Cold Water · Norway
Saltstraumen
Dive the slack-tide window of the world's strongest maelstrom
Photo: Ryan Hodnett · CC BY-SA 4.0
Saltstraumen is a narrow strait near Bodø where the tide forces the entire volume of the Skjerstadfjord basin through a channel roughly 150 m wide, creating the strongest tidal current recorded anywhere, with whirlpools and standing waves at full flow. Diving is done only during the brief slack-water windows around high and low tide, when the nutrient-rich current's usual effects reveal themselves: giant plumose and dahlia anemones grown unusually large, dense kelp, and thick schools of coalfish holding in the current seams.
About diving in Saltstraumen
The tide table is the schedule. The strait settles only for a short window either side of high and low water, four times a day, and each day's windows fall roughly an hour later than the last, so kit-up times march through the week and this morning's dawn dive becomes an afternoon one later on. Guides work backwards from the tables to fix those times, and being late costs the dive outright: the water starts moving again and there is nothing to do until the next window comes round.
Entries are mostly from the bank, a short walk down to water level and a drop onto rock scoured bare by the flow. Below, the ground is boulder, ledge and gravel, grooved along the line of the tide and dropping away rather than shelving out. Growth follows the water: filter feeders pile up where the flow delivers most and thin out in the sheltered corners, so you work in close against the rock rather than looking out into open water.
Even at slack there is water on the move, and the dive has a tempo. You work along the rock, tuck in behind boulders and keep the guide in sight, because the turn of the tide is not gradual. The same nutrient load that grows the invertebrate cover keeps the water green, so this is a close-focus, strobe-lit site rather than a wide-angle one. Between dives the strait is worth watching from the bridge above, where it draws sightseers who never get near the water.
It suits divers who do not mind a day dictated by a tide table, and who care more about cold-water invertebrates than bottom time. Photographers do well, since the subjects are static, close and lit by strobe regardless of the ambient light. It is a poor first cold-water trip and a poor choice for anyone wanting long unhurried dives, because the diving is short by design and everything else in the day is arranged around those few windows.
Best time to dive Saltstraumen
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Off-season | Off-season | Fair | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair | Off-season |
| Sea surface | 5°C41°F | 4°C39°F | 4°C39°F | 5°C41°F | 7°C45°F | 10°C50°F | 12°C54°F | 13°C55°F | 12°C54°F | 10°C50°F | 8°C46°F | 7°C45°F |
| Daytime high | 3°C37°F | 3°C37°F | 3°C37°F | 5°C41°F | 12°C54°F | 16°C61°F | 21°C70°F | 20°C68°F | 16°C61°F | 9°C48°F | 5°C41°F | 4°C39°F |
| Rain | 172 mm6.8 in | 149 mm5.9 in | 190 mm7.5 in | 135 mm5.3 in | 111 mm4.4 in | 131 mm5.2 in | 126 mm5.0 in | 146 mm5.7 in | 151 mm5.9 in | 175 mm6.9 in | 163 mm6.4 in | 192 mm7.6 in |
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Off-season | Off-season | Fair | Good | Prime | Prime |
| Sea surface | |||||
| 5°C41°F | 4°C39°F | 4°C39°F | 5°C41°F | 7°C45°F | 10°C50°F |
| Daytime high | |||||
| 3°C37°F | 3°C37°F | 3°C37°F | 5°C41°F | 12°C54°F | 16°C61°F |
| Rain | |||||
| 172 mm6.8 in | 149 mm5.9 in | 190 mm7.5 in | 135 mm5.3 in | 111 mm4.4 in | 131 mm5.2 in |
| Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair | Off-season |
| Sea surface | |||||
| 12°C54°F | 13°C55°F | 12°C54°F | 10°C50°F | 8°C46°F | 7°C45°F |
| Daytime high | |||||
| 21°C70°F | 20°C68°F | 16°C61°F | 9°C48°F | 5°C41°F | 4°C39°F |
| Rain | |||||
| 126 mm5.0 in | 146 mm5.7 in | 151 mm5.9 in | 175 mm6.9 in | 163 mm6.4 in | 192 mm7.6 in |
2011–2025 averages. Sea surface: NOAA Coral Reef Watch, measured at the surface, so deeper water can run colder. Daytime high and rain: NASA POWER.
The current itself runs year-round on the tide, but winter brings harsher weather and fewer daylight slack-water windows, so ratings favor the more reliable months.
Best months: May, June, July, August, September
Saltstraumen water temperature and weather by month
The sea surface runs from 4 °C (39 °F) in March to 13 °C (55 °F) in August. Rain falls through the year, about 150 mm (5.9 in) a month on average, with December the wettest. Daytime highs reach 21 °C (70 °F) in July and drop to 3 °C (37 °F) in March. The coldest water here is about 4 °C (39 °F), so pack a drysuit.
Dive types & marine life
Nudibranchs draw a good share of the divers here and are thickest early in the season, March into May, alongside dead man's fingers and hydroid growth on the rock. Coalfish hold in the current seams through the prime May-to-September stretch, and seals move through the strait. From December to February short daylight and winter weather leave too few workable windows for the season to run.
- Drift
- Muck & macro
- Nudibranchs
- Macro critters
- Seals & sea lions
- Reef fish swarms
Best dive sites in Saltstraumen
Channel & pass
Swim straight into a giant tidal pothole
Saltstraumen Bridge
Main access point where divers enter right at the narrowest part of the strait.
Skjerstadfjorden
Inner basin side of the strait, calmer at slack water with rich anemone growth.
Saltfjorden
Outer fjord side of the strait, where the current fans out toward the coast.
How to get to Saltstraumen
Bodø is the gateway, with domestic flights from Oslo and Trondheim plus coastal ferries and the northern terminus of the railway, and the strait sits about half an hour by road south-east of town. Most divers stay in the camps and lodges beside the water so they can walk to the entry whenever the tide dictates; boats open up the stretches you cannot reach from the bank.
Photos from Saltstraumen
Ryan Hodnett · CC BY-SA 4.0
Ryan Hodnett · CC BY-SA 4.0
Dive videos
Scuba diving in Saltstraumen - the worlds strongest tidal current · WeDive TV (WeDive) on YouTube
A dilemma in the protected marine area of Saltstraumen - Saltstraumen - Norway · Inge Corlin on YouTube
Photo credits
- Mist rises off the peaks of Børvasstindene above the calm tidal strait of Saltstraumen near Bodø, Norway by Ryan Hodnett, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- A cargo vessel passes beneath the arched Saltstraumen bridge as it threads the narrow tidal strait by Ryan Hodnett, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Golden knotted wrack seaweed sways in the shallow, current-scoured water at the edge of the Saltstraumen strait by Ryan Hodnett, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Embed
Run a dive centre, club or blog? Embed this map of 1 dive sites near Saltstraumen on your own page.
Similar destinations
Giant Pacific octopus and anemone-covered walls in the 'Emerald Sea'
Basalt cliffs continuing underwater into surprisingly clear Atlantic water
England's first marine reserve, and its grey seals follow divers around
.jpg){kind=link}
_and_Saltstraumbrua_-_Bod%C3%B8,_Norway_2023-07-17.jpg){kind=link}
_(Ascophyllum_nodosum)_-_Bod%C3%B8,_Norway_2023-07-17_(01).jpg){kind=link}
Cold-water walls, wrecks and wolf eels in Puget Sound and Hood Canal