Where is the best place to relax on the seashore in the Primorsky Territory? What is a must-see place on the coast in Primorye?
Today I want to tell a short story about this, which may encourage some to give up their vacation on the Black Sea at least once and visit this place.
A few years ago, while vacationing in one of the most picturesque places in Primorye, we had a short conversation with an engineer from Novosibirsk. Walking along the emerald coast, exploring bay after bay, we came across a tent camp. At first glance, there were about 40 people relaxing there. We wondered where they came from, and in such numbers at once. It was then that we began a conversation with this Novosibirsk engineer.
When asked why they decided to vacation here and not on the Black Sea coast, since it is closer to Novosibirsk than this place, the guy replied: “Whoever has been here once does not vacation on the Black Sea anymore.”
What kind of place is this? And why did this Siberian guy speak about him like that? Let me tell you a little story about this.
For me, a native resident of Primorye, Putyatin Island is one of the most beautiful islands in the Peter the Great Gulf. It is located 50 km southeast of Vladivostok, in Strelok Bay. The remoteness from civilization has preserved the island almost in its original form - with amazing landscapes, clean bays and two lakes where lotus grows.
History of Putyatin Island
The island is not only beautiful in its nature, but also has an amazing history. The island received its name in honor of the admiral, diplomat and statesman Efimy Vasilyevich Putyatin. In 1852-1855, an expedition led by Putyatin, in which the frigates Diana and Pallada took part, made an inventory of the eastern coast of Primorye.
Putyatin Island was uninhabited at the time of its discovery. In 1891, he was visited by Alexey Startsev, one of the first industrialists of the Far East, the son of the Decembrist Nikolai Bestuzhev. Startsev bought part of the land on the island, and leased part from the state for 99 years.
Startsev built brick and porcelain factories on the island. Moreover, the bricks had their own mark. A deer farm was also opened on the island and horses were brought in. Through the efforts of Startsev, the wild island turned into a blooming oasis. But such an idyll, unfortunately, did not last long. In 1900, Startsev died, and after the revolution, all property was nationalized.
How to get to Putyatin Island
Previously, a passenger boat went to the island directly from Vladivostok. But in modern times, this route has been canceled and the fastest way to get to the island is by ferry, which runs between the Danube village on the mainland and Putyatin Island. Travel time is 20 minutes.
If you get to Putyatin Island by car, then, passing the small town of Fokino, you need to turn off the highway onto the road leading to the seaside village of Danube. The road is quite familiar for Russia: in some places there is good asphalt, in others it is concrete, in others it is gravel.
If you get to Putyatin Island by public transport, then there is a regular service from Vladivostok bus 506. In summer, this route runs between Vladivostok and Nakhodka every half hour. Travel time from the Vladivostok bus station to the city of Fokino is about 3 hours. You need to get off at the bus station in the city of Fokino and transfer there to a local bus going to the village of Danube.
ADVICE: View current bus schedule to Fokino and you can buy tickets at a low price at. Busfor prices are sometimes lower than buying tickets by queuing at the ticket office.
The bus between Fokino and Danube makes about 10 trips per day (during the summer months). Most flights depart before lunch and in the evening. So it is better to plan your arrival in Fokino early in the morning so that you can safely get to the pier in the Danube. The travel time from the Fokino bus station to the Danube village is approximately 40 minutes.
The path to the crossing to Putyatin Island
Arriving at the ferry crossing in the village of Danube, we find that there is already a whole line of people wishing to cross to the island with their car. There are only 4 places for cars on the ferry, and this transport runs between the island and the mainland only a few times a day. Therefore, we decide to leave our cars in the parking lot in the Danube village and cross with our backpacks on our backs on the nearest ferry.
In 2019, the ferry to Putyatin Island departs only twice a day.
Departure time from the village of Danube: 8:00 and 18:00.
Departure time from Putyatin Island: 8:30 and 18:30.
Fare: for local residents 10 rubles, for others - 100 rubles.
