Paramushir Island Kurils Russia
Russia
Frequently Asked Questions
By inflatable boat, and every landing has to be earned: the weather changes hour by hour in these waters. Only expedition ships venture here, between the Pacific and the Sea of Okhotsk.
At the northern end of the Kurils, facing the tip of Kamchatka. It is the second largest island in the chain, with ash-coloured slopes streaked with snowfields above a dark sea.
The island's only town, clinging to the eastern coast facing the strait that separates it from Shumshu Island. Functional streets, low buildings and a busy fishing harbour: a working town, not a postcard.
Because in November 1952 a major earthquake and the tsunami that followed wiped the town off the map and took thousands of lives. The community rebuilt on higher ground, away from the waves. That memory still shapes the place.
One of the most active volcanoes in the archipelago, smoking above Severo-Kurilsk. Its plumes regularly dust the rooftops with fine grey ash — an everyday fact of life for residents.
Yes, on a guided hike, when conditions and permits allow. The climb reaches the fumarole fields: milky crater lakes, bright yellow sulphur deposits and steam hissing between the rocks. The landscape is frankly lunar.
A great deal, out in the open. The island and neighbouring Shumshu were heavily fortified by Japan before passing to Soviet control in 1945, in one of the last engagements of the war. Bunkers, artillery pieces and rusting hulks still emerge from the low vegetation.
There are no trees: grassy tundra, dwarf alder and Arctic flowers make up the summer covering. Red foxes patrol the black beaches, seabird colonies line the cliffs and sea otters play in the kelp.
Yes, orcas and whales work the straits between the islands. Keep binoculars on deck during the approach passages: that is often where the best sightings happen.
Warm waterproof layers, with waterproof boots for the Zodiac and proper walking shoes if a volcanic hike is on the programme. Fog, rain and wind take turns all day, even in July.
