Iso-Kuusinen by boat – a summer day on a sandy beach

Iso-Kuusinen is an island in the southern part of Rymättylä, best known for the narrow, pine-shaded isthmus that leads to Vähä-Kuusinen. There is a natural sandy beach on both sides of the isthmus, and the spot is a popular destination for boaters.

The isthmus is about 100 metres long and about 70 metres wide at its narrowest. Its sandy beach belongs to the Pakinainen archipelago Natura 2000 area as a boreal Baltic sandy beach, and part of the island is a nature reserve established in 2014. The highest point of the island rises to 40 metres. Young garfish have been found on the sandy beach of the isthmus, probably the northernmost breeding garfish population in the Baltic Sea.

It is our own recommendation for a sunny summer day when you just want to get out on the water and spend the day on the beach without much of a programme. The journey is just the right length: you will arrive in the late morning and can spend the whole day on the beach.

For centuries, the beach on the isthmus has been popular with both swimmers and seine fishermen. The initials and years carved into the rock next to the sandy beach date from the late 18th century to the 1860s. According to a cultural heritage expert at Metsähallitus, they are linked to summer seine fishing: the start dates of the herring's summer spawning, that is the seine fishing season, and the fishermen's turns were marked on the rock. The markings stopped when trap nets came into use. There is also a geocache related to the carvings.

The Kuusinen islands are also said to have many stone ovens, known as 'Russian ovens', which have not been surveyed. Most such ovens are stone structures from the Russian occupations of the early 18th century (the Greater Wrath and the Lesser Wrath), in which Russian sailors baked bread and dried fish, as there was no room for a kitchen on the cramped rowing galleys. The island's oldest buildings date from the late 18th century and the 19th century.

The trip suits groups of friends, couples and families who want to swim, sunbathe and have a picnic on the beach. Experience of mooring a boat on a natural shore is an advantage, as there is no jetty on the island.

There is no jetty on Iso-Kuusinen. Drop the stern anchor well before the shore, run the bow onto the sandy beach and tie the bow line to the trees on the shore. Thanks to the sandy beach, the boat can be brought right up to the shore. There is a beach on both sides of the isthmus, so you can choose the more sheltered side depending on the wind direction.

If mooring a boat on a natural shore is new to you, ask us for tips before your trip.

The island has no jetty, shop, café, toilet or waste disposal. Bring food and drink for the whole day and take your rubbish home with you.

Part of the island is a nature reserve, and the vegetation on the sandy beach is easily worn down. Keep to the beach and the paths, do not light open fires and respect the yards of the island's holiday homes.

The old carvings on the rocks by the shore are a protected ancient monument under the Antiquities Act. Look at them, but do not walk on them or add carvings of your own.