ADVICE: If you are in a large group, you can charter a speedboat near the ferry crossing. The boat will take you not just to the island, but directly to the bay you need. Boat capacity: up to 20 people. Rental cost: 5000 rubles.
Waiting for the ferry to Putyatin Island
Map of Putyatin Island indicating the main bays
For convenience, I include in the article a map of Putyatin Island with the main bays and beaches marked on it. You can download a map to explore the location of the main bays of Putyatin Island.
Map of Putyatina with marked bays
Now we're temporary islanders
Having landed on the island, we already know that we have to move to the opposite side. It is there that there are beautiful bays overlooking the open Sea of Japan. But walking in the heat with backpacks on your shoulders is somehow not very inspiring. Therefore, we stop a local rocker on a motorcycle with a cradle and arrange for him to transport our things along with two passengers to the bay we need. Having agreed on the price, we look at our burdens and set off on foot across the island, lightly.
The journey from the ferry crossing to Rooster Bay takes us about 1 hour. Where should we rush? We're walking light. It is better to take the opportunity to go along the way to the lake with Komarov lotuses, which are listed in the Red Book of Russia.
On the way we pass by the highest peak of the island - Startsev Hill. On one of the rest days we will still have time to climb to a height of 353 meters above sea level. By the way, from this peak there is a magnificent view of the surrounding area and the waters of Peter the Great Bay.
Road to Rooster Bay
On the way, I notice that the path from the lake, along which we walked a year earlier, is somehow fairly overgrown and few people walk along it. There is, of course, a road a little lower down the slope of the hill, but going along the path is shorter. Along the way, I tell my friends that last year we saw snakes basking during the day on the rocky slope of the hill, and falcons that hunted for them. Before I had time to talk about it, I heard a girl squeal: “Ah! Snake!". After these screams, I don’t even remember how we all instantly found ourselves not on the path, but on the very road that we didn’t want to go down at first, because it took longer to walk. After recent events, we all agree that the road is safer to follow and now it no longer seems so long to us.
Bonsai on Putyatina Island
Having reached the bay we need, we meet with our two friends, who were already waiting for us with our backpacks. We choose a place for our tent camp. Fortunately, we arrived at the very beginning of the week and there weren’t many vacationers yet. Therefore, we didn’t have to look for a place for tents for long. We began to set up tents, and some of us were very eager to swim in the crystal clear sea water first.
Japanese Sea
Fighting the elements
Toward evening, the partly cloudy sky suddenly began to darken. A strong wind rose. Moreover, the wind did not blow from the sea, but from the mainland. Having climbed one of the hills, we saw that unusual clouds were moving from the mainland. The clouds rushed in our direction like a continuous long wall. But this entire wall looked more like a huge sail. Warm air, rising from the ground, began to wrap the cloud mass in an arc, as if inflating a huge sail. And now this air armada was now rushing with full sails straight towards our island!
It began to rain heavily, although the sun was still shining from the sea. A gusty wind began to blow away all the tents. Unable to fight this element, we folded our tents so that they would not be carried out to sea with us. We hid behind one of the hills, which protected us from the heavy wind. There was nothing left to do but sing songs in the rain and wait for this whole element to end.
To our surprise, after a couple of hours the wind died down completely and the rain stopped pouring on our things. Suddenly there was complete silence, and the sky became pure and pure again. We set up our tents again and started preparing dinner.
Amazing night on Putyatin Island
From everything we had to endure that day, adrenaline continued to flow through our blood for a long time. That's why many of us didn't feel like sleeping at all. And this turned out to be very useful. When it got dark, the sky was simply strewn with diamonds of bright stars. The sky was as crystal clear as I had ever seen it. No light noise from the city.
We began to remember the names of the constellations, trying to find them on the carpet of stars. Someone even remembered the assumption that Orion’s Belt served as the basis for the construction of the Egyptian pyramids. And then we began to talk about the purpose of these majestic structures on the Giza plateau. Who, and most importantly, why built them? Many of us didn't believe the traditional story of the simple graves of tough guy pharaohs. These Egyptian monuments leave too many unanswered questions.
