Visit the park
Here you’ll find directions, information about local services, and other useful details to help you prepare for your visit to Kosterhavet National Park.
Visit the park
Here you’ll find directions, information about local services, and other useful details to help you prepare for your visit to Kosterhavet National Park.
There are several entrances to Kosterhavet National Park. The main entrance is located at naturum by Ekenäs brygga on Sydkoster. Other entrances are found in Strömstad, on Saltö, on Rossö and on Resö. At some of the entrances there are staffed information centres.
You can take the Kosterbåtarna to the national park. They depart from Strömstad all year round, and the journey takes about 45 minutes.
Seasons in Kosterhavet National Park
Kosterhavet National Park is worth visiting at any time of year. Here are some tips on what you can do during the different seasons.
In spring, you can look for strandskata and listen to the “aouh” calls of the ejder as they gather in large flocks in bays and straits. Walk among seas of blue and white anemones or meadows with orchids.
When the year turns into summer, the national park offers beautiful places for swimming and snorkelling. You can also fish for shore crabs from the jetty. Walk along the beaches and look for blooming martorn, kostertistel. Take a boat trip out into the outer archipelago and look at seals.
In autumn, it is lovely to paddle a kayak in the still‑mild sea; enjoy the calm after a busy summer. If you are lucky, a seal may appear right next to the kayak, or you may see the dorsal fin of a harbour porpoise breaking the surface.
In winter, you can look for havsörn or for gannets and storm petrels that strong winds drive towards the coast. Walk along the beaches and look for egg cases from rays, mussel shells and other things washed ashore by the storms.
Accessibility
All entrance areas within Kosterhavet National Park are adapted for accessibility for visitors using, for example, a wheelchair. All entrances except naturum can be reached by car.
At entré Rossö, there is a ramp to the entrances and a lift to the upper floor.
To reach naturum on Sydkoster, you need to travel by boat. The Kosterbåtarna are adapted for visitors with reduced mobility. From the jetty at Ekenäs, Sydkoster, there is a 200‑metre asphalted road to naturum.
Inside naturum, you can move around with a wheelchair, and in the auditorium there are two wheelchair spaces. In the exhibition, there are audio guides in Swedish, English, German and Arabic. The exhibition texts are written in easy‑to‑read Swedish and English.
Toilets are available at several of the entrances. Out in the archipelago, there are toilets on Arholmen, Bissen, Jutholmen, Kockholmen, Saltholmen, Tjälleskär and Ursholmen. Accessible toilets are available at naturum and at the entrances on Saltö, Resö and Rossö.