NOTE: this day can be swap with Day 9. Breakfast in the hotel. Leave in a conventional bus, for the journey back to Petropavlovsk. Bring all your baggage with you.

Boat excursion in Avacha Bay

A boat trip (6 hours) out into the bay is a very relaxing way of gaining an alternative view of the splendid setting of Petropavlovsk and its dramatic volcanoes. Departing from a pier near the centre of town, the expanse of the hilly city soon falls into perspective. Further toward the middle of the bay, both Koryaksky and Avacha volcanoes come into view behind the city. When Avacha erupted in 1991, people living in Petropavlovsk could watch the red stream of lava coming down the slope towards the city, while hot ashes were shooting into the skies above the summit crater.

Avacha Bay is geographically as perfect a bay as a city could hope for. It is large and deep, with a narrow opening which keeps out foul weather and ice. The harbour is open to shipping year-round, and is also well protected from the dreaded tsunami waves that are created by earthquakes around the Pacific Ocean margins. The boat heads toward the mouth of the bay, allowing views of the Northwest side of Petropavlovsk and the many boats that make their home in these ports. Near the mouth of the bay, the Three Brothers are tall finger-like sea stacks, whose rock faces rise vertically out of the water. The cliffs around the bay house many colonies of seabirds in their natural habitats, and puffins are commonly seen among many other types of seabird. Hot lunch is aboard.

Volcanology Museum (Vulcanarium)

There is opportunity to see the small museum, with its spectacular photographs of most of the volcanoes. Specimens are labelled in Russian, so provide a fun identification challenge; don't miss the huge mass of black sulphur (looking like dull basalt glass) that came from Bannoe Lake at Uzon.

Return to the Petropavlovsk Hotel some time in the afternoon and take your own walk in Petropavlovsk. Dinner is in the hotel.