While talking about the eternal, we didn’t even notice that it was already long after midnight. Someone went to bed, and four of us turned out to be the most persistent, or rather the most assiduous, behind the fire. And it’s not in vain! A stunning spectacle began in the sky. The fireballs began to fall straight from the celestial abyss, drawing bright lines, after which, burning up, again plunging into this night abyss without a trace. Yes, what beauty we are deprived of, living in the concrete jungles of big cities!
In the morning we still had to take a little nap. Fortunately, we woke up in time for breakfast, which was cordially prepared for us by those who slept sweetly at night.
“Whoever has been here at least once never vacations on the Black Sea again”
After an afternoon swim, we went on a short hike. Moving from bay to bay, we discovered the large tent city that I wrote about at the beginning of the article. We asked where they came from in such numbers to Putyatin Island at once. When we found out that they came from Novosibirsk, we asked them a completely logical question: “Why did you come here and not, for example, go to the coast of the Azov or Black Sea? After all, it’s even closer to you than on the coast of the Sea of Japan.” To this, the same engineer answered us: “Anyone who has been here at least once does not vacation on the Black Sea anymore! You have the cleanest open sea, not an inland sea. The nature here is practically untouched by man. Yes, and prices are much lower than on the Black Sea coast. This is the first year we’ve been spending our holidays here.” Well, you can’t argue with such arguments.
The distance from Novosibirsk to the Danube village is 5786 km.
The distance from Novosibirsk to Anapa is 4124 km.
By the way, these Novosibirsk residents turned out to be quite creative guys. Some even took painting canvases with them on the trip. One girl beautifully painted the landmark of the bay on the shore of which we stopped.
Rooster Bay on canvas
But “Rooster” in reality
Everyone's favorite rock "Rooster"
After spending almost a week on the island, we traveled around it a lot. But we were never able to completely go around all the bays along the perimeter of the island. But the relaxation was just great. The impressions accumulated for years to come.
Marine inhabitants of Putyatin Island
Sea urchin - another inhabitant of the Sea of Japan
Putyatin Island, we will meet you again
The days of vacation on the island flew by and we now had to say goodbye to all this indescribable beauty and return to everyday life in the city. But now we take with us a piece of this beauty within ourselves. Putyatin Island, we will meet you again!
Our departure from Putyatin Island was accompanied by fog
Did you manage to visit Putyatin Island? What impressed you most about him? Do you agree that relaxing on the coast of the Sea of Japan is much better than on the Black Sea? They say that wild deer still roam on Putyatin Island, left after the animal farm collapsed. Have you seen these deer? Or have they already been eaten by vacationers long ago?
Write about your impressions of your holiday on Putyatin Island. Ask questions and share your personal experiences of independent travel.
P.S.: Many years ago, Yuri Vizbor, the famous bard and Russian actor, dedicated one of his poems to Putyatin Island. It’s called “Putyatin Island”. The poem contains the following lines:
We will all, of course, return -
The trains will roll into the sunset,
We will swear to the girls
Never leave.
But why on earth is this
Do we keep dreaming about ships?
Small island Putyatin,
Near the great land.
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Today again about Far Eastern tourism and recreation. I’ll tell you about Putyatin Island in the Primorsky Territory of Russia.
I first came to this island three years ago. I really liked it here, and now it seems to me that this is one of the best places in Primorye.
Continuing with photographs and a few words about the island.
On Yandex.Maps the island looks like this, but in principle, its location is clear here. You can get to the island by ferry from the Danube village. You can do it on your own or rented boat. 
The island is simply a paradise for relaxation. Beautiful hills. 
Parents and children gather in one of the bays every year. They have such a club in Primorye, where they are accustomed to water from birth. 
There is a very beautiful sea here. 
Picturesque rocks. 
Sandy beaches. 
Beautiful landscapes. 
The place is, of course, very interesting. 
Approaching one of the capes. 
