Kalajoki Dunes

Hiekkasarkat, the sandbanks, is a stretch of dunes and shallow sandy shore on the Gulf of Bothnia at Kalajoki, and it is the main beach resort of the western coast: kilometres of pale sand with marram-covered dunes behind, water that stays shallow far out and warms in summer more than the open Baltic does, and a resort strip of hotels, cabins, a spa and a campsite. Land uplift here is measurable, so the shoreline is still moving outward and the dunes behind are older sea floor. Out of the summer season the coast is windswept and largely empty, and the same dunes are used for winter walking and snowshoeing.

History

Kalajoki, "fish river", is first mentioned at the beginning of the 16th century; it became a parish in 1525 and a regional parish in 1545, a status that lasted until the early 1860s. It was an important market town that controlled the tar trade of the whole region, and lost much of its importance when demand for tar fell at the end of the 19th century, though forestry and farming, with wheat and rye, have continued, and sawmills still work in the town (Wikipedia, Kalajoki).

The landscape

• Marram dunes behind the shore - the sand hills the resort is named for.
• Shallow warm water - the sea shelving slowly far out.
• Land uplift in the landscape - old sea floor behind the present beach.
• The resort strip - hotels, cabins and spa behind the dunes.

When to go

June to August for swimming; the resort is quiet and windy the rest of the year. A day. July is crowded with Finnish families. The dunes are fragile and marked routes matter.

What to expect

The season is short and the water is cold outside high summer. The resort development behind the beach is unattractive. Wind is constant. Walking off marked paths damages the dunes and is discouraged.

Nearby

Kalajoki town is east; Oulu lies north up the coast.

Key facts