Kurilskoye Lake is situated on the territory of Yuzhno-Kamchatsky Natural Park, which is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. It is the 3-d largest lake of Kamchatka. The lake has a volcanic origin. It occupies the volcanic caldera. The surface of the lake is 76 sq. km. The depth is 330 m. Two impressive volcano cones (Kambalny and Ilinsky) that frame the Lake create a captivating view. Fanciful capes and scenic islands make it even more beautiful. One of the islands is called Alaid's Heart. There is a legend about the origin of Kurilskoye Lake, written down by a great Russian explorer Stepan Krasheninnikov (1711 - 1755). This legend coincides with modern hypothesis of the lake origin.

"Once upon a time there was a Great Mountain. It was so tall that the Neighbor Mountains could not see the sun. The Great Mountain made them angry. At last she was tired and she went away to Okhotsk Sea leaving a lake of tears at that place. She also left her heart there. Over the track left by the Great Mountain river Ozernaya flew over to the Sea.

A small rocky island in the southern part of the lake is called Alaid's Heart, because it bears strong resemblance to the real human heart."

 The lake was formed according to different estimations 8-50 thousands years ago. It fills the giant volcanic caldera 9х12 km, the depth over 300 m.

Kurilskoe Lake is famous for being one of the largest salmon spawning area in Kamchatka. Earlier amount of the fish coming to the Lake for spawning reached 6 million species.

 Spawning lasts from August till November and reaches its highest point in October. During this period one can see a lot of small & big animals appearing along the lakeshore. Fish also attracts Kamchatka's huge brown bears. Nearby the Lake special safe viewing tower is built for tourists to observe the astonishing scenes of bears fishing in their natural habitat.

There are a lot of wonderful sites in the Kronotsky Preserve, but none of them is comparable with the uniqueness of the Valley of Geysers – an indisputable World’s Miracle, the most precious natural relic of the mankind legacy.

 The Valley was discovered not long ago – in April, 1941 when a hydrologist of the Kronotsky Preserve, Tatyana  Ustinova and a guide-Itelmen Anisifor Krupenin went up along the riverbed of the Shumnaya (“Noisy”) and entering a narrow passageway between the rocks stopped not far from the mouth of an unknown tributary. There was still snow everywhere in April. Somehow making themselves comfortable on a steep snow-covered slope exhausted travelers decided to have a snack. There was a thawed patch on the opposite bank with a light steam over it, and suddenly a spurt of hot water burst straight towards them. The scared people started off – time to save their souls! –  but soon realized that the boiling water could not reach them and the rain of cooled splashes was not dangerous. The gush stopped as abruptly as it started, so Ustinova realized that she had seen an authentic geyser the first one in Kamchatka ever seen. She named it Pervenets (“First Born”).

 From the mouth of the Geysernaya River 6 km up the river there are 9 groups of geysers and thermal springs. The biggest geyser Velikan (Giant) throws out up to 30 tons of boiling water. Eruption periodicity is 5-8 hours, duration – about 1 minute. Its fountain is 30 m high. The wreathes of steam, fountains of boiling water, incredible colours of slopes, hot water streaming along them and profuse greenery of grasses and trees create an enchanting spectacle.

 Geyserite is a mineral (silica included in the group of base opals) that is crystallized from hot water round geysers and is very rich in shape and colours. The unusual colours and tints of geyserite were born by its surface inhabitants – unique bodies, thermophile bacteria and algae that die without the environment they got used to. Water-covered geyserites differ in shape from those above the water surface.

 Each person getting to the Valley for the first time experiences its hypnotic power. The head is spinning with surprise and amazement.

Web camera in Geyser Valley

There is one more unique sight of Kronotsky preserve – a big hollow with the dimensions 9x12 km., and total area 150 sq.km., formed on the remain of the ruined volcano and called Volcano Uzon Caldera.

 Hydrothermal activity is concentrated on the five thermal sites in the Southwestern part of the caldera. It manifests itself in numerous boiling and seething craters, countless mud cauldrons and small volcanoes, steaming or warmed sites with the gushes of steam or hot water. There are about 100 springs and more than 500 single hydrothermal appearances practically of all types of Kamchatka’s waters.

