The Archipelago Sea (Finnish: Saaristomeri, Swedish: Skärgårdshavet) is a part of the Baltic Sea between the Gulf of Bothnia, the Gulf of Finland and the Sea of Åland, within Finnish territorial waters. The size of this area is over 8000 square kilometers, of which 2000 square kilometers is land. A massive amount of these islands are uninhabited, a fact which together with the Everyman's rights giving visitors the right to camp on and visit almost every island, makes this area a very unique place for wilderness enthusiasts.

The Baltic Sea, including the Archipelago Sea, is open towards other world seas only through the Danish Straits, which connects it to the Northern Sea and Atlantic. The water of the Baltic Sea is brackish, with a salinity level of only around 0.2-0.8% (compared with the Atlantic's ~3,6% salinity). This means that both the fish species of the sea differs a lot from that of the big seas'. The water is not low enough in salinity for using as drinking water for humans, but perfect for instance for cooking your food in.

The number of permanent residents on the islands of the Archipelago Sea is roughly 20,000. Most of the archipelago area has for centuries been more or less monolingually Swedish-speaking, and is now officially bilingual with a Swedish-speaking majority in most southern parts. The northern part of the area is monolingually Finnish-speaking.

Archipelago National Park (Swedish: Skärgårdshavets nationalpark, Finnish: Saaristomeren kansallispuisto) was established in 1983 and includes a big part of the Archipelago Sea area.

Archipelago National Park is part of the UNESCO biosphere reserves and received a PAN Parks certificate in 2007. The area is often mentioned as the most beautiful archipelago area in the world. Some 8000 islands and skerries belong to the National Park co-operation area. Within the outer borders of the Archipelago National Park, many islands, around 50%, are owned by archipelago inhabitants.

While the National Park islands have special regulations, making it allowed to camp on only 12 of them for instance, the availability of numerous islands not owned by the park and with the Finnish Everymans' Rights (the right to roam), you will always find wild islands with good and allowed places to camp if you only plan ahead.

The fauna of the Archipelago National Park is well-known due to research and regular follow-ups. Twenty-five species of mammals have been identified; the most common ones include the common shrew, pygmy shrew, mountain hare, bank vole, red fox, raccoon dog, mink, and moose. The number of grey seal have increased in recent years, whereas ringed seal numbers have decreased. Over 130 species of birds are found in the area. Majestic sea eagles can often be seen in the area, and ospreys are not very uncommon.

The most common species of fish include the Baltic herring, European perch, northern pike, common roach, bream, viviparous eelpout, European flounder, and fourhorn sculpin. Fishing while out kayaking is possible by fish angling, and chosing the right spots can often easily give you a good catch of among others perches and pike. Fish angling permits must be bought in advance, and can be found here.

All people have the right to enjoy nature anywhere in the Finnish archipelago regardless of land ownership. The legal concept of “Everyman’s Right” in Finland extends immense freedom to roam but comes with some serious responsibilities. Primary of all is a mutual respect for nature, people and property. The outdoor enthusiast’s golden rule requires a desire to preserve and protect the unspoiled beauty and wonder of nature for future generations to enjoy.

Everyone is allowed to…

• kayak in the archipelago and walk in the archipelago islands' forests

• camp out temporarily a reasonable distance from homes and cottages

• pick wild berries, mushrooms and flowers, as long as they are not protected species

• fish with a simple rod and line

• all the above can be restricted or forbidden in seal and bird protection areas national parks and other nature reserves during certain seasons or year-round to protect sensitive areas and threatened species of plants or animals. Please pay close attention to any restrictions. Aavameri's custom made maps that we give along on expeditions show all these areas.

It’s NOT allowed to…

• disturb people or damage property

• disturb breeding animals and birds, their nests or young

• let pets off leash

• cut down or damage trees collect moss, lichen, or fallen trees from other people's property

• light open campfires without permission, except in an emergency

• disturb people's privacy by camping too near them or making too much noise

• leave litter fish with nets, traps, or a reel and lure without the relevant permits

Aavameri's 4 rules:

• Observe animals and their young from a sufficient distance. Both birds, seals and other animals need privacy and space in the breeding season and also at other times.

• Sort any litter and take it to a wast sorting station at the end of your expedition

• Only use biodegradable dish washing liquid if any, and do any dish washing at least 30 meters from the sea to avoid getting nutritients into the sea water

• Leave the archipelago in a better condition than when you arrived: If you find any litter, take it with you.

Precautions while kayaking in the Archipelago Sea area

As with any expeditions on the sea, sea kayaking in the Archipelago Sea area brings with it the need for precautions.

Water temperature

The water temperature in the area varies from only one degree centigrade in wintertime (with the sea frozen solid for parts of the winter, to around 20 degrees centrigrade in mid-July to mid-August. Still in the behinning of June, the water temperature is often around 15 degrees centigrade or below, which means that beeing exposed to the water for any longer period of time is very dangerous. Self- and pair rescue skills in the case of a capsize are essential when doing kayaking expeditons.

Wind and waves

During April to mid-June, the cold water combined with the high sun and warm land masses often bring with them strong sea breezes of 8 to 12 m/s (15-23 knots) from S - SW. Good kayak maneuvering skills, route planning and wave handling skills are essential. From mid-June to late August the wind direction is also mostly from SW and the wind is most often light, under 7 m/s (13 knots). More windy days are still possible, and it is well worth following the wind forecasts and altering the route plans according with them. During especially late summer and autumn (September-October), occasional strong winds occour, in the autumn sometimes with strengths sometimes exceeding 12 m/s (24 knots). Avoiding open waters and sometimes not going out on the water at all on specific days are parts of risk handling. From early October until December, occasional low pressures bringing with them storms can be experienced. This said, the time between mid-June and late August is most often perfect for kayaking also for those not that well accuinted with stronger winds.

The wave conditions on the Archipelago Sea vary much. Many sheltered areas, where you can take protection from land masses and islands are found in the inner archipelago. In the outer archipelago, open straits cannot be avoided. By checking the weather forecasts it is still easy to plan detours to the more protected areas.

Dangerous animals

the common viper

In our area, there are no poisonous or otherwise dangerous sea animals. On some of the islands, vipers (vipera berus) which is Europe's most common poisonous snake, can be found. Bites from these are very rare, but could be dangerous and a doctor should always be contacted immediately if bitten by one (the last fatal snake bite in Finland happened in 1998, but it is worth being careful).Vipers are very precatious of people, and as long as you do your presence known and avoid the only places between stones where they can hide, it is very rare to see them.

Ticks, possibly bearing borrelia and tick-born encephalitis, are found on some but not all islands; avoiding walking in high, especielly wetland grass, and/or checking your body for these in the evenings is recommendable.

This said, the Finnish nature is the safest or one of the safest countries in the world also from the aspect of dangers in nature.

Planning expeditions in the Archipelago Sea and Archipelago National Park

Aavameri helps all our guests with online planning maps and advice about routes and camping. As fresh water and food is found only on a few places in the archipelago, route planning for any expeditions longer than three days often needs to take into consideration where such things can be obtained.

The outer archipelago sea, consisting of granite small skerries and islands without trees, does not give much protection from the elements, but is a very beautiful and wild area. If weather forecasts tell about any stronger winds, it is good to take protection from the bigger sheltering islands further north.

The inner, norther area of the Archipelago Sea, consists of both small skerries and larger forest covered islands. This area has more summer cottages in it than the outer archipelago, and also boat traffic can in parts of the area be more frequent.

Aavameri always suggests starting and ending beaches to transport you to, routes and islands to camp on when offering self-guided expeditions.