When entering an island, everything unnecessary is left behind. Only the essential is needed, is important. Shelter, food, skills. An island reveals the importance of a community, other people, and what is most crucial, a tolerance towards diverse personalities. Everyone is entitled to a place in the community. Everyone brings something to the common good, whether it is potatoes and fish, handicraft and construction skills or expertise in navigation. Well of course, today a link to the mainland offers us possibility to order food from a store in the closest city or village. 

When the urban human “achievements” are left behind, and all superfluous vanishes behind the horizon, I feel free, at peace with myself, with nature. I feel no fear because life brings what it brings. Che sera sera. I am ready to accept, adapt, and trust.

If you visit Finland and wish to experience an authentic fishing village, beautiful archipelago and nature, head to the Southeast. Choose the city of Kotka as your destination. Then, find your way to the Sapokka harbour. Take a small cruiser (yhteysalus) to the Tammio island.

You find an authentic fishing village, red and yellow wooden houses, now mainly inhabited by summer residents. There are no shops or cafés. Instead, you find a traditional island community with friendly people, peaceful ambient, rocks, forests, and endless bushes of lilacs (in full bloom in June). The cruiser stays at the dock for the whole 2-hour stay and there you have a café at your service with fantastic salmon bread, cinnamon rolls, coffee, tea, ice cream, and drinks. If you bring your own supplies to enjoy by the seashore, remember to collect and take away with you all waste, and leave nothing (I do mean nothing!) behind. 

Why not make a reservation and stay overnight in Kotka after your island visit? There is a lot to see for the whole evening and next morning. What’s the hurry to get back to, for example Helsinki? Kotka is a nice summer spot with a water garden, marine history, restaurants, and bars, all within a walking distance. 

And if you stay more than one night, you can take yet another small cruiser and head to Kaunissaari. After the solitude of Tammio island, Kaunissaari offers a lively summer community and services. You can book yourself a stay in a mesmerizing landscape, in a cottage, inn, or campsite. You have a shop, café, restaurant with delicacies at your service, smoked fish for sale and sandy beaches to enjoy. 

– – – and the next time you visit Finland and Kotka, let the first phone free tourist island in the world, Ulko-Tammio, take your breath away.

Check out:
– Cruises and schedules https://www.meriset.fi/in-english/
– Sites and events in the Kotka, and the nearby Hamina area https://www.visitkotkahamina.fi/en/visit-kotka-hamina-fi/

Photos: Tuija Peltomaa’s archive