Höllviken / Falsterbokanal

Marina near Ljunghusen

Last edited 11.09.2023 at 14:11 by NV Charts Team

Latitude

55° 24’ 39.1” N

Longitude

12° 56’ 1.9” E

Höllviken / Falsterbokanal - Marina near Ljunghusen

Description

A canal running through the Falsterbo peninsula, shortening the distance between the Swedish south coast and the Sound by about 8sm.

Caution: contrary to the indication here below and on SeaMe, the bridge does NOT open at 7pm! (July 11, 2021)

NV Cruising Guide

Navigation

Canal: The fired canal is navigable day and night. Only in case of rarely occurring water level differences of more than 1 m the canal is closed. The canal is navigable up to 4m draft and 20m width, maximum speed 5 kn. Sailing is prohibited in the canal!

The bascule bridge at the north end of the canal is 25m wide and 3.9m high when closed. When the bascule bridge or the barrier gates are closed, you must keep at least 200m distance. Caution: When the bridge is closed, no passage is possible - underwater obstacle.

Bridge opening hours:

15.04. - 30.09.: from 06:00 - 22:00 every 2 hours except 17:00,
01.10. - 14.04. : from 06:00 - 18:00 every four hours

The bridge and canal watch is ready to hear on VHF channel 16 or. Working Channel 11.

Locks: To prevent strong currents, barrier gates are located at the south and north exits of the canal. However, during the summer months the current is rarely so strong that these need to be closed. Flood gates and bridge are monitored remotely from the canal center in Trollhättan.

Berths

Höllviken: Guests will find plenty of berths in the northern outer harbour of the canal or on the pontoons of the west pier in the outer part of the two outer piers at 2 - 3m water depth.

Surroundings

Except for a kiosk and a bakery, there are no supply facilities at the harbour. The sanitary facilities are in the clubhouse of the sailing club. Fuel can be bunkered. Bus to Malmö and Trelleborg.

NV Land Guide

The Falsterbo Canal was planned for a long time before it became reality in the spring of 1942. Yet there was already a shipping channel here that was used by cogs in the Middle Ages: the Amme shipping channel. The dangerous sandbanks off Falsterbo were feared. It was safer to sail through the channel. But when the channel was abandoned to its fate in the 15th century because of declining herring catches, it silted up.

With each new casualty claimed by the sandbanks, the idea of a new channel through the heath of Skanör blossomed again. Yet nothing happened. It was only when the German Kriegsmarine mined the fairways in Øresund that there was a great hurry to build the new canal. Today, the shortcut between the narrows of Copenhagen and the southern Swedish waters is used mainly by merchant ships, but also by leisure boats. After all, you save about 7 nautical miles on the way from Copenhagen to Bornholm, for example.

The harbour Höllviken at the northern exit of the two-kilometre short canal is not a particularly cosy place, even if there is always something to look at because of the ships passing through. For a change of pace, take a trip to the Hammar headland to the northeast, a scenic area. The northernmost tip, however, is a bird sanctuary that may not be entered from March 1 to October 31. One of the largest Iron Age burial grounds has been discovered here, and it is thought to be the settlement of Halör, often mentioned in Norse sagas, which existed many hundreds of years before Skanör. Sunk Viking ships have been found in the nearby bay of Foteviken. They probably served as navigation obstacles for enemy ships.

For centuries, quicksand has been a problem for the entire Skanör headland. Three kilometres southeast of Höllviken, the sand even covered an entire village in the 1600s. Even the church had to be abandoned as it fled the desert. A stone wreath and a cross mark the spot where it stood. Only with new plantings in the 18th century was it possible to "tame" the quicksand. Today the area is a huge wooded holiday home area (Kämpinge) with fine sandy beaches on the shores.