 The biggest, and at the same time the coldest and shallowest among the lakes of the caldera is Centralnoye (Central). Lake Fumarolnoye is warm: it is never covered with ice. Lake Bannoe with the temperature 40 C above zero even in winter, has the false bottom: the crust is formed by melted sulphur located in the depth. Lake Utinoye is cold, it has the unique sulphury beach. The warmth of the ground attracts animals and birds. There is much waterfowl on the thermal sites. Here the snipes, mute swans, and various species of ducks make their nests.

 Hiking paths in Volcano Uzon Caldera are similar to those in the Valley of Geysers. Volcano Uzon Caldera isunique because here it is possible to watch the displays of new volcanic activity, the formation of minerals and ores, the formation of thermal lakes, the exposures of the youngest in the planet oil, and the microbiological activity in the thermal springs, all this at the same time.

Avacha Bay is situated on the Pacific coast of the peninsula. It cuts into the land for 20 km and is considered to be one of the most beautiful and efficient sea harbors in the world.  Avacha Bay is vast, well protected from dangerous seas and weather, but also convenient for travel to and from the open seas of the North Pacific. At the end of the 18th century the famous Russian explorer Sarychev wrote: “There is no need to praise its position. It is widely known that it is considered the best in the world as created by nature.” This same opinion was held and expressed by the participants of the famous Russian round-the-world expeditions of 19th century. In the middle of the 19th century, the governor-general of Eastern Siberia wrote,”I have seen a lot of ports in Russia and Europe, but I have never seen anything of the kind of Avacha Bay”.

 Avacha Bay has a basically round shape and presents a vast and deep closed gulf connected to the Pacific by a narrow strait. Its area is 215 sq.km. The bay coast is winding, cut with numerous inlets of which the most convenient and famous are Tarya, Tikhaya, Rakovaya, Babya, Petropavlovskaya, Seroglazka and Mokhovaya. They are separated from the bay with long sand spits. The shores of Avacha bay are of volcanic origin and have mountainous character.

 In the west, two very picturesque rivers discharge into the bay: Avacha and Paratunka. The bay influences the climate of the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, making it warmer than more inland areas in the south.  Its coastal waters are warmer than the air all the year round with the exception of July, August and September.

 In July of 1997, an extraordinary event happened here. Avacha Bay is a place that is usually used by transiting salmon species on the way to spawning in the rivers. This particular year, however, humpback salmon chose Avacha bay itself for spawning. The spit in the city center was crowded with people taking advantage of the cornucopia of salmon…some even fished with just their hands, as the fish were so numerous.

 The flora and fauna outside the urban areas along the Bay show great variety. On the slopes of hills, in the dells and on mountain rims there are birch trees, elfin cedar and alder growing as well as ash trees and different grasses. As for large marine mammals, one can see large numbers of Largha seals and sea lions. There are many ducks and geese, seagulls and other bird species.

Starichkov Island is a nature reserve of a regional value based in 1981. The area of the island makes 93 acres. It is surrounded by 3-mile security sea zone beginning from water border during the maximal low tide.

 The nature reserve “Starichkov Island” is located in 30 km from the city Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky in the Avacha Gulf of the Pacific Ocean, 12 km from the south of the entrance to the  Avacha Bay. The north-western part of the island is elevated for 147 meters above sea level. The coast is abrupt and steep.

 The island is mainly inhabited by two species of birds nesting in holes all over the surface: tufted puffin (32 thousand heads) and common ancient murrelet (13 thousand heads). Nowadays, it is the largest known place of nesting for these species in the coastal waters of Kamchatka. The so-called bird’s rockeries – the mixed colonies of guillemots, black-legged kittiwakes and cormorants are located on the coastal rocks. The Pacific seagulls are nesting at the top of the island in thickets of grasses. The pair of Steller’s sea-eagles (rare birds included in the Red Book of Russia) annually nest on the Guard Cliff.

 There are rookeries of largha seal and island harbor seal on the coastal reeves around the island. Killer whales and Dall’s porpoises are rather usual in adjoining boarder waters.

 Several years ago Starichkov Island and adjoining to it waters of the Avacha Gulf became the field for studying the conditions of coastal ecosystems carried out by researches of Kamchatka Branch of Pacific Institute of Geography. Taking into account the nearness of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and beauty of the coast of Starichkov Island, its coastal waters are constantly visited by tourists and armature scuba divers during the summer period.