Sandvig Beach

Sandvig Beach is Bornholm's northernmost bathing beach and the most popular one in the island's north. The sheltered sandy bay sits right at the foot of Hammerknuden, the rocky granite headland at the north-western tip, and belongs to the small seaside town of Sandvig with its classic hotels built in seaside spa-town style. The facilities – bathing jetty, access ramps and water-quality monitoring – are run by Bornholms Regionskommune, which also maintains an official bathing water profile for the bay (DKBW 332 Sandvig).

Swimming and beach character

The seabed of the bay is mostly sandy with a few rocks and shelves away fairly quickly, so deep water is reached soon after wading in. That makes Sandvig a good spot for swimmers rather than for endless shallow paddling like the flat beaches in the south. In onshore winds the current can pick up, so keep an eye on the signage and the lifeguards' position.

Algae is occasionally washed up on the beach. For those days there's the bathing jetty with steps: it extends beyond the algae-covered shoreline and lets you get straight into open water. According to VisitBornholm, the jetty was built in 2015.

Safety and lifeguards

Sandvig is one of the few beaches on Bornholm with a lifeguarded season. In summer, a lifeguard tower here is staffed by two trained lifeguards provided by TrygFonden Kystlivredning – not funded directly by the municipality. Cover runs daily from 10:00 to 18:00.

• Season: roughly from late June (the start of the school summer holidays) to 20 August.
• Towers go up in mid-June and come down again in mid-August.
• Exact dates vary from year to year – outside the season, you swim at your own risk.

A second lifeguarded beach on Bornholm is Balka in the south-east; the rest of the island's beaches are unsupervised. For an overview of all the island's beaches, see our hub on Beaches on Bornholm.

Facilities and accessibility

The beach has public parking, toilets and a kiosk. From the car park on Fyrvej (or alternatively via Skrokkegårdsvej), wooden ramps lead through the dunes to the beach step-free, so people with limited mobility, wheelchair users and pushchairs can also reach the water.

There's food on site too: the Promenadekiosken grill kiosk stands right on the promenade. In Sandvig harbour (Strandpromenaden 14) you'll find the ice-cream parlour Sandvig IS Kalas, known locally as Kalas Bornholm, which makes its ice cream daily from organic milk and local fruit. More addresses are listed in our food and drink guide to Bornholm.

Hammerknuden and walks

Sandvig is the natural starting point for Hammerknuden, the striking granite plateau above the bay. The official Hammerknuden Rundt circular walk is 7 kilometres long, managed by Naturstyrelsen (the Danish Nature Agency) and waymarked with blue symbols. It's officially rated difficult (svær at gå); typical walking time is 2 to 3 hours. The designated starting points are the Hammerhavn and Opalsøen car parks – the plateau can also be reached directly on foot from the beach.

Because the same car parks are shared by beachgoers and walkers, it's worth arriving early in peak season. To make a full day of it, combine the swim with the white lighthouse at the northern tip – more in our piece on the Hammeren Lighthouses – or with a detour to the ruined castle of Hammershus on the north-west coast.

Getting there and practicalities

The beach lies in the north of Bornholm at Sandvig, which borders directly onto Allinge; the two towns share a harbour, shops and bus connections. A bus service to Allinge and on to the rest of the island means Sandvig is reachable without a car too.

The best time to swim is high summer in July and August, when the water is warmest and the bay is lifeguarded. Two to three hours is enough for a swim-only visit; combine it with the Hammerknuden circular walk and it easily becomes half a day or more.