Hälsö Harbour

On the south-eastern side of Hälsö, one of the Öckerö islands in the northern Gothenburg archipelago, sits one of the region's most welcoming guest harbours. You approach it across the open water of Hakefjorden and slide into a harbour where the old shipyard buildings still set the tone. Hälsö was once one of the most important boatbuilding communities on the west coast, and the legacy is still palpable in the narrow lanes climbing up from the quay.

The guest harbour holds around thirty boats, moored alongside or bow-to the quay. The water is about four metres deep, making it accessible even for deeper sailing yachts. Fresh water and shore power are available at the pontoons, and the service house has showers, toilets and a washing machine. A sauna sits a hundred metres away, and the local yard — Hönö Båtvarv with a 20-ton crane and mast handling — is six hundred metres to the south.

Inside the harbour you find Hälsö Brygga, a quayside restaurant and café where the summer fare runs to shrimp sandwiches, ice cream and pastries served under canvas awnings. A 2.5-kilometre exercise loop runs along the water, and a commuter bus from Gothenburg gets you here in under an hour — making this one of the most accessible archipelago harbours in Sweden.