvachina watersheds are not only an important lowland tundra ecosystem but also host a massive diversity of salmon species, including massive steelheads.

The peninsula is also an important Ramsar site with many wetland birds to be seen.

Spend time on deck or just relax.

Utashud is actually three small islands and the rocks here are home to rookeries of Stejnerer's harbour seals and spotted seals as well as a large population of sea otters. Grey whales also feed off the coast and there are thousands of seabirds, including slaty-backed gulls and tufted puffins.

The largest city in the region and one of the oldest. Here, we will take a city tour, including the museum and the newly-built but very traditional Orthodox cathedral. Later, drive through a mixed deciduous forest to a sled dog kennel, where racing sled dogs are housed. Enjoy performances by a local folk group.

Atlasova is dominated by its almost perfect conical volcano, the highest in the Kurils. It was also the site of a notorious gulag in the last century, where women prisoners raised foxes for their fur in atrocious conditions. We will land on the black lava beach here and hope to spot buzzards, Eurasian wigeons, tufted ducks and maybe peregrines.

We land on this volcanic island and take an extended walk along a track through alder thickets looking out for Eurasian bullfinches, Siberian rubythroats, ravens, eye-browed thrushes and peregrines. The island was the site of a large Japanese base during WWII and the runway was kept open using geothermal heat. Now, even though the island is uninhabited, there is a tiny wooden Orthodox church standing on the edge of the main plateau with amazing views.

Later, the ship sails to Yankicha where there is a well-known flooded caldera, only accessible by Zodiac at high tide. This visit is considered one of the highlights of the whole voyage - here, we will see fumaroles, hot springs and an amazing number of breeding auklets. Hopefully too, we will spot whiskered auklet, Arctic warbler and Middendorff's grasshopper warbler. there are also introduced Polar foxes, which live off the vast numbers of birdlife.

Early wildlife Zodiac cruise along the island's coast looking for Steller's sealions, northern fulmars, kittiwakes, puffins and auklets. Also hope to see orcas and other whales.

Nearby Snou volcano may also be active, giving a rare opportunity to view lava flowing into the sea.

Afternoon at sea.

Tyuleniy means 'seal' in Russian and has one of the highest concentrations of northern fur seals in the Russian Far East with tens of thousands competing for space with Steller's sealions.

Lots of birds to be seen too, including black-legged kittiwakes, slaty-backed gulls, tufted puffins, common guillemots and pelagic cormorants.

A technical stop only in this direction to clear Russian formalities before we continue towards Japan.

Arrive and disembark