"You can earn over 10,000 a month on fish during the season." A Belarusian woman on life in Kamchatka
Perhaps Kamchatka is the most beautiful place in the world. And at the same time, the most difficult for life. Anyone who has survived an earthquake of magnitude 8.8 or been snowed in up to the second floor knows something about human helplessness before nature. Life in Kamchatka is the lot of strong people. And one of them is Dina Shabaldayeva, writes Onliner.by.
"Bold, bold"
Dina was born in Borisov, into a naval officer's family, but the year 1993 found her in Vladivostok. It was then that "Free Willy" was shown in cinemas – a film that forever changed 6-year-old Dina.
— "All millennials, I'm sure, remember how the boy Jesse saves Willy the orca. That day, after watching it, I told my mom that I would work with whales," the heroine recalls.
But the family returned to Belarus, Dina went to school in Borisov, and then to a pedagogical university in Minsk, and there was no opportunity to save orcas. However, the girl made an impressive career in IT – from a regular recruiter to an HR director.
— "The dream of working with orcas always stayed with me. And when I started earning well, I began to look for opportunities. That's how I learned about the Far East Russia Orca Project – a scientific project studying orcas in the Far East, which has been running since 1999. And also about Kamchatka Freeride Community."
In 2021, for the first time in over 30 years, I flew to Kamchatka. Yes, I had visited there as a child, but only vaguely remembered the volcanoes and hot springs. Now, five days in the Pacific Ocean with biologist scientists awaited me.
Our task is to observe the animals without harming them. The ocean is incredibly beautiful. Everyone lives in tents, without contact with the outside world, freezing for eight hours in a boat to have at least one chance in a hundred to encounter an orca… It's worth it!
— "So I started flying to Kamchatka every summer. And in 2023, having found myself at Cape Zeleny once again, I learned that a sales manager position was opening up at the company."
Then everything was simple:
— "I'm Dina, I want to work with you."
— "Well, bold, bold."
And they hired me!
Thus, in October 2023, Dina found herself with three suitcases and a one-way ticket at Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky airport. She traded the comfortable world of metropolitan Belarusian "IT" for volcanic fields.
— "I had no illusions. I understood what Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky is: a grey city that needs a caring owner, it doesn't have the same infrastructure as Minsk."
Geographically, Kamchatka is a peninsula, but de facto, it's an island. Only two paths lead here: by air and by sea. And this determines a lot.
For example, tiles might be laid for half a year, because materials haven't been delivered from the mainland, or, say, a cyclone started – and everything got covered in snow.
But in the five years I've been observing the city, a lot has actually been done. The locals, of course, won't agree with me – they are always dissatisfied.
For example, Kamchatka businesses announced a flashmob: to clean Lake Kultuchnoye in the city center. Most complained on social media, while 40 people, including me and my colleagues, responded.
There are people who just whine and do nothing. And there are those who take action and get things done. And this applies not only to Kamchatka.
Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky may not be such a beautiful city, but it is capable of withstanding any earthquake.
"The house starts to shake, the asphalt ripples"
When you exit the plane at the new Vitus Bering airport, you are greeted by the "domestic" volcanoes. Korak, Avacha, and Kozel are visible right on the runway – that's what locals affectionately call the Koryaksky, Avachinsky, and Kozelsky volcanoes.
This breathtaking beauty, unfortunately, comes at a cost – 7,000 earthquakes a year.
Dina remembers July 30, 2025, almost minute by minute. At 11:27, an earthquake of magnitude 8.8 began in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.
These numbers won't mean much to Belarusians. Just know: this was the strongest earthquake in Kamchatka in over 70 years.
— "That day I was sitting at home, on the fourth floor, working on my laptop – a typical day for a tourism manager. It started to shake. I thought: well, an aftershock – and kept working. On my desk, I have beads on a stand – a life hack to estimate the strength of an earthquake. And I watched: the beads started rolling."
