Helgoland - 54° 10' 35"N 07° 53' 44"E

We've been here before.

Helgoland (or Heligoland in English) has the distinction of being part of Germany but far enough offshore to be outside the EU trading zone.  This means that it is exempt from charging tax.  Tobacco, alcohol and (most importantly for us) diesel is much cheaper than just 30 nautical miles to the south east. It is actually two islands, the main island Helgoland and Düne.

In 2025, as we were on our way to The Netherlands to put Chinook on the hard for the winter, we detoured as we exited the Kiel Canal and stopped to quickly fuel up.  The winds were fair and we were keen to beat a nasty storm (Storm Amy) brewing in the North Sea, so we merely spent an hour at the fuel dock and did not go ashore.

In 2026, after Chinook was back in the water and we had returned to Cherbourg for some warranty repairs, we made specific plans to stop again on our voyage back to the Baltic to top up with fuel at (roughly) a 35% discount. On 500 - 600 litres this certainly adds up.  But this time, we planned to stay and have a good look around.  We are so glad we did.

Red sandstone cliffs and white sandy beaches

There is not a marina but rather a traditional harbour.  A floating dock lines the sheet piles around the harbour to tie up against, but often the dock is fully occupied.  Then the protocol is to raft.  This means tying to a boat that is already secured to the dock ... or secured to a boat that is secured to the dock... or in peak times, secured to a boat, secured to a boat, secured to a boat, secured to a boat, secured to a boat secured to the dock!

Helgoland on Google Maps - taken at a busier time than when we were there. 
Seven boats in a raft - that's impressive!

Fortunately, May is not peak time so we tied up to Jade, a steel 40+ foot yacht, who was securely tied to the dock. We then had Serene raft up to us!  We had been leap frogging Serene since Cherbourg!

Jade, Chinook and Serene looking serene in Helgoland Harbour.

Helgoland is German but was British for a while and Danish in an earlier time.  It was occupied by the Germans during WWII and heartily bombed by the Brits.  At the end of the war, it was in the British occupation zone of Germany.  Concerned it would become a German naval base, the Brits literally blew up the island to destroy all the bunkers, tunnels and fortifications that had been built through the war.  The explosion was known as the Big Bang and was the largest non-nuclear blast at the time at 13 TeraJoules! The island survived but does sport a few bomb craters here and there.

Craters can still be seen - and look at all those wind turbines!

Today Helgoland has a population of around 1500 and is a popular holiday destination.  It is a three-hour ferry ride from the mainland and its beaches and duty-free status are drawing cards.

The island is scattered with the rusting remains of military facilities

We wandered the pretty streets with their colourful buildings housing restaurants, galleries, gift shops and duty-free stores.  Cars are not allowed on the island, nor are bicycles, so the streets were filled with just  people.

Coloured buildings and jaunty bunting

The local beer went down a treat in the sunshine

We hiked the trail around the island, through the town, along the beach and up the cliffs.   The beach was littered with rocks and lumps of bricks from buildings long gone (likely blown up in the Big Bang!). The best sandy beaches in Helgoland are on Düne but we opted not to catch the ferry across. We enjoyed a local beer with our lunch and poked in and out of shops resisting the temptation to buy trinkets and duty-free cigars.

You've heard of sea glass, but have you seen sea bricks?
The wave action has had its way with this former chunk of a wall.

The sandstone cliffs housed rookeries for gannets, guillemots, gulls and pigeons

Looking back over the harbour

Chatting with the locals

Sunset over Lange Anna

Helgoland is on a major migratory bird route and is home to one of the world's first ornithological observatories.  The Helgoland Bird Observatory was founded in 1891 and over 400 species of birds have been recorded. We managed to time our visit perfectly during the gannet nesting season!  They nested just steps away from the path so we were able to observe them up close - and take fabulous photos with our iPhones without needing fancy zooms. 

And here are a few gannet snaps...

This stop has almost turned us into Birders!

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On our return to Chinook, we had to empty our pockets.  We picked up some worn-smooth bits of brick, some pieces of ceramics (we think plates but can't be sure) and a bits of sea glass.  It was just too alluring.  We are thinking it will make a great backgammon set.

What do you think?