Lähteelä by boat – a sauna day at the excursion harbour on the Porkkala Peninsula

Lähteelä has long served as an excursion harbour and outdoor recreation area. The area was an outdoor recreation area of the City of Helsinki until the Kirkkonummi municipal council decided in spring 2026 to buy it, and the area passed to the municipality in June 2026. The purchase included about 103 hectares of land, several islands and the guest harbour jetties with their mooring buoys.

The municipality's aim is to safeguard the area's recreational use and to develop Lähteelä as a tourist and excursion destination. The services are run by an operator chosen by the municipality, and the operator also manages the neighbouring island of Stora Svartö and its guest berths.

From 1944 to 1956, the Porkkala Peninsula was part of the Porkkala area leased to the Soviet Union. The area's residents had to leave their homes in autumn 1944, and the area was returned to Finland in January 1956.

Lähteelä suits a day that combines a boat trip, a sauna and time on the water. At the harbour, you can have a sauna, rent a rowing boat or a sea kayak and eat at the café kiosk before the return trip.

The trip suits groups of friends and families who want to spend a full day enjoying the sauna, paddling and the outdoors, as well as anyone who wants to make a longer boat trip west from Helsinki to the Porkkala Peninsula.

Lähteelä excursion harbour has about 43 guest berths: there are about 35 buoy berths at the jetties and eight boom berths in a cove of the shallow bay. The jetties have electrical sockets, and the harbour has a boat ramp and septic tank emptying.

A clearly marked fairway with a depth of more than two metres leads to the harbour. In the cove with the boom berths, the depth is only about one metre, so choose a berth according to your boat's draught. Look at the approach route on a nautical chart before you set off and enter the harbour slowly.

Lähteelä also includes the neighbouring island of Stora Svartö, whose jetty on the northern shore has about 18 buoy berths. The fairway to the island is fairly narrow but well marked, and its depth is stated as 1.6 metres, so check your boat's draught before heading there. The services on the island are run by the Lähteelä operator.

Lähteelä has a café kiosk, a wood-heated sauna and an electric sauna, toilets, barbecue shelters, tent pitches and the Sunds bird tower, and you can rent rowing boats, sea kayaks and SUP boards at the harbour. The saunas can be booked at weekends: the wood-heated sauna all year round and the electric sauna until the frosts set in. The outdoor recreation area and guest harbour can also be used outside the café's opening hours, and the harbour fee is then paid according to the harbour's instructions. Electricity, water, septic tank emptying, barbecue areas and toilets are available at the harbour until the first frosts. After that, the water points are closed, but the other services remain available. Check the season's opening hours, sauna bookings and rental prices on the Lähteelä website.

The operator decides on the harbour fees and service prices, so check the current harbour fees, including the price of a day visit, on the Lähteelä website.

The previous operator's business ended in August 2025, and the area's owner and service provider changed in 2026. The municipality has chosen an operator for the area on a fixed-term contract until the end of 2027, so check the season's services before you set off.

Agree on refuelling with the boat owner before you set off.

Lähteelä has tent pitches, so you can stay overnight in a tent at the excursion harbour. The boat is moored for the night according to the harbour's instructions.