Hel Peninsula
A Narrow Baltic Sand Spit Up To A Few Hundred Metres Wide, With Gdansk Bay On One Side And The Open Sea On The Other. Poland'S Most Famous Beach Strip, With Jastarnia, Jurata And The Town Of Hel, A Seal Sanctuary And A Wartime Fortress At The Tip · Hel, Pomeranian
The Hel Peninsula is a sand spit about 35 km long that curves out into the Baltic from Wladyslawowo, in places only a few hundred metres wide, with the calm shallow Bay of Puck on one side and the open sea on the other. A single road and a railway line run down its length through pine forest, passing the fishing villages of Chalupy, Kuznica, Jastarnia and the resort of Jurata before ending at the small town of Hel. It is Poland's best known beach strip. The bay side is shallow and warm enough for children and is a European kitesurfing centre, while the sea side has wide pale beaches. At the tip are a seal sanctuary with the Fokarium and a wartime coastal battery and fort. Summer is the whole point and also the problem: in July and August the road jams for hours and the beaches fill. The Baltic stays cold, often 17 to 20 degrees at best. Outside the season it is empty, windy and many places shut.
The 35 km sand spit from Wladyslawowo to the town of Hel, on the Baltic coast north of Gdansk, Hel, Pomeranian, Poland
The beaches, dunes and forest paths are open at all hours and cost nothing, apart from parking, which is paid in towns and at beach car parks in season. The Fokarium and the coastal battery museum at the tip keep their own hours, usually longest in July and August and shortest or closed in winter, and some close one day a week, so check before a special trip. The seal feeding is on a fixed daily schedule, not on demand. Ferries and fast boats from Gdansk and Gdynia run mainly from late spring to early autumn, with the most trips in high summer. Trains run all year but with fewer departures out of season. Shops, kiosks, fish smokeries and beach bars open from about May and many close after September. Lifeguard posts run only in the summer season, roughly late June to the end of August. Confirm every time near your date.