Sakhalin has plenty of stunning natural scenery to offer. However, transportation out in the wilderness of Sakhalin requires patience, and a lot of careful and thoughtful planning. An easier alternative is shelling out the extra cost for enlisting the aid of a local tour operator.
Diving
Moneron island, close to the city of kholmsk, is a marine park that offers some unique diving; there is a dive shop in yuzhno-sakhalinsk that can help with arrangements. most other location and dive sites are restricted by politics: because of the close proximity to and sometimes heated relationship with japan, the border guard needs to approve diving elsewhere, in practice ruling out this option.
Skiing
There is a alpine ski resort just east of yuzhno-sakhalinsk, gorny vozdukh, which has seen some substantial upgrades lately.
Rafting
Bykovsky rapids on the krasnoarmeyka river, near the city of bykov some 50 kilometers north of yuzhno-sakhalinsk offers good class 4 or 5 rafting. there are no permanent facilities, so you need to go on a tour from the island's capital, where they bring rafts and safety equipment to the starting point with 4x4s. it's also possible to do rafting on the lyotoga river - starting point is the small village of pyatirechye, just 35 kilometers due west from yuzhno-sakhalinsk on the p-495 road, and tours usually end in petropavlovskoye, a few kilometers before the river flows into the aniva bay. rafting season for most of the island mainly runs from early may to late june, when the rivers are awash with melting snow from the mountains.