Oprichnik Bay

Oprichnik Bay (Zaliv Oprichnik) is a bay on the western shore of the Sea of Japan in Primorsky Krai, within the Dalnegorsk municipal district. It opens to the southeast and cuts about 1.3 kilometers into the mainland, with an entrance roughly three kilometers wide. The bay's water surface covers 3.4 square kilometers, its coastline runs 4.9 kilometers, and its greatest depth reaches 18 meters. At the mouth of the Oprichninka River (formerly called Mutukha), which flows into the bay, lies the village of Kamenka, home to a small port and the Kamensky fish-processing plant.

History and name

The bay was discovered by crews of an Anglo-French squadron in 1855. In 1860 the crew of the Russian clipper Oprichnik carried out the first hydrographic survey here, and in 1874 military topographers gave the bay its present name in honor of that ship. The bay was surveyed again later: skipper F. K. Gek examined it in 1894, and in 1906 the crew of the Siberian Flotilla torpedo boat Besposhchadny took depth soundings.

The bay has a notable magnetic anomaly, with a magnetic declination of 7.1 degrees west; a deviation range for calibrating ships' compasses is set up here. The bay does not freeze in winter but is exposed to southern and southeastern winds and swell. On July 8, 2016, the fishing trawler Sergiy Radonezhsky ran aground in the bay; there were no casualties and no oil spill.

Headlands and coastline

The bay's western entrance headland is called Rifovy (Reef Cape), and the eastern one is Signalny (Signal Cape). Signalny Cape is formed by the southern slope of a 203-meter hill and carries the operating Oprichnik lighthouse. Off Rifovy Cape a line of low rocks rises from the sea — sea stacks known as the Kamensky Two Brothers. The shore beyond the cape is scenic, with a small waterfall, numerous rocks, and rocky shallows inhabited by marine life.

The bay's beach stretches about 3.3 kilometers in total. Most of it is pebbly, with boulder stretches in places and a sandy section to the west. The boulder beach at the head of the bay is the main natural landmark: large rounded boulders line the shore, and during storms the waves rolling them produce a loud rumble. In the far southwestern corner of the bay there is a sand-and-pebble beach where tourists arriving by car tend to stop. Beyond Rifovy Cape there are pebble beaches and freshwater springs.

Getting there

Oprichnik Bay lies about 60 kilometers from the town of Dalnegorsk, roughly a third of the route on an unpaved road. Just before entering the village of Kamenka, turnoffs to the sea branch off the dirt road. For camping it is more convenient to choose a spot at the head of the bay, away from the village. Firewood is scarce in the area, mostly limited to driftwood washed up by the sea.