Aavameri

ARCHIPELAGO SEA, FINLAND

ARCHIPELAGO SEA, FINLAND

ARCHIPELAGO SEA, FINLAND

ARCHIPELAGO SEA, FINLAND

ARCHIPELAGO SEA, FINLAND

Learn about the archipelago

Finland's Archipelago ant the Archipelago National Park are areas of outstanding nature, culture and sea kayak expedition possibilities. Here we give you information about the area, its nature and how to behave in order not to impact the area nagatively during your stay.

archipelago
Archipelago Sea, Finland​​​​​
Our main playground and extraordinary haven is the Finnish Archipelago Sea, the largest archipelago in the world with its around 50.000, often tightly clustered, islands. We have been arranging sea kayaking tours in the world's greatest sea kayaking destinasions around the globe since 1995, but still our own Archipelago Sea is the most special area for us, and extraordinary area which we love to take our customers to. 

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 sea, Rosala
Rosala Island, Archipelago Sea, Finland​​​​​
Throughout its history the population of the Archipelago Sea has varied significantly. The population increased until the first half of the 16th century. After that the population went into decline as the carrying capacity of the environment was reached and wars and pestilence took their toll on the people. In the 19th century the population increased sharply as new, more efficient fishing methods were introduced. In the 20th century the population went into decline again, especially on smaller islands, due to rapid urbanization. Many smaller islands became completely uninhabited, and you can find houses on the more remote islands which are either titally empty, or that has been converted into summer residences. During the recent decades increasing number of summer residences in the archipelago have revitalized some areas.

Many Finns have summer residences on the islands in the area, known for its natural beauty. Due to this the population of many islands can double or more during the summer. Although having a summer cottage in the archipelago is more common among the Swedish-speaking, the Swedish-speaking are a small minority on the mainland, and so most summer residents are Finnish-speaking, in contrast to the permanent residents. Some of the larger islands both in the more dense inner archipelago and a few islands in the southern, outer archipelago still have shops and even schools.

Aavameri Sea Kayaking offers mindblowing guided and self-guided sea kayaking experiences amongst the 40 000 islands of the Archipelago Sea and the Archipelago National Park, Finland.


Archipelago Sea, Finland

Enquiries

Interested in what we offer or full of questions? Please contact us here and we will get back to you as soon as possible!

Please fill the required field.
Please fill the required field.

Partners and Awards

International Sea Kayak Guide Alliance ***** Training Center
Aavameri is a International Sea Kayak Guide Alliance ***** Training Center
International Sea Kayak Guide Alliance ***** Training Center
Official Partner of the Archipelago National Park, Finland
International Sea Kayak Guide Alliance ***** Training Center
Awarded as the Baltic Sea Region's "Most sustainable tourism services provider and 2nd Price as Most Sustainable Product or Service by Baltic Sea Tourism Forum
Aavameri is a Sustainable Travel Finland -labelled company
Aavameri is a Sustainable Travel Finland -labelled company
About Aavameri

Aavameri SeaKayaking.fi is a sustainable, high quality sea kayaking activities provider in the Archipelago Sea, south Finland. [Read more...]

Contact Us

Contact form
Archipeago Sea, Turku, Finland
+358 44 980 77 88
info(at)aavameri.fi