Træna Guest Harbour, Sanna

The guest harbour on Sanna is not a marina in the usual sense. You get one berth on each side of the floating dock at the outermost end, and it shallows quickly inside. The water is clear, the bottom good for anchoring off the sandy beach, and there is fresh water and a toilet on the pier – but no shore power, no shower, no fuel. You come here for the place, not the facilities.

Sanna lies in Træna municipality in Nordland, an island municipality at the very outer edge of the Helgeland coast with only around 440 inhabitants spread across the islands of Husøya, Selvær, Sanna and Sandøy. The express boat from Stokkvågen takes about 1 hr 35 min. Sanna itself is three square kilometres of dramatic rock rising 338 metres straight out of the sea – a silhouette you recognise long before you arrive.

Inside Kirkhelleren – the vast vaulted cave on the island – traces of human activity dating back roughly 9,000 years have been found, among Norway's oldest known settlements. Every July, Træna transforms into the Trænafestivalen music festival, where the natural acoustics of Kirkhelleren are used as a concert hall. For the rest of the summer you have the island almost to yourself: a path to the summit, white beaches and a small café on Træna (Husøya) reachable by tender.