If you go to Hokkaido in winter, you should see drift ice! You can see it on the Sea of Okhotsk of Hokkaido. It is one of the best winter attractions of Hokkaido. There are many drift ice watching tours in winters. You can take one day trip from Sapporo so if you go to the Sapporo Snow Festival, you can also take a tour to watch drift ice. On this article, I will introduce you about tours of drift ice.

What is Drift Ice?



Drift ice is floating ice on sea in winter. In Japan, you can only see it from east coast of Hokkaido at Sea of Okhotsk. This is the south limits of the northern hemisphere. Especially, Monbetsu and Abashiri are famous for drift ice because they have sightseeing boats for drift ice.

When to See Drift Ice?



The best season for drift ice in Hokkaido is from mid February to early March. The season to see drift ice may changes year to year. Some year you can see until April but some year it melts much earlier.

Even in the season, since ice moves on sea all the time, sometimes you can’t see. It depends on direction and strength of wind. Especially from the coast, it is sometime hard to see. So it is better to take a sightseeing boat for drift ice. Drift ice boat will take you to about 10 km from the coast, so that probability to see gets much higher. Also you can see animals like seals.

Sightseeing Boat



There are two kinds of sightseeing boat for drift ice. One is “Aurora” and you can take the boat in Abashiri. Aurora is big boat and many tour groups take this boat. Another one is “Garinko-go II” operated in Monbetsu. Garinko-go II is smaller so you can enjoy drift ice up closely. Both boats are operated 5 times a day. On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in high season, Aurora boat has “the Sunset Tour.” Garinko-go II has “Raising Sun Tour” and “Sunset Tour” in February.

You need to make a reservation for sightseeing boats. Boats may cancel because of bad weather.

Drift Ice Tours

If you want to see drift ice, I recommend you to take a tour. You can take day trip tours from Sapporo or Asahikawa; two biggest cities of Hokkaido. There are also tours you can take from those coast areas like Monbetsu and Abashiri.

If you take tour from Sapporo, it takes entire day. You leave Sapporo in early morning like 6:00 am and come back to Sapporo about 8 pm. Most tours from Sapporo and Asahikawa include lunch and you can enjoy seafood! It is depends on tour, but the cost is about 10,000 ~ 13,000 yen per person.

There are two types of drift ice tours. One are tours to watch drift ice and from boat and you can also watch animals. The other one are tours to walk on drift ice.

To walk on drift ice is exciting experience. If you are lucky, you can see clione which is cold as “fairy of the sea”. Be careful! At the tour you wear wet suit and walk, so it is cold and you need to have physical strength. It is not very hard but it might be hard for small kids and elderly people.

Summary

Drift ice is very beautiful and in Japan and it can only be seen in Hokkaido. Since it is far from Sapporo and the season is limited, even many people in Hokkaido do not get to see drift ice. So if you get a chance, don’t miss it!

Don’t forget wrap yourself up because winter coast in Hokkaido is very cold. If you are not used to snow, I recommend you to take a tour. Because there are not many public transportation and it is hard to drive in winter if you are not used to. Take a tour from Sapporo, then they will take you to the boat and you can also enjoy delicious seafood. I hope you have a chance to get to see beautiful drift ice!