The history of the island is also interesting, here is an excerpt from Wikipedia:
In 1891, the merchant A. D. Startsev, the son of the Decembrist N. A. Bestuzhev, settled on the island. He acquired 1000 acres of land on the island; the rest is taken on long-term lease.
He founded an estate on the island with exemplary farming: he planted tobacco and mulberry plantations, two orchards, a vineyard, a farm, and a stud farm. In 1893-1896, he built brick and porcelain factories, plumbing and mechanical workshops, and an iron foundry on the island.
In reports from the Amur-Primorsky Agricultural and Industrial Exhibition of 1899, the stud farm on the island of Startsev was especially highlighted. In 1893, 5 stallions and 10 mares of the purebred Oryol breed were delivered there, then 34 horses were delivered from Mongolia (out of 80, 46 died en route); and five years later there were already more than 200 horses of the new breed on the island. Newspaper reports also wrote about a brick factory, cement production, and a mechanical and carpentry workshop where beautiful furniture was made. “The products of his porcelain factory, the only one in the region, are outstanding - large vases, thin tea sets, ordinary table china... Such work as a life-size bust of Pushkin is exemplary... for which he rightly received a large silver medal.”
In 1929, a large animal farm was established in the village of Putyatin, and later a fish processing plant.
Now there are no industries on the island, but the unique nature has been preserved. 
Remains of the lighthouse. 
There are very beautiful sunsets and sunrises here. There will be separate notes on this matter. 
Fragments of the nature of the island. 
I have traveled almost the entire island. 
Walked through the forests. 
Putyatin Island is a hospitable place for tourists in Peter the Great Bay. It is located further from Vladivostok compared to other islands in the Sea of Japan. Fifty kilometers separate Putyatin from the administrative center.
The island is famous for its unprecedented scenic beauty: amazing bays, warm coastlines, gentle cliffs, stunning meadow landscapes and a rich natural world. The entire territory of the island is covered with a dense canopy of deciduous forest. Entering the forest, you can feel the aromas of mixed trees: oak, linden, manchurian walnut and maple. Clearings have been made in some areas of the forest, but elderberry and rosehip bushes make some areas difficult to navigate. Putyatina is famous for its large harvest of mushrooms and berries. Far from people, deer live in the south of the island.
Ruffs, greenlings, scallops, mussels, as well as octopuses and stingrays swim among the underwater rocks.
Tourists visit the island to admire its main attraction - the Komarov lotus. This relict plant blooms on Lake Gusinoye, not far from the village.
All the bays of the island are an excellent place to relax, as they are provided with a source of drinking water. Hiking in the surrounding area will lead the traveler to the Elephant rock, to the underwater grotto at Cape Shulepnikov. You can admire the Rooster rock or the Iretsky rock. Beautiful natural monuments are the Unkovsky stones and the Five Fingers kekura. Putyatin Island is rich in natural world, which is why thousands of tourists come here every year.
Putyatin Island stands out noticeably for its extraordinary beauty against the background of the other eleven islands located in Peter the Great Bay. The bay has a huge area (9 thousand sq. km) and is considered the largest in the Sea of Japan. Putyatin Island is popular among tourists who, at the first opportunity, try to visit this beautiful corner of the Primorsky Territory of Russia. This is confirmed by many excursions.
Location
Peter the Great Bay consists of six small ones. In one of them - Strelok Bay - there is Putyatin Island. It is 50 kilometers southeast of Vladivostok. Cape Startsev on the island and Cape Strelok on the mainland are separated by 1.5 kilometers. The length from north to south is 14 kilometers, and the area of land protruding above the water is 27.9 square meters. km. In the southern part there is a rocky ridge, the so-called kekurs called “five fingers”, from which you can contemplate the neighboring Relief is represented mainly by mountains, among which Mount Startseva (353 m) rises in the northern side. Putyatin Island (Primorsky Territory) is a very picturesque place.
The coastline has an indented shape, the landscape is varied - hills alternate with either ravines or valleys. On the eastern coast there is a quartz layer, on the southern coast there is granite with a red tint.
