Trip Ref #10443
DURATION
LOCATION
ANNUAL LEAVE
SEASON
GROUP SIZE
MEETING POINT
ACCOMMODATION
Hotel · Wild camping
DIFFICULTY
No previous experience is needed. You'll be camping on a remote island so an adventurous spirit and some camping experience are recommended
Paddle through calm waters and remote channels in the Gulf of Finland, eyes out for white tailed eagles and ringed seals
Kayak past tiny islets dotted with iconic red cabins to the Sipoo archipelago, stopping off for lunch on the way
Camp on a deserted beach, wild swim in the cool waters and warm up with a campfire dinner under the stars
Day 1
Helsinki
Meet your host at Helsinki Airport and head straight for your waterside hotel in the city. Meet the rest of your team and spend the evening exploring Finland's beautiful capital city.
Day 2
The Gulf of Finland
Kayaking
Grab a big breakfast at the hotel before a short drive to the put-in spot. Your guide will help prep the kayaks and ensure everyone is ready to start the adventure. Hit the water and begin to weave through the labyrinth of islands, keeping the pace relaxed with plenty of floating breaks on the water. Hop onto dry land for lunch on one of the islands before paddling further into the afternoon, eventually choosing one of the countless islands within the archipelago to camp on. Pitch your tent and settle in for a campfire dinner with drinks while watching the setting sun.
Day 3
Sipoo archipelago
Kayaking
Wake up on your island idyll, sip coffee, tuck into breakfast and grab a brisk morning wild swim (if feeling brave) before hopping back into the kayak to continue meandering through the waterways. Paddle past islands dotted with iconic red cabins and old wooden boats while surrounded by seabirds. You’ll stop for lunch then kayak towards the Sipoo archipelago on the east side of Helsinki; a hidden gem with numerous beautiful islands to camp on. Another memorable campfire, dinner, drinks and sunset await at your wild camp spot overlooking the Baltic Sea.
Day 4
Cross back to Helsinki
Kayaking
Soak up another morning in the wild with a relaxed breakfast on the shore, pack down camp and load up the kayaks for the final paddle of the trip, crossing back to the start point on the mainland outside Helsinki. Keep your eyes peeled for a last glance of a white tailed eagle or a ringed seal. You’ll reach shore around 1pm and tuck into a healthy, locally made soup on the seaside terrace before your host transfers you back to Helsinki Airport, or drops you off in town if you are staying on longer in Finland.
Included
Guides
Professional, English-speaking guide
Accommodation
1 night in a hotel, 2 nights wild camping on a remote island
Meals
3 breakfasts, 3 lunches and 2 campfire dinners
Transfers
To and from the airport and everything in-between
Equipment
All your kayaking and camping equipment
Not Included
Flights to and from the meeting point
Travel insurance
Personal expenses
Some meals as described
Visas where required
Day 1
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Day 2
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Day 3
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Day 4
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
What is the food like?
Breakfasts at the camp spots will be hot porridge, fruit, yoghurt (vegan version also available), jam, muesli, tea, coffee and juice. Lunches will be a variety of soups, salads and bread. Dinners cooked around the campfire will vary, expect grilled vegetables, salmon, salad, bread and even vegetable lasagne (a wilderness classic!) and pancakes for dessert. Vegans, vegetarians and other dietary requirements can be accommodated on this trip, please let your host know in advance
What is the accommodation like?
Helsinki
On your first night, you'll stay at the Hotel Rantapuisto, located on the shores of the Baltic Sea in the Ramsinniemi Vuosaari region of Helsinki, 15km from the city centre. The hotel has its own beach, restaurants, and a sauna. You'll stay in a twin room with an en-suite and gulf views. Breakfast is included to fuel you up for paddling on Day 2.
Wild camping on islands
Your guide will choose the best islands to camp on during the expedition. You'll wild camp in a spacious 3-person expedition tent shared by two people. If the weather is nice, you can even sleep on the shore under the stars. Sleeping pads and mats are provided.
