Island of the Longing Heart

The Island of the Longing Heart (Ostrov Tomyashchegosya Serdtsa) is a rocky islet about a hundred metres long in Telyakovsky Bay on the Gamov Peninsula, in the Khasansky municipal district of Primorsky Krai. A shallow strait about thirty metres wide, which can be waded, separates it from the shore. The island lies within the protected buffer zone of the Far Eastern Marine Biosphere Reserve.

Legend

The island owes its name to a heart-shaped boulder that lies in one of the shallow natural pools formed in the coastal rocks. According to the legend, when waves push water through a crack in the stone, it makes a sound resembling a heartbeat — hence the island's name.

Nature

The island's shores are rocky, especially on the side facing the bay. It still holds a grove of funeral pine (Pinus densiflora var. funebris), a species listed in the Red Book of Russia. The combination of coastal rocks, the pine grove and the open sea makes the island one of the well-known viewpoints of the Gamov Peninsula, close to Vityaz and Astafyev bays. The island and Telyakovsky Bay lie within the protected buffer zone of the Far Eastern Marine Biosphere Reserve, the oldest marine reserve in Russia, created to protect the coastal ecosystem of Peter the Great Bay.

Nearby

A few kilometres from the island, on the same Gamov Peninsula, stands the Gamov lighthouse, one of the oldest lighthouses in the Russian Far East, and Cape Gamov itself, the peninsula's southernmost point. Together with Vityaz and Astafyev bays, these sites form one of the most popular hiking routes in the Khasansky district.

Getting there

There is no road to the island: visitors leave their vehicle and continue on foot along the shore of Telyakovsky Bay. The usual route starts in Vladivostok: about four hours' drive to the village of Andreevka, then through the settlement of Vityaz to a quarry, where the walking section begins. An off-road vehicle or an organised tour is recommended for this road. The island can also be reached by boat from the sea.

Good to know

The strait between the shore and the island is shallow, about thirty metres wide, and is crossed on foot, so it is worth checking the water level and the tide beforehand. In August 2011 a shark attacked a tourist in Telyakovsky Bay near the island, so it is worth checking the current situation in the bay before swimming. The water in the Gamov Peninsula bays is clear, with a rocky bottom and sharp drop-offs near the rocks.