Literally five seconds later, a powerful rumble came from below, as if a train with a pile of metal was passing, the house began to shake, dishes clattered in the kitchen cabinet, and I understood: that's it. I tried to walk, holding onto the corridor walls, but I was swaying from side to side. Everything was shaking, the sliding wardrobe moved to a better life, the chandelier swung on emotional swings...
— "The sound of an earthquake is incomparable. You can hear the walls start to creak… In the end, I ran outside in my sneakers," Dina recalls. "All the neighbors did the same, moving further away: what if the house collapses, like in Turkey in 2023?.."
The second wave began. I remember bending down to tie my shoelace, but the ground wouldn't hold me at all. Cars that were parked with their handbrakes on broke loose and started moving. Everything clattered. The asphalt rippled. It was truly terrifying. I'm not afraid of earthquakes, but then I felt uneasy.
Panic set in, the whole of Petropavlovsk was at the city exit. There were crushes, queues at gas stations… It shook almost every 15 minutes. The Ministry of Emergency Situations sent out a message: please do not stay in your apartments overnight. Many walked around the city until morning, sat by the water, set up tents right on the street.
But not a single building was destroyed! Not a single person died. Only a woman at the airport was injured, but her injuries were minor. The city proved itself in a critical situation, because even for experienced Kamchatka residents, this was a serious test.
Then for several months, it shook almost every day. The epicenter of the earthquakes is always in the Pacific Ocean, and only a wave reaches Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. So we are relatively lucky.
We live in a seismically active region – you either accept it or you don't.
As a rule, every resident of Kamchatka has an "emergency kit" in their closet. Imagine a public chat where – it's a common thing – the whole city starts texting at night: "Where did it shake?", "What's happening at your place?", "How many points?". A normal day in Kamchatka.
— "Volcanoes are alive. Diverse. Absolutely each one has its own story. If you sit on the left side of the plane, Korak, Avacha, and Kozel will greet you during the approach to Kamchatka. I've just told you alarming stories, but Kamchatka is my heart. It is deeply rooted within me, grown with volcanic fields."
"To 'purga' is already part of the genetic code"
Surely, this winter you saw "funny" reels from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky on social media. Many decided they were generated by artificial intelligence: surely, people can't really dig out snowdrifts three stories high! In Kamchatka, they can.
— "There was so much snow that on some hills in the city it remained even in August," Dina smiles. "This winter became a record for Kamchatka in terms of snowfall over the last 12 years. Although old-timers say that in the nineties it was a common occurrence."
From January 12-16, a cyclone passed, and we were so covered! The airport was closed for several days, school classes were canceled. Stories of people unable to open doors or leave their stairwells due to snow are a reality. As are KamAZ trucks on huge wheels instead of buses.
A traffic light shines somewhere at your feet level – that's not AI, I have a photo like that. Most Kamchatka residents treat the situation with humor.
They call "snowdrops" the cars that emerged from under the snow and were trapped under multi-ton snowdrifts all winter.
In the dictionary of any respected Kamchatka resident, there's even a special word – "purga-vat" (to experience a severe snowstorm). It means an ancient folk entertainment: buying plenty of groceries, parking your car in a blizzard-proof spot, closing yourself at home, and looking out the window.
— "To 'purga' is already part of the Kamchatka residents' genetic code. Without it, it's even boring!" Dina laughs. "It's an opportunity to become a child again and slide down hills on a plastic bag, a piece of linoleum, or cardboard. A wild thrill even at 39 years old!"
"Orcas are better than people"
As you may have already understood, Dina's special love is orcas. Officially, they belong to toothed whales, but in fact, an orca is the largest dolphin in the world.
— "A scientist's workday observing orcas looks like this: breakfast at seven in the morning, and at nine everyone gets into boats and heads out to the ocean until about five in the evening. One of the boats, by the way, is acoustic: it records animal sounds. A whole day in the boat, completely frozen, chilled to the bone, but your heart stops every time you see a fin a hundred meters away, and sometimes right near the boat's nose. The dream has come true!"
