Experience an unforgettable boat ride and stunning sights of Helsinki archipelago with Helsinki boats!
About 3 weeks ago I had made one little dream come true! As some of you know, I have been living in Finland for over 12 years and this whole time I have contemplated on getting a private boat ride to discover Helsinki archipelago which I have heard about so much yet never got to see it properly. I don’t count mini boat ride to Suomenlinna island and back. 😀
Thanks to Marco, the best skipper and host of Helsinki boats, I made my dream come true and got to bring my daughter and brother along. Yes, Helsinki boats rides are like no others, it’s completely private, customised to your wishes rides and you can bring up to 3 people along with you. You can have whole boat for yourself or you can also share it with others starting at only 20 eur per person.
I want to tell you more about our experience. Marco welcomed us to his boat at Tervasaari, small island in Kruununhaka area of Helsinki. We jumped in and took off. First stop was mandatory fuel filling, since we went for the ride early in the morning and were the first ones to ride with Marco on that day.
We have witnessed some beautiful sights of Kalasatama and Mustikkamaa as well as discovered that there is a secret outdoor sauna in the most convenient spot, right on the rocks, ready to jump into the sea from the sauna.
Then we spotted Honkaluotto island which has nobody living there as it’s so small but there is a house, sauna and yard which you can rent for a whole day. Next off towards Herttoniemi and it’s beach area, lots of beautiful houses and villas, I was impressed. We saw a tiki bar! Yes in the middle of Helsinki archipelago there was a tiki bar and that’s when I thought that I must be somewhere else, this just can’t be Helsinki. 😀
We took a bit of a speed ride towards Itis and Vuosaari area where the stunning views and all sorts of secret spots continued. My jaw was dropping every five minutes and I completely fell in love with Helsinki all over again.
From there we turned back and started our ride towards Suomenlinna, passed it by smoothly as well as Uunisaari and continued towards Jätkäsaari to the Hietalahti and restaurant Hampton Bay.
During our whole ride with Marco we have talked a lot, found him to be such a cool and relaxed guy, it’s hard not to love him at the first sight. 🙂 We were happy to share lunch with Marco and talk some more about life in general and never ending source of conversation – pros and cons of life in Helsinki.
Marco was so kind to give us a short ride to Mattolaturi where we got off the boat and wished him luck with his next rides which he had lined up right after us.
I must mention that during the whole boat ride I felt safe, comfortable and incredibly happy! This was definitely one of the best experiences during my life in Finland and I can wholeheartedly suggest you to try his Italian styled boat and discover the gem of Helsinki archipelago.
*This post was made in collaboration with Helsinki boats, all of the opinions are my own.
*Photos and text by me.