The Area
Logistics
Starts
Helsinki-Vantaa Airport
16:30 on Day 1
Ends
Helsinki-Vantaa Airport
14:00 on Day 4
Transfers
Your host will meet you at Helsinki Airport at 16:30 on Day 1 and transfer you over to your hotel outside the city. Please let your host know if you would like collecting in the city instead. You will be dropped back at the airport at 15:00 on Day 3. You are free to book any departing flight that leaves after 17:00.
Travel options
There are regular flights to Helsinki from airports across the UK and Europe.
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What's included?
Single or tandem sea kayaks
Life jacket
Paddle
Dry bags
Twin-share expedition tent
Sleeping bags and mats
What do I need to bring?
BAGS
Main backpack or duffel bag (to be left with items not taken on the expedition)
Dry bags for your sleeping bags and clothes (10-20 litres) - Your host does include dry bags but please bring your own if you can.
CLOTHES
Thermal underwear, two sets
Wool or fleece thermal mid-layer
Waterproof and breathable trousers and jacket
Down or synthetic jacket
T-shirts
Wool or fleece hat
Warm gloves or mittens
Socks
Swimwear (if you're feeling brave for a swim in the Baltic sea)
Sunhat
Sandals for the camp spots
OTHER
Sleeping bag liner
Sleeping mask (plenty of daylight this far north in summer)
Universal travel plug adapter
Power bank or solar charger
Passports (and visas)
Travel Insurance documents
Earplugs
Insect repellant
Suncream
Personal first-aid kit
Personal items (biodegradable toiletries, sanitary wear etc)
Toilet kit (toilet paper, biodegradable bags to carry paper out to dispose of)
Quick-dry towel
Alcohol hand-gel
Headtorch or torch
Reusable water bottle (1 litre)
Biodegradable wet-wipes
Energy bars and snacks
Pre/post trip accommodation: Single/Double/Twin room
Payable Before Departure
Pre/post trip accommodation: Single/Double/Twin room
…
Optional private room & tent upgrade
Payable Before Departure
Optional private room & tent upgrade
…
Private transfer Helsinki Airport to accommodation
Payable Before Departure
Private transfer Helsinki Airport to accommodation
…
The relaxed atmosphere and tailored itinerary were great.
The guide(Matteo) was great, the kayaking, the weather and the scenery also.
The organisation was seamless, weather perfect, location ideal as limited travel from the airport.
The guide was super friendly in the perfect comfortable way and really knowledgeable about Finland and nature. They also have a waterproof camera and take pictures for you so you can focus on enjoying the trip.
Everything was great.
It all went perfectly to plan. The kayaking was easy to pick up and our guide, Kaspian, was very knowledgeable, helpful and sociable. Great weather, good swimming, good views from the lunch stop and an idyllic, peaceful island to wild camp on.
Great guide, beautiful location, couldn’t have been better.
The kayaking was beautiful and very fun, it was just perfect, the food was delicious and the island we had lunch on was also nice, our guide (Matteo) knew everything about the area and the animals and he was an excellent guide, we got to the island to sleep on and we were the only ones, we chose our spots and set up camp, about half an hour later there was a massive thunderstorm that was amazing and cool to watch, dinner was nice and overall just a great trip, I would definitely recommend it. Thanks for helping to find some trip suitable for me and my daughter (aged 12).
Faultless logistics from pick-up through to the end. Brilliant local people at Natura Vida including our guide Matteo who gave everyone confidence (including my 12-year-old daughter). Most in the group of eight had not kayaked before but that didn't matter. The guide was sensitive to people's different levels of skill. The route was well planned in light of the weather. Overnight camping was on a great little island (complete with spectacular thunder storm). The food was brilliant through (we had vegan and vegetarian options which were way better than we'd expected). Would really recommend this trip.
Matteo, our guide, quality of equipment and the hotel were great. The amazing scenery among the islands of the archipelago. The food! Camping overnight on the island. The food! (again). Watching a thunderstorm from inside our cosy shelter. Our wonderful new travel companions. Sense of achievement :)
We've crunched the numbers to work out the total carbon footprint of this trip, and plant enough trees to suck 2x as much back out the atmosphere.
What's the number?
