Norway
Havoysund
Havøysund: A Finnmark Fishing Village Below a Wind Farm
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Good to know
What to Expect
Coastal voyage ships tie up at a quay a few hundred meters east of the village center.
- Havøysund is the administrative center of Måsøy, on the small island of Havøya, separated from the mainland by the narrow Havøysundet strait.
- Express boats run to the outer islands and to Hammerfest and Honningsvåg.
- The road to Havøysund, County Road 889 from Kokelv, is one of Norway's National Tourist Routes.
Havøysund on Your Own
Havøysund is a small village, and the quay is a few hundred meters east of its center. The island's highest point, Havøygavlen, is a walk of about half an hour from the village.
- The village: Havøysund Church, consecrated in 1961, stands in the village, and rows of standard post-war houses line the shore.
- Up to Havøygavlen: A walk of about half an hour from the village leads to Havøygavlen, the island's highest point, where the wind turbines stand and the Arctic View lookout faces the Barents Sea.
- Storvika: Another short walk from the village leads to Storvika, among the cliffs and skerries on the southwest side of the island.
- Getting back on time: Your ship posts the time you are due back aboard. Coastal voyage ships keep to a timetable, and no ship waits for passengers touring on their own.
Tipping in Norway
Tipping is not expected in Norway because restaurant staff are well paid, and rounding up the bill is the normal courtesy. Pay in Norwegian kroner (NOK), since euros are generally not accepted in shops.
- Rounding up is the usual habit in a restaurant, and about 10 percent is seen as generous.
- Taxi practice varies, so tipping a driver is optional.
- Where a guide cannot take cards, cash is the way to leave a tip.
What Havøysund Is Known For
Fishing is Havøysund's living, and the village has fish plants, a boatyard and Norway's northernmost drying works for klippfisk, salted and dried cod. Above the village, the turbines of the Havøygavlen wind farm are a landmark for passing ships.
- The wind farm on Havøygavlen opened in 2002.
- The Arctic View lookout on Havøygavlen faces the Barents Sea and the islands around it.
- Havøysund Church, built of concrete and dark timber, was consecrated in 1961. Its altarpiece, by Terje Grøstad, shows the Resurrection.
- Hjelmsøystauren, on the island of Hjelmsøya, is one of the largest bird cliffs in northern Europe.
- Local express boats continue to the islands of Rolvsøya, Ingøya and Måsøya.
History
People have fished from the islands of Måsøy since at least the late Middle Ages, and the area was a center of the Pomor trade with northern Russia. German forces burned the settlements in 1944, and after the war the population gathered in Havøysund.
- Stone Age settlers: The oldest traces of permanent settlement in Måsøy date from the Late Stone Age.
- Fishing villages, late Middle Ages: Many fishing villages are recorded in the area from the late Middle Ages.
- The Pomor trade: Måsøy was a central area for trade with Pomor merchants from the White Sea coast of Russia.
- A hymn writer, 1802: Magnus Brostrup Landstad, the hymn writer and collector of folk songs, was born on the island of Måsøya in 1802.
- A church moved, 1832: The church from Måsøya was moved to Havøysund in 1832. It was later taken back to Måsøya, where it burned in 1944.
- Burned, 1944: Almost all the older buildings in the municipality were lost when German forces evacuated and burned Finnmark in 1944.
- Rebuilding, after 1945: After the war, people from the scattered fishing villages moved to Havøysund, where rows of standard post-war houses went up along the shore.
- A new church, 1961: Havøysund Church was consecrated on November 26, 1961, replacing the barrack used for services after the war.
- The bridge, 1988: King Olav V opened the Havøysund Bridge on August 18, 1988.
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