Utö leir for norske dykkere

Utö is the main camp of Kupla. Lasting two weeks – You may arrive and leave as you wish. The usual stay is usually everything from two nights to a week, or two. Gather around your friends and come to enjoy diving to Finnish archipelago.

More details for members – if you have an access to KuplaWeb:

På finska: https://www.kupla.org/int/sukellus/leirit/uto/

Mark when you plan to arrive: https://www.kupla.org/int/sukellus/leirit/uto/saapuvat/

Mark when you plan to leave: https://www.kupla.org/int/sukellus/leirit/uto/lahtevat/

Check that your name appears in the list in the permission (Suoja-aluelupa 2019): https://www.kupla.org/int/sukellus/sukellusluvat/ (päivitys pian)

Når er det?

25.6. – 7.7.2019.

Hvor er Utö?

Even if we talk about Utö camp, our actual destination is a little island next to Utö main island and Park Victory wreck. Eivor takes you to Utö, and Hinkki&Irmeli take care of the rest.

Hvordan kommer du dit?

You need to drive to Pärnäinen (travel includes 2 ferries, may take time – don’t trust Google maps saying 3 hours!) and then carry all the gear to Eivor, the royal ship of Utö. At Utö, you deload from Eivor. Then Hinkki and Irmeli (boats of Kupla) arrives and after ca. 15 minutes ride, you reach the destination. All this takes time, at least 5+5+1 hours and maybe more for loading, meaning all day, so enjoy the ride and don’t leave too soon. E.g. 2 days only leaves you craving more, and if it happens to be windy, you need to bare spille rose and then you miss Park Victory. If you reserve 4-5 days for camping and 1+1 for traveling, you should be able to dive it several dives there. If you prefer playing rose anyway, same thing.

Reserve time for ferries.

Check who’s going and coming on the dates you wish and contact for sharing a ride. Check also Eivor’s schedule below and consider the dates.

Eivors tidtabell på svenska også: https://meritie.fi/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/ms-Eivor-kes%C3%A4aikataulu-10.6.-31.8.2019.pdf

As the timetable is a bit hard to read, here’s an easier option:

Pärnäinen -> Utö

There is no båttur on Söndag, and as it takes even 5 hours to drive to Pärnäinen, Mon-Ons are not easy options either. Tho-Lör are easier dates to arrive.

Utö -> Pärnäinen

Please note: on Thu, there is no Eivor going and on Fri, it’s so early you need to leave to main island on Thu evening, you can load the gear to Eivor and then go to e.g. Utö hotel or stay in väntestuga. If it’s warm, sleeping on the peer is possible as well. If you plan to leave on Sat, remember to persuade a boat driver in advance to wake up. Pribing is highly recommended. However, please prefer Mon-Ons and Söndag.

Eivor has a nice luggage space with rollable cages.


Deloading from Eivor: Sometimes Eivor parks its bow towards the peer, making deloading easy. In case it parks the side towards the peer, deloading must be done via the side door. Personnel is very strict that no people go via side door, only luggage. We don’t want to make them angry, so others go the peer and make a chain, and others hand over all luggage via the side door and finally exit via proper doors.

Destination, finally.

PAKKING

Klær

The weather may be literally anything. During a week, you most probable need a winter coat and protection from the UV hell, preferably a Kupla drakt and sometimes a raincoat too. It is usually sunny or cloudy, but almost always windy. Sometimes it rains or storms. Take a beanie and some sun protective hat. Also vipers live in the island – they are very timid, but take rubber boots with you if you want to feel safer.

Bring some sun protection, maybe even a hat.

Overnatting

Bring a proper tent, some kind of camp mattress and a warm sleeping bag. Note that there’s no trees for your hammock.

Hint: check if someone is coming after you or leaving before you and offer to sleep in it and  carry the tent to other direction. Or just sharing a tent.

Mat

We cook with trangias, but we bring Kuplas grillarna også to the island. There is a small grocery store at Utö main island, but you maybe prefer doing your main shopping before you arrive. There is no kamskjells in Baltic sea to pick, but the mesh bag is useful for cooling beer.

Cooler box with ice packs may be worth borrowing as well. We have a deal with the grocery store to use their freezer for ice packs, so most people have a double set of ice packs and take them daily to the main island to freeze and bring back the frozen ones. Or maybe just pick the most critical things and ask someone to squeeze them to their cooler boxes.

Luxury camping chairs

Hint: camp chairs are common. Maybe ask if someone is arriving later or earlier if their chair could stay longer and you could lend it and carry it to Utö or back.

Dykkning

Oxygen is available.

Consider borrowing/sharing

Food preparing things, trangia

Cooler box and ice packs

Tent, mattress and chair etc.

Annen underholdning

Swimming around the island is highly recommended and company is available. Water temperature on the surface is usually between 12 to 18 celsius degrees so wetsuit might be needed for longer swims.

En liten rose bare.

PENGER

All ferries and Eivor are free of charge. The camp itself has a complex algorithm to share the costs between divers, tourists and mini-tourists. The whole camp for a diver has been usually 80-90 euros including the camp and fuel for compressors etc.