I was having a kind of reluctance to post this marina review of Aarösund. Not because the marina wouldn’t be worth it, but just because it is worth it. This marina is the smallest and – until now – the remotest and quietest harbor I sailed to in Denmark so far. And like a small precious pearl I want to protect this nice, calm, sweet little place.
But nayway: Now that you know this perfect spot in the South Danish Sea, I think you will promise not to spoil this great place, sail there and and enjoy the amenities of Aarösund harbor and only tell your handpicked best friends about the small Island of Aarö and it´s attached marina, the Havn of Aarösund.
How to sail to Aarösund Marina
Most sailors will miss Aarösund for sure because it is far away from the hot spot of Danish-Baltic-Sailing. The marina is situated right at the entrance to Haderslev, one of the bigger towns of Danish Jutland. Connoisseurs of boating now instantly get wet hands upon hearing the name Haderslev and know that this is the home to famous Danish yachtmaker X-Yachts of Denmark. Aarösund is one of two small harbors right at the Haderslev fjord´s entrance: One,“my”, havn is situated at Jutland mainland, the other, smaller, vis-à-vis on the small Island of Aarö.
Aarösund is situated some 10 miles south of Middelfart, the main city of the Island of Fyn, and that may be the reason why most sailors will miss this beautiful little spot: They just try to get through Middelfart sound and into the Kattegat north of Fyn as fast as possible. So, nearing Aarösund from the South (read about the sailing trip here) isn´t a particular problem as the shoals are clearly marked by buoys and a lighthouse.
Mooring in Aarösund Marina
As I was landing here at pitch black dark night and during off-season I decided to go for Aarösund and not for the small Island of Aarö (which would have probably been my first choice during daylight as this marina is even smaller), I found negotiating the narrow entrance at least a bit thrilling: It is very, very, very narrow! The fact that a large fishing trawler was mooring right in the middle of the entrance between breakwater and starboard harbor-lights wasn´t particularly helpful as well.
Upon entering, you have to immediately turn to starboard side to sail through the small entrance channel into the yacht basin, don´t go straight on into the commercial fishermen´s harbor or – worse – into the basin for the ferry that is going to Aarö regularly. The marina itself offers 170 berths, of which all are sold to shareholders (and obviously not all are present with their boats all the time). When I arrived, the marina was virtually empty, of course.
Demurrage in Aarösund
Price per day for our 10 meter long First 30 would have been 160 Danish Crowns per day, speak 20 Euros. A 40 feet yacht would pay as much as 25 Euros per day. This means that Aarösund is compared to other Danish marinas I came to visit before, a fairly affordable place to get a berth for your yacht. As we arrived here off season and found that – despite the WC – none of the amenities like washing and drying machines et cetera, working and because of the fact that we arrived very, very late the day and left very early and never used anything provided here, we didn´t paid demurrage at all as there also wasn´t any harbormaster at work to ask as well.
Bathroom Facilities
Despite the fact that we arrived at Aarösund marina off season we found out that all the major services didn´t worked anymore. There is a camping ground nearby which offers shopping facilities, a bakery and restaurants which had been closed. Especially after a wet cold sailing day a hot shower would had been much appreciated by us. So we were very lucky and happy to find the showers in the WCs working without the usual card reader or coin-operated machines. Very nice!
Just two or three of the toilets had been still open but that was more than enough for our little two-person crew manning the Beneteau First 30 we came on. I was astonished that despite the fact that the marina had obviously ceased its full operations there was still a WC-cleaning service in place (everything was shiny and nice) and somebody removing the waste of the sailors left in the trash bins.
I can only barely imagine the beauty of this small little marvel during a lush summer night when there are more people here. 170 berths is a pretty small place so it must be a fairly intimate and friendly nice atmosphere. Definitely worth another visit in summer, for sure!
Eating and Resting One´s Oars
There are some restaurants nearby as we could read from an information board, but none of them had opened. The fact that a small fleet of crab fishing trawlers are based in Aarösund I can imagine that you´ll get the chance to have fresh fish here during summer time too. Unfortunately we also couldn´t get to taste the fine Danish pastry as there also is a small bakery situated in the harbor.
Aarösund Marina: My Overall Assessment
Aarösuns is definitely worth a visit during spring and summer. It´s a small, nice and very beautiful spot right at the entrance to Haderslev Fjord. If you sail here during high season be advised to get a reservation of a berth in advance as this marina truly isn´t a big harbor. I loved it here: Quiet, nice surrounding nature and sticking 100 per cent to the Danish ideal of being “hyggelig”. Meaning cozy, nice and calm – the Danish way.
My overall assessment of Aarösund marina is: 8 of 10 points
Link to the Marina Website here
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