Abashiri Drift Ice Sightseeing & Icebreaker Ship — Attraction in Abashiri

In short: you'd be safer to plan to come in January or February (March is iffy), and book online (good God don't try and call). •Positive: the day I came (in March) there was no drift ice; they post a multilingual sign clearly to tell you this. When I got to the desk, she said I can cancel my reservation. They do not try to trick you about the ice: when I asked her if it would still have pretty scenery anyway, she essentially said "hmm, yeah, maybe, but the drift ice is the big thing, so..." And when I asked if it might come back the next day, she was honest and said it's unpredictable and didn't want to guarantee anything. So at least they're transparent. •Negative: sometimes booking online fills up for certain days, and the website says to call. There is no online contact form. I called literally (not figuratively) over 100 times over the span of a few days; the line was always either busy or would go unanswered after ringing endlessly. I messaged them on Instagram (since there's no other contact form) and for no reply. I finally got through and was able to make a reservation...

A couple of bus stops away from Abashiri Station (200 Yen via Bus, there's a bus timing schedule at the bus stop at Abashiri Station). Check with the hotel if the cruise is still operating for the day as the cruise may be cancelled due to weather or if no drift ice is sighted). The drift ice cruise terminal is the last station so just get off when everyone else on the bus gets off.

Free seating is always chaotic, opt for reserved seating for a couple more Yen. Otherwise grab the 1st floor unreserved seats and don't waste time taking photos of the boat prior to embarking the boat.

Although the cruise is only about an hour, the view of the ice drift stretching across the ocean horizon is an amazing sight to behold, the beauty and sheer size of the ice drift "patch" (?), leaves one truely dumbfounded.

If you are a fan of scenery and nature, this cruise is a must for you, otherwise it might be a boring and...

A worthwhile experience in Abashiri!

Ideally you should reserve tickets online on their website in advance, but if you can't reserve online (and don't speak Japanese for the phone call option) there's still a likely chance you can get tickets like we did:

We checked the ship status on their website around 9am on the morning of the day we wanted to go on the cruise. After a Google translate of the page, it'll inform you which cruise times are fully booked and which are free. We were lucky and the 3:30pm time was available. We went to the cruise terminal in person at around 10am and asked at the ticket counter for a reservation specifically for the 3:30pm timeslot. The lady at the counter then reserved the tickets for us, gave us a slip to keep and told us to come back at 2:45pm to exchange the slip of paper for the boarding passes and take payment then. The fair was 4,000 yen per...