The Abashiri Drift Ice Walk is a guided experience offered along the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk, where the world's southernmost drift ice arrives each winter from Siberia, transforming the sea into a shifting white plain. Participants don a buoyant dry suit and, led by a certified guide, step directly onto the pack ice, walking, sliding, and even floating between floes in the icy water. The experience offers a profound encounter with one of Japan's rarest natural phenomena, and on clear days the white expanse stretches to the horizon under vivid blue skies. Nearby, the Okhotsk Drift Ice Museum (Aurora Museum) preserves the experience year-round with a -18°C drift ice room.
- Type
- Experience
- Category
- Snow/Winter
- Season
- Winter
- Month
- February to Mid-March
- Region
- Hokkaido
- Prefecture
- Hokkaido
- City
- Abashiri
Highlights
- ◆Walk and float on real Sea of Okhotsk pack ice in a dry suit
- ◆World's southernmost seasonal drift ice phenomenon
- ◆Guided tours with full safety briefing and equipment provided
- ◆Stunning blue-sky photography opportunities on the white ice plain
- ◆Combine with Aurora icebreaker cruise departing Abashiri port