Historical excursion
In 1858, an island was encountered on the way of a sail-screw clipper. The ship's crew made a description of it and entered it on the map. The island was named in honor of the Russian admiral E.V. Putyatin.
Efim Vasilyevich held high government positions, including being a diplomat. In the 50s of the 19th century, he led an expedition with the participation of two frigates - “Pallada” and “Diana”, during which the eastern coast of the Primorsky Territory was explored and described. The merits of this expedition include the discovery of such objects as the Rimsky-Korsakov archipelago, Olga and Posyet bays. In the 60s of the 19th century, another Russian expedition under the command of Lieutenant Colonel V.M. Babkin was engaged in surveying Peter the Great Bay. Putyatin Island was studied in detail. The bays were marked on the corresponding maps back in those days.
Island in the 90s of the 19th century
Before the island was discovered, there were no human settlements on it. With the arrival of warm summer days, fishermen from the mainland came here. The settlement of the island began in the 90s of the 19th century. It began with the fact that in the summer of 1891, the son of the famous Decembrist Bestuzhev, Alexei Startsev, visited it and examined it. At that time he was a merchant of the first guild. He was known as a talented and educated entrepreneur.
Subsequently, Startsev decided to rent the island for 99 years, after which he founded the Rodnoye estate on it, in which his family settled.
Business activities on the island
Possessing extraordinary entrepreneurial acumen, Startsev soon developed his business to its full potential. First, a brick factory appeared, where modern production equipment at that time was installed, and a mark was placed on each brick. The great demand for bricks from the island can be evidenced by the many buildings in Vladivostok. Since then, Putyatin Island (Primorsky Territory) has become very famous throughout the Far East.
Not much time passed from the day the brick factory was put into operation, when a porcelain factory grew up near it - the pride of Startsev, whose products were no worse in quality than Chinese ones. The next project that the entrepreneur tried to implement was silk production. For this purpose, silkworms were specially brought here and then raised here. Soon the ferry began to go to Putyatin Island.
Another achievement of the descendant of the Decembrist was the development of a breed of horses, which was obtained by crossing a Transbaikal horse and an English horse. The Transbaikal breed had endurance and unpretentiousness. Livestock farming on the island gradually expanded. The farm bred Kholmogory cows, Yorkshire pigs, as well as ducks and geese of exclusively known breeds.
In addition, a deer farm was built and a snake nursery was created. The inhabitants of the island were provided with honey and fruits thanks to the bee apiary organized here, the garden and vineyards established here, especially since favorable weather allowed all this to be done. Putyatin Island flourished, the residents were grateful to the talented entrepreneur for providing high-paying work.
At that time, there was a fairly developed infrastructure with good roads. The inexhaustible energy and hard work of Alexei Dmitrievich turned the once wild land into a thriving island oasis. The efforts did not go unnoticed by the Fatherland; this was confirmed by medals for achievements in agriculture and participation in exhibitions.
The end of prosperity
The island flourished as long as the owner was alive. However, after his sudden death in 1900, a gradual decline began. After the October Revolution of 1917, the nationalization of property was carried out with the subsequent creation of an animal state farm on its basis.
The village and the southern part of the island are connected by a road, near which you can see a monument to Startsev - the man who breathed life into a deserted area. Grateful residents immortalized the outstanding entrepreneur in the fall of 1989.
Unfortunately, the village is experiencing a gradual decrease in the number of residents. Now there are no more than 700 people. Alexei Startsev's house stood for almost a hundred years.
Nature of Putyatin Island
The territory is covered with deciduous forest. Among the oak thickets there are elderberry and rosehip bushes, and among the trees there are linden, maple, and Manchurian walnut. This is a picturesque area with beautiful coves, cliffs and magnificent meadows. There is an abundance of berries and mushrooms on the island.
A relict plant that has existed for almost 100 million years can be considered a landmark of the island. Lotus grows on According to a famous Buddhist legend, the bud of this flower became the birthplace of Buddha. bloom every year after July 20th. So Putyatin Island was once a beautiful flower with a developed infrastructure, which soon closed its petals.
