Saltstraumen
8056 Saltstraumen, Norway
Saltstraumen
Up in northern Norway, the maelstroms—oceanic whirlpools—are legendary. Every six hours, and most powerfully when the moon is full, the world’s strongest tidal current roars through the 150-meter-wide (490-foot) strait of Saltstraumen. Ten-meter-wide (33-foot) whirlpools spin at 20 knots like giant washing machines. The phenomenon attracts rich fish life and white-tailed sea eagles to the channel that’s 10 kilometers (six miles) from Bodø. Zodiacs get you close and under the soaring, 768-meter-long (2,520-foot) Saltstraumen Bridge that links the islands of Knaplundøya and Straumøya.