By the way, in Kamchatka there are good crews who follow the recommendations of animal rights activists, and there are bad ones – those who disregard the animals for business. A couple of weeks ago, 33 boats chased a single family of orcas to entertain tourists – this should never be done. Avacha Bay is their home. And when people invade it uninvited, there are consequences.
The recommendation is very simple: stop at a distance of 300 meters, turn everything off, and observe silently. "Can we swim with orcas?" tourists ask. Of course not: that's a violation of their boundaries. But if you are drifting, you might witness a miracle: an orca will approach on its own and swim right under the boat.
When a crowd of 15-20 individuals swims towards you – that feeling is incomparable. Amazing, magnificent giants! They swim towards you and puff: psh-sh-sh, psh-sh-sh… I trust them. Orcas are very intelligent. I could talk about orcas endlessly!
Orcas are better than people. They live in very friendly families, caring for each other. Moreover, orcas have a matriarchy: mom is the boss. The life cycle of these animals is similar to that of humans. Females live up to 90 years, males a little less, up to 70. Orcas carry their young for a very long time – 15-18 months, and always only one. They feed it milk.
After 40 years, orcas enter menopause – just like women. And they also have grandmothers who pass on traditions, cultural code, and for example, stay with the young while the females hunt.
Once I saw a grandmother give a slap to a youngster who was playing too actively and getting under the fins. It was very funny.
The most famous orca in Kamchatka is the male Willy, recorded as AV27 in the catalog. The captains gave him his name. Like his Hollywood namesake, Avachinsky Willy's fin leans to the left side. Willy is over 30 years old, and he lives with his mother.
— "Unfortunately, Willy is sick. Two years ago, he was unwell: his mother simply brought him fish, tossing salmon to him so he would eat. Her Majesty Kaby (AV25 in the catalog) is the matriarch of her family."
Willy won't be able to survive without his mother, although last year he believed in himself and performed such pirouettes, leaping out of the water!... In general, orcas are true hedonists. They live their best life in the ocean, eat delicious fish (or seals), and strive to be free. We, humans, have much to learn from them.
"A bear descended from the hill and ran around the stadium"
Since we're talking about animals, another brand of Kamchatka is bears. Black humor enthusiasts never tire of joking about how bears eat inattentive tourists left and right. But how much truth is there to this?
— "Brown bears are as much full-fledged residents of Kamchatka as people are. 25,000 individuals – one of the largest populations in the world, by the way. Therefore, bears, of course, come out to people, even in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky itself. Approximately 10-15 such incidents happen over the summer."
Naturally, a bear is a predator, but no bear has the thought in its head: "Let me eat a tourist."
Attacks occur due to surprise or foolishness, when people switch off their self-preservation instinct.
We ask tourists not to approach bears, but they intentionally come closer: "I want a selfie with a bear!"
But despite all its apparent clumsiness, a bear is a very powerful and fast animal. It can catch up in a matter of seconds – you simply won't have time to dodge. Some particularly brainless individuals even "treat the bear with a pirozhok," and then are surprised why it jumps on a car and starts rocking it.
Once, after an unsuccessful summer when fish did not come to spawn, a hungry bear, in search of food, appeared right in the center of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. It descended from the hill and ran around the stadium at 11:00 PM. It was very stressed.
The set of rules on how to behave when encountering a bear is roughly as important as actions during an earthquake. Authorities tirelessly remind people about them every season. I am convinced that a person ensures their own safety. One should not ignore rules written in blood.
Bears don't eat tourists. They can attack a person because they themselves are afraid of us.
"Kamchatka residents eat red caviar by the barrel? A myth!"
Kamchatka was once considered a "golden land" – primarily due to increased Far Eastern coefficients and impressive salaries. But what does the situation look like today?