To the village The Danube arrived from Fokino by bus number 109 quite quickly. It took me five minutes to walk from the bus to the pier. The area around the pier is depressing. A vacant lot, a large hut, a Coca-Cola tent where they sell some kind of snack, a toilet, one-story ruins, garages, a closed kiosk, a kiosk with a cashier.
At 10 am the ferry was already at the pier unloading two cars. Since I filmed this on a GPS, I won’t post any photos, so as not to torment the aesthetic personalities here. A ferry ticket costs 100 rubles per person, and the ticket office is only on the Danube side, and on the Putyatin side people are transported for free.
A large excursion bus pulled up to the pier, from which only about five people got out; half an hour later, a second excursion bus with the main crowd arrived. Since there was heavy drizzle outside and the ferry was moving quite briskly, there were few people willing to be on the deck. During the crossing, everyone crammed into a small room for passengers.
The vast majority of those who came to Putyatin were Lotus Tour tourists 
This whole crowd went somewhere to the right, closer to the center of the village, and I went left to the outskirts of the village towards the monument to Startsev. On the way, I accidentally came across a grocery store, which I did not go into.
I also noticed a small pond with three ducks.
The “folk trail” to the monument was thoroughly overgrown, so I didn’t find it, but turned off the dirt road in another place and climbed the hill with the monument on the side, using the navigator as a guide.
Next to the column lies a brick, marked “D”, apparently produced at the Startsev factory. It's amazing how this artifact has not yet been stolen by brick collectors. Several bas-reliefs have been installed around the site with the monument from the village side.
Behind them there is a good view of the village. Unfortunately, due to the fog and drizzle, the photos didn't turn out very well.
I went down the hill along the “official” path.
After the cemetery, the path came out onto a dirt road. Fresh scrap metal was seen on it.
The condition of the dirt road is quite poor in places; walking in wet weather is not easy due to the slippery and sticky clayey mud. Jeeps and trucks passed without problems, but passenger cars in some places skidded and their owners had to put brushwood on the road.
After a couple of turns to the right, I came to the sometimes wooded, sometimes swampy shore of Lake Gusinoye.
Only in one place the bank is high and steep, which allows you to get close to the lotuses without getting your feet wet. The Lotus Tour company has already settled there on vacation.
The lotuses have not yet begun to bloom. Probably the tourists who paid 1,100 rubles for a trip here were somewhat disappointed. It cost me half the price and the lotuses were quite secondary to me.
From the lake I went to Rooster Bay. There were quite a lot of tents and accompanying debris in the bay on the eastern side of the island.
In the corner of the bay there is a large pillbox used as a toilet.
Wild currants, barberries and rose hips grew next to him. In general, there are enough rose hips along the entire coast. You can collect petals for tea. The closest to the water are Mertensia maritima and some kind of halophilic wormwood.
Here, in fact, is the Rooster kekur on the cape of the same name.
The other end of the bay
At the top of the copse there is a cafe under an awning with a small assortment of booze, smoke, chocolates, chips, dried seafood and noodles, and, in addition, cans for gas stoves. The prices are very reasonable.
Lake Tsaplinnoye is clearly visible from the cape.
I also managed to run past Dog Bay, where the “Best Parents” group was camped in tents.
Apparently the same “parents” organized a special place for garbage not in the bay, but in the forest near the road. The garbage lay neatly in bags under an awning stretched on poles.
I also looked at Cape Elephant.
There wasn't enough time for more in half a day. I went back to the ferry. On the way back I saw tourists walking up the hill to the monument. The older ones decided not to go and headed directly to the ferry.
The second to last ferry left at 17:30. Made it 5 minutes before departure.
In the Danube, when the ferry arrived, a small regular bus came straight to the pier. I didn't have to go to the stop.
Having reached Fokino, 15 minutes later I took a bus to Vladivostok. I didn’t buy tickets at the box office, but paid directly on the bus.