It works out on average at 61kg of CO2 emissions per person, including all local transport, accommodation, food, activities, guides, staff and office operations.
The only thing it doesn’t include right now is flights and travel to the destination. We do make an overall estimate across all our customers separately, but as we don’t book flights, have customers from all corners of the world, and no way of reliably knowing their travel plans, we simply can’t include an individual number in the figure on display here. We’ve got a goal for 2023 to fix that, so that when you book, there is a way to measure and mitigate the carbon emitted by your flight too.
But what does the number mean?
Yep, hard to picture eh? To give you an idea:
- Driving 1000miles/1609km would be approx. 281kg of CO2 in an average car (or 140.5kg per person if there was 2 of you in it).
- A return economy class flight London - New York would be approx. 1,619kg (1.66 tonnes) per person.
- 10 trees in a temperate forest are estimated to remove approx. 250kg of CO2 from the air in a period of 5-10 years.
What are we doing about it?
Our trips are relatively low-carbon by design, and we're working with all our hosts to develop long term carbon reduction plans. For every person booked with us since 2016 we’re planting enough trees to suck at least 2x more carbon out the atmosphere than is emitted by their trips. All native trees, as part of amazing projects that are re-foresting degraded land, tackling the biodiversity crisis and supporting local communities at the same time. We go further than that too, also funding re-wilding projects worldwide to help protect important keystone species from extinction. See the reforestation and re-wilding schemes we support. See our carbon action plan.
Want to know more?
Amazingly, no international travel company has ever publicly published their carbon measurements before, as far as we know. We believe that must change, quickly. So we’re openly sharing the method we used in the hope that other companies will be able to more easily follow suit and build on what we've done so far. You'll find it all here.
No kayaking experience is needed, just a reasonable level of fitness and the ability to handle approx 25km of relaxed paddling over the course of two days. Your guide will also give you full instructions and a safety briefing at the start.
The tap water in Finland is safe to drink. Your guide will provide all food and water on the adventure, so everything is covered for you.
Sure can! Over 50% of our travellers travel solo, it’s a great way to meet like-minded people.
From May to early June the sea is still quite cold but daytime temperatures are around 20°C. From mid-June to mid-September temperatures range from 15-25 °C and the sea also gets warmer. At the end of September the temperatures start to decline again.
Summer nights are very short and don't really get dark at all. From mid-August onward the nights get darker, revealing starry skies and sometimes even the Aurora Borealis.
Any excess luggage can be securely stored at the hotel whilst you are out on the water.
For current advice about travelling in Finland, have a read of the UK Foreign Office pages here.
Our recommended travel insurance provider is Campbell Irvine.
Travel insurance is compulsory for all of our adventures and you are required to provide your policy information before departing.
Your insurance should include adequate protection for overseas medical treatment, evacuation/repatriation, your baggage and equipment and the specific activities involved on your adventure. We also strongly recommend it includes cancellation and curtailment insurance, should you be unable to join your trip for specific reasons such as illness.
We fully endorse Campbell Irvine as their insurance offers all of the above, so get in touch with them or call on 020 7938 1734 to get your insurance sorted. We suggest that you book travel insurance as soon as you book your adventure, just to cover you for any last-minute life changes. We know you’re an active lot and injuries do happen!
We automatically convert prices from the local currency that a host receives to your chosen currency. We update our exchange rates on a daily basis so this does mean that prices displayed on the site are subject to currency fluctuations, which is why you may see them change over time.
If you wish to change the currency you pay in, head to the bottom of the page.
All of our group adventures are specially designed for adults to enjoy (18+) as we want these adventures to bring together outdoorsy people who are truly like-minded. Children can be accommodated on some private departures.
You're in good company. Our adventures are typically made up of a mix of solo travellers and small groups of two or three friends who simply love adventure, pushing themselves and meeting awesome like-minded people. See here for more info about our lovely bunch of Much Better Adventurers.
Want to book a private trip? Just tap ‘Private Group’ in the dates and prices tab.
Your trip is led by carefully curated local hosts and expert guides. See here for more info about the guides we work with.
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