Kamchatka & Chukotka

Arrive independently to Anchorage, Alaska’s largest city, and transfer to the hotel for your included overnight stay. There will be a welcome meeting this evening to allow you to meet your fellow travellers and some of your expedition team.

After breakfast on day 2 you will transfer to the airport for your included flight to Nome where your expedition ship will be waiting. After settling in to your comfortable cabin and getting your bearings of the ship, you can join a fabulous welcome dinner where you will meet your captain and full expedition team.

Having sailed into the Bering Sea overnight, we will pass through the Bering Strait and prepare for our first of many landings on this action-packed expedition. Our first stop will bring us to King Island where, if weather conditions allow, you can explore around the eerie, abandoned ancient village of Ukivok, before sailing on to Provideniya to clear customs into Russia and, if time allows, enjoy a visit to the museum of history and culture and perhaps a traditional Yupik dance performance.

Having completed customs formalities our journey continues as we spend the next 4 days exploring around the fascinating Chukotka Coast. Your exact route throughout the expedition may be dictated by sea and weather conditions, but your experienced crew will chart the best course each day for unforgettable experiences and up-close adventures. Daily Zodiac cruises, walks, and hikes will fill your day as you search for wildlife and visit enchanting areas steeped in history and enthralling geology.

Places we hope to visit include Arakamchechen Island to look for seabird, walrus and whale sightings, and Yttygran Island to see the ancient Chukchi whaling camp famously known as Whale Bone Alley.

In Gabriel’s Bay we might have our first chances of spotting brown bears as they roam the coastline while local Chukchi fishermen fish by the river, whilst in Dezhneva Bay the keen birders amongst us will want to have their cameras and binoculars at the ready as we attempt to spot white-fronted bean geese and nesting whooper swans. Moving on to Anastasia Bay, there will be more opportunities for birdwatching as well as the chance to gently approach a known walrus hangout.

One of the highlights of these expedition days will be an enjoyable hike to the hidden alpine lakes of the dramatic glacier-carved valleys of Peter and Glybokaya bays followed by a Zodiac cruise beneath the towering cliffs of Bogoslov Island which are blanketed by puffins, kittiwakes, guillemots and cormorants.

Day 9 will see you Zodiac cruising along the Govena Peninsula which leads into the broad fjord of Lavrova Bay and the narrower Yuzhnaya Glubokaya. This will be a great opportunity to spot orcas, Bryde’s whales and brown bears as they are often spotted here visiting the nearby abandoned herring factory. A pleasant afternoon walk surrounded by brightly coloured flowers will see you pass waterfalls and a glacial moraine to be rewarded in incredible views of the rugged Pylginsky Range.

On day 10 you will visit the small village of Tymlat where you will be warmly greeted with a traditional dance performance from the local Koryak reindeer herders and marine mammal hunters. You may even wish to take part yourself! A walk around the village offers up the chance to learn more about the way of life this far north.

Next, you will spend 3 days exploring around the fascinating Commander Islands in search of a staggering abundance of wildlife including some of the largest rookeries of marine mammals in the world - a quarter of all the known cetacean species in the world are recorded to inhabit the waters here! Humpback whale, sperm whale, killer whale, four-toothed whale, Dall's porpoise, minke whale, fur seals, sea lions and Kuril harbour seals are just some of the species that are often spotted during an exploration here, along with over 220 different bird species! Landing sites here should include Peregegrebnaya Bay, Tufted Puffin Rock, Cape Monati and Nikolskoye village where the Aleut community will welcome you with a lively dance performance and invite you to visit the local museum. There will also be the chance to visit the grave and memorial to legendary explorer Vitus Bering.

Our last couple of days along Kamchatka’s wild and beautiful coast will bring you to Kamenistaya Bay where you can enjoy a memorable dip in its soothing hot springs and take a walk to see some stunning active volcanoes at the Kronotskiy Biosphere Reserve. And if we haven’t spotted some before, then brown bear sightings are almost certainly on the cards here as the Reserve is home to Eurasia’s greatest concentration of these iconic animals. A Zodiac cruise along the salmon-rich Zhupanova River and the scenic Morzhovaya Bay in search of more brown bears and harbor seals will be the perfect way to end our Russian Far East adventure on a high.

Having reached the port at Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy overnight, on the morning of day 16 you will disembark and transfer to the airport for your included flight to Tokyo. Upon arrival in Tokyo, accommodation for one night at the hotel airport is provided, and the following morning you will be perfectly placed for catching flights home or extending your stay in the Japanese capital.