Svalbard in February 2015 - Activities?

Basically you can't do anything yourself - as you realise. Even walking around town is potentially risky in winter. It's a very tiny place, winter tourism there is very niche, and there are very few tour operators, and their offer is all on-line. So google will quickly find out for you what tours you can do. If you want to do something special, it would be better to time your flights to the special tour, rather than the other way around.

It's cheap because you are going a little after the late twilight which photographers like, and which causes a brief sharp peak for tourism earlier in Feb. Things change very fast in Feb. The sun rises in the middle of Feb and 2 weeks later there are 8 hours of daylight, the change is quite obvious from one day to the next. I think you have basically missed the sought-after special light of early Feb the dates you are travelling, by some distance, though that doesn't mean the light won't be interesting. http://www.gaisma.com/en/location/longyearbyen.html

Climate is easily discovered.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longyearbyen
http://www.yr.no/place/Norway/Svalbard/Longyearbyen/statistics.html
https://weatherspark.com/averages/28884/Longyearbyen-Spitsbergen-Svalbard-and-Jan-Mayen

So typical Feb temperatures (time of month is unimportant) are -13 at day and -20 at night, but historically temperatures have ranged from +7 to -43. But last year, as the yr.no graph shows, midwinter was unbelievably warmer than average, and most of Feb was barely below freezing. Svalbard is a very windy place - Feb isn't quite as windy as earlier in the winter, but it is nevertheless a typically windy time of year - and that wind can make these low temps truly terrible.

Many thanks for that, that's really helpful.

I'm a bit sad I'll miss the photogenic twilight - I wish I'd posted before I booked! Does anyone have a view on whether it would be worth moving my trip to get the light in early February? My flights are non-flex so would probably buying new ones, or close to it in change fees. I'm guessing in late February I can still expect some interesting and varied light throughout the day, and hopefully a reasonable chance of seeing the Northern Lights over the course of a week. I'm thinking I'll stick with the dates I have, but if it'd be really special earlier in February then it might be worth moving the trip. If I did change my dates, does anyone know exactly when the best time for photographic light is? First week of February?

I've had a look at the Winter activities and looks like there's still plenty to do. Does anyone know:
1) How far in advance do you need to book activities (hiking, caving, etc.) in late February? can I wait until I'm there and then book 1-2 days in advance when there's a decent weather forecast? If it's blowing a massive blizzard I'm guessing it's probably not worth going on a full-day hiking trip.
2) Snowmobile trips look 3-4 times more than the other activities. I can imagine it's the way to see as much as possible, do people think it's worth the extra money? I'd have at least four full days to explore other ways.
3) Is the snow-cat thing any good, or is that mainly for people who don't want to be out in the elements?

Thanks again for the tips so far.

Photos from different times of year in Svalbard:
http://www.bfogdenphotos.com/

Sunrise is 16 Feb, and it is during the week or two before that certain photographers like to seek out the special light. I think the place is can be heavily booked at that time, but also I think it is a fairly specialised thing for the serious photography geeks.

But late Feb to mid March has its particular attractions too. You have daylight in sufficient quantity to do daylight winter activities, and enough night to get a good chance of the northern lights. There seems to be a regular program of winter daytrips, and, as you realise, these will be contingent on weather and demand, and therefore can probably be arranged at short notice. But talk to the tour providers and see what they can suggest.

As for equipment tips: A good wideangle lens is often your best friend. Acclimatize your camera and lenses- going from inside temps of 20C (with typically 25-50% rh in 'dry' indoors air) to outside -15C will if not handled correctly give you lots of freezing condensation. If you go old school and use film, beware that acclimatization is also needed for your rolls- the tiniest piece of condensation inside will ruin some shots.
Clothing: See if you can get your hands on some hunters mittens (mittens with a trigger finger), mittens are much warmer than gloves. Windbreaker mittens with trigger fingers are also available. A warm and windproof cap (image search bjørnefitte) is a must, even if your jacket has a pelted hood. Hoods are notoriously in the way when photographing. Traditional mountain winter garb is otherwise quite decent. Layer up good, also on legs, have roomy boots and thick wool socks. Goretex materials are often useless at the breathing thingie at such cold temps, but are otherwise decent shells. I use cotton/polyester shell garbs for cold conditions, but if you already have gore shells there is little need to buy a new wardrobe for this trip.

Yes, very dark, but maybe northern light. Try to hook up with some locals and rent a snowmobile and travel with them.

I'd only spend one dark season there, and actually it's not that cold (by Nordic standards). Windproof and flexible is often better than thick and bulky. Even in winter. Still, temperatures down to -25 happens.

Yes, very dark, but maybe northern light. Try to hook up with some locals and rent a snowmobile and travel with them.

I'd only spend one dark season there, and actually it's not that cold (by Nordic standards). Windproof and flexible is often better than thick and bulky. Even in winter. Still, temperatures down to -25 happens.