Helsinki is a great city for kayaking. Visit Vuosaari Paddling Center and book a guided kayak tour. Also SUP tours and Fatbike tours & rental equipment are available.
Natura Viva’s Vuosaari Paddling Center is the number one location for all lovers of outdoor activities. The Paddling Center is situated in the middle of the beautiful Helsinki shoreside. It is open for customers from May to September.
Opening hours 2022
May
Weekends 10-18 (1st of May 10-16)
June and July
Weekdays 14 -21
Saturdays 10–21
Sundays 10 - 18
August
Weekdays 14–20
Saturdays 10–20
Sundays 10 - 18
September
Weekends 12–17
Book a guided kayak tour
Join us on a kayak tour in the beautiful archipelago of Helsinki. Our professional guides will show you the basic skills you need on these tours and they will take care of your safety. You can just enjoy the beautiful nature and relax. Various guided kayak tours and combined kayak-hiking tours available – make your reservation in our webshop.
Book a Fatbike tour – available year around
Equipped with an unusually fat set of tires, the Fatbike is a super-fun bicycle – perfect for a chillaxing summer day ride around the mostly flat and light-to-pedal Vuosaari district. All our Fatbikes are equipped with gears and come in three different frame sizes. We offer guided Fatbike tours all around the year in Vuosaari – read more from the Fatbike Tours page.
Fatbike tours and rental Fatbikes also available at Nuuksio Hawk Nest.
Rent a SUP board
Rent a SUP board for a nice stand up paddling session on the Iso Kallahti bay. On calm days the Iso Kallahti bay is a perfect environment for SUP sessions. No wonder stand up paddling is such a trendy and popular sport – find your way to the Paddling Center and find out more about Stand up paddling and also about our guided SUP tours.
SUP tours and SUP boards for rent also available at Nuuksio Hawk Nest.
Rental equipment for self-guided tours
If you decide to embark on your own kayaking trip, choose to take up on a private SUP session or want to explore the Vuosaari district privately on a Fatbike, we will provide you with suitable rental equipment. As kayaking is our speciality, we have a large fleet of kayaks from beginners’ models to more advanced models and to double kayaks. Rental periods are from 2 hours to overnight rentals.
Rental equipment also available at Nuuksio Hawk Nest.
Rent a rowing boat
Rowing on a traditional Finnish rowing boat is a fun and definitely a slow-paced way to get acquainted with the Helsinki archipelago. There are numerous small islands only a modest rowing session away as well as beautiful beaches and epic-scale forests with common barbecue huts. Pack a lunch basket with you and spend a refreshing afternoon out rowing. Our rowing boats can carry three to four people.
Rental rowing boats also available at Nuuksio Hawk Nest.
Book a paddling course
There’s a beginners paddling courses in English available at the Paddling Center. Beginners’ courses are available throughout the summer season. You can also take the EPP (European Paddle Pass) exams at the Helsinki Paddling Center.
Have a coffee
Visit the seaside terrace at Cafe Natura, located within the Paddling Center! Relax over a nice cup of coffee or tea, a refreshing drink, a salad or other delicacies. Our coffee beans are roasted in the Helsinki-based Kaffa Roastery. For drinking water we recommend Dropp water – all revenue from selling this brand of water will be donated to the reservation of the Baltic Sea. In Natura Viva we are committed to helping restore the health of the Baltic Sea. We welcome you to enjoy Cafe Natura’s beautiful setting! Accessible also by wheelchair.
Vuosaari – a spectacular outdoor destination
The suburb of Vuosaari, located in the eastern part of Helsinki, is home to some 40.000 residents within an area of 17 square kilometers - the largest suburban district by area in the capital. But what makes Vuosaari truly special are its nature sights and recreational districts. The area contains sandy beaches, thick forests with plenty of evergreen pine trees, ice age shaped ridges – and a coastal line that spans over 30 kilometers. Vuosaari really is an oasis for all lovers of outdoor activities.
There are several public recreational islands located in front of Vuosaari in the Eastern Helsinki archipelago, some of which feature public saunas and common barbecue stalls. Each of the islands are easily reachable by kayak, SUP board or rowing boat from the Paddling Center. The biking routes are plentiful as well – you can pedal in the forest trails, search for more urban yet nautical biking environments on the residential areas or ride along the beaches. Vuosaari offers an amazing contrast to the hassle and buzzle of downtown Helsinki.
Transport Connections to the Paddling Center
Vuosaari Paddling Center is located in Vuosaari, address Harbonkatu 13, 00980 Helsinki. Natura Viva offers minivan connections to the Paddling Center from downtown Helsinki as a part of the guided Helsinki by Kayak tour and other guaranteed or private tours. You can also arrive via the HSL public transportation system: metro train (line M1, destination station Rastila, walking distance approx. 1 km) or bus (line 560 from Rastila station every ten minutes, destination station Harbonkatu, walking distance approx. 400 m). You can also use the HSL trip planner to check the best suitable public transportation timetables and routes.
When arriving with a car, there’s free parking (max 4 hours) in front of the Paddling Center.
The Paddling Center is equipped with changing rooms and restrooms for women and men, also accessible by wheelchair. Free Wifi for all customers.
