Aurora, Hokkaido, Japan

5HappyFamily0f3 5:00 PM Jul 21, 2015

Fox Cruiser makes a good alternative to Aurora
The Aurora boat cruise is the one you see leaflets about, but we went with the alternative company, Fox. We bought our tickets one day in advance from the Utoro Nature Centre. The lady in the centre recommended the 2pm trip, rather than 9.20am, as the sun is on the right side of the peninsula in the afternoon. It was a good tip, and we certainly had the sun on the magnificent cliffs and mountains during our trip. The scenery was spectacular and a boat trip of this kind is a must for any visit to Shiretoko, as you get to see parts inaccessible by land, as well as getting a different perspective on places such as the Furepe Waterfalls, which you can see from the shore. The Fox cruise is on a small boat. There were 12 on our boat, but I think is will take up to 20. You sit outside, in seats allocated to you, and are provided with a warm jacket and life jacket too. On our trip we saw eagles, bears and dolphins. We were busy looking for bears on the shoreline when one swam right by our boat, heading towards land! The trip takes 3 hours and can't be recommended enough.

3kirstyjane 5:00 PM Jul 31, 2019

Only option
We turned up early afternoon and hadn't prebooked because we didn't know our plans. Went to all the small ship companies first but they were all full. Aurora was our only option. They only take cash, no card which was considering the cost. I don't believe it's worth your time or money. We knew there was no English but the boat was sooooo far from the coastline we couldn't see anything anyways. Paid for binoculars which meant we did see one bear off in the distance which was the money saver. I wouldn't recommend as not value for money.