Bear Island

Bear Island, Norwegian Bjørnøya, is an islet in the Arctic Ocean, between Northern Norway and Svalbard. The island has no permanent population, except some meteorology crew.

Understand

Remnants of whaling station at Kvalrossbukta

Bear Island is named after a polar bear and is the southernmost island in Svalbard. Along with the adjacent waters, it was declared a nature reserve in 2002.

Get in

There are very few opportunities for individual travel to Bjørnøya. A few yachts make landfall, usually en route between the Norwegian mainland and Spitsbergen. A small number of cruising ships have visited the island, but tourism is otherwise almost nonexistent. HX Hurtigruten Expeditions makes a stop at Bear Island when heading to Svalbard.

See

Stappen bird cliff

Do

Urd, at 536 m the highest point of the island, is in Miseryfjellet, the mountainous eastern part of Bear Island.