— "In the fishing and gold mining industries, during the season, over three to four months, you can earn up to 1.2 million Russian rubles (about 43 thousand Belarusian rubles at the current exchange rate). But this is very hard work, endless shifts on fishing trawlers."
And if you take the average salary in Kamchatka, it's about 150 thousand Russian rubles (more than 5 thousand Belarusian rubles). Sounds good, but you have to consider the prices in stores.
All products and services here are approximately three to four times more expensive than in Belarus, because logistics are very complex. For example, a tiny packet of cherry tomatoes costs 23 Belarusian rubles. Last year, they launched their own production of cucumbers using hot springs – 18 Belarusian rubles per kilogram. And that's a problem.
A kilogram of red caviar costs 430 Belarusian rubles – it's inaccessible to locals. Kamchatka residents eat red caviar and crabs by the barrel? That's a myth.
Caviar – only for New Year's or birthdays.
Rent for a one-room apartment in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, not an old, shabby apartment, will cost $520-700 at the current exchange rate. Internet – 90 Belarusian rubles per month. Utilities – 250 Belarusian rubles in winter and about 180 in summer.
Only the lazy haven't complained about the prices of vegetables, fruits, and utilities in Kamchatka. But all this fades against the backdrop of Petropavlovsk's velvet hills, the heroine is convinced.
— "In 15-20 years, Kamchatka can be turned into a luxurious tourist cluster. I strongly advocate for this and am ready to invest my own money, because Kamchatka is incredible. It's a gem! Even if its infrastructure is a bit worn for now."
I am convinced that Kamchatka is closer to Belarusians than it seems. Air tickets from Moscow to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and back cost about $400 per person at the current exchange rate. The flight takes approximately eight and a half hours, and if you're lucky, you can see the Northern Lights right out the window.
A basic 7-day summer tour to Kamchatka (including hotel accommodation, meals, airport transfer, and guide escort) costs about $2.3 thousand per person at the current exchange rate. In winter, for freeriders, snowboarders, and skiers, prices are roughly the same.
Of course, if you want to try heli-skiing (that's when you're delivered by helicopter to the summit of a volcano or a mountain slope), you'll have to pay about $6,000 for 8 days. But that's top-tier!
Many locals are like a shoemaker without shoes: they can live in Kamchatka for 20 years but never visit anywhere – because of laziness, work, dacha, children, dogs… It all depends on one's aspirations.
Many locations – Vachkazhets, Blue Lakes – are located not far from Petropavlovsk, and everyone has a car. Another matter is, for example, the Valley of Geysers: it is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site, and you can only get there by helicopter. Not everyone can afford to pay $1200 for such an excursion.
However, when children in Kamchatka finish school, they are taken there for free.
Place of Power
If Kamchatka has prepared such serious trials for a person, then why endure all this? Wouldn't it be easier to live on the mainland?
— "Kamchatka is a place for strong people. It doesn't accept the weak. Its beauty must be earned – and it chooses whom to reveal itself to. It might sound strange, but it's true."
In general, people of the Far East are the best people. Genuine. They live in challenging regions and are inclined to help each other, because anything can happen. No one on the street will ignore your trouble.
I saw this in Vladivostok and Khabarovsk, in Kamchatka, Sakhalin, and Yamal. People in megacities, in their endless pursuit of achievements, forget about what's important. But here, they respect the laws of nature.
Kamchatka residents are truly very strong-spirited people; they never give up, they just joke. In Moscow, it snowed normally once – that's it, end of the world, city dwellers crying. In Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, snowdrifts three stories high – nobody even batted an eye. For me, Kamchatka is a place of power. There. A place for romantics and adventurers.
Have you seen everything in life? Well then, go to Kamchatka, experience wilderness and autonomy, in nature, without civilization, turn off your phone – and test yourself.
Kamchatka teaches you to discard the unnecessary. It strips away the shell and husk, allowing you to remember who you truly are. The only question is how ready you are for it.
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