Shantar Islands, Russia Cruises

Shantar Islands, Russia Cruise Port

• The Shantar Islands National Park covers land and sea; while the park is still being developed, there are plenty of commercial tours to get you to points of interest. Among those are salmon spawning areas and large bird colonies, along with the plethora of marine life that swim in surrounding waters. If it's plants you're looking for, you'll find plenty of trees but no endemic plant species.
   
• Geology buffs might want to explore Feklistova Island, which is known for minerals such as blacksand platinum. It is part of what's called the Kondyor-Feklistov metallogenic belt. The island is covered with a taiga forest (also called a boreal forest or snow forest) where you may spot a bear or two.
   
• If fishing is what you crave, the islands are an excellent place to catch all different species. Some of what you can expect to see include lenok, white-spotted char, and salmon. The crabs also like to wander here, and whales tend to come into the bay – a perfect backdrop to angling for the smaller stuff.
   
• While this isn't the most mountainous group of islands, there are still cliffs for hiking. See if you can spot the whales as you gaze out to see.