Sakhalin is a special designated border region, movement of foreigners is limited. See "Disembarkation procedures" at right.
Disembarkation Procedures
To enter Sakhalin you are required to register with local authorities. During disembarkation you are required to provide your ferry ticket, passport and registration stamps. After all passengers have exited you will be taken to the customs office for an interview, and your passport will only be handed back to you after the interview is completed. During the interview you have to provide information on the purpose of your visit, exit point and date, and accommodation. No English is spoken, so having the above information written in Russian is advised.
By bus
Mini- and regular busses depart for Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk on the parking lot, right outside the ferry terminal. Minibuses are the most convenient and take 45 minutes to connect with Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk 300 RUB, however normally you will have to wait for the minibus to fill up. There are also some scheduled public buses:
Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk
â Bus 516 â 6:00, 7:00, 8:00, 9:00, 10:00, 11:00, 12:00, 13:00, 14:00, 15:00, 16:00, 17:00, 18:00 5, 7Nevelsk
Moneron â Bus 525 â 9:40, 11:30, 12:40, 15:30, 18:10
By ship
There is a daily overnight car ferry (http://www.sasco.org/inde...) from Vanino on the mainland, nominally departing Vanino at noon, and arriving in Kholmsk the next morning; however, sailing schedules are often disrupted by bad weather. In Kholmsk, ticket sales are at the ferry terminal, located in the center of town. In Vanino, tickets are bought inside the train station. Prices start from 600 RUB. Continuing from Vanino, there is a daily train connection to Komsomolsk-on-Amur that continues further south to Khabarovsk and Vladivostok for access to the Trans-Siberian mainline.