Prepare to travel over breaking ice and snow as you explore deep into the frozen archipelago in a hovercraft or from a ice breaking steel boat in limited ice conditions. This day trip from Helsinki includes all the gear you need to experience the arctic waters warmly and safely. Complete your trip with a Finnish lunch.
Meet us at Gumbostrand, a 30 min drive on the east side of the city. Here we have the departure pier. Here you will be provided with warm clothing for the day and safety equipment together with a short safety briefing. Upon request and check-out, we can also provide a hotel pick-up and drop-off.
The Hovercraft features a heated cabin and room for up to five or nine passengers. Feel secure traveling with one to two experienced crew members and guides during the whole trip, depending on the number of passengers. Alternatively, stay on deck of a steel ice breaking boat and watch the ice breaking. The mean of transportation is depending of the amount of solid ice available.
Depart the pier to start the drive through the archipelago winter landscape. Experience the empty, deep, frozen, and beautiful landscape as you travel between the islands over ice and open water on the way to an empty island.
Spot summer cottages, scenic landscapes, and potentially a seal, eagle, or other animals. Stop can be made on the way to take pictures on the thick and solid ice or to have a walk and listen to the complete silence.
On our stop on a nature state island, you learn about summer cottages and saunas, the birth of the archipelago after the Ice Age, and daily life in the archipelago. There will be dry toilets available to use on some of the islands.
After a short island walk, optionally try out a unique experience floating around between ice rafts in a survival suit while staying completely warm and dry.
The suits are well insulated to keep you perfectly warm and dry during the whole swim. There is a heated cabin ready for you to change into these special suits.
An experienced crew member will be assisting you the whole time while a second member acts as a safety officer on the shore side. You can stay as long as you want in the water; a typical duration for the swim is 15-45 minutes.
If you choose not to swim, you can also stay ashore and take pictures of the other swimmers.
After the swim, enjoy a campfire lunch to get a taste of Finland. At the campfire, there is seating, roof protection, and big windows giving protection from the wind, rain, and other elements of nature, yet still providing beautiful scenery of the sea.
After the tour, the hovercraft or steel boat ride goes back to Gumbostrand. The transport back to Helsinki is either with your own transport or our drop-off service.
