The Vistula Lagoon is the largest Polish reservoir. It is 90.7 km long, 7-13 km wide and has an area of 838 square km. It is divided by the Polish-Russian border. The Polish part is 35 km long and covers an area of 328 square km.
The Vistula Lagoon is a shallow reservoir (the average depth is 2.7 m), so it is worth sticking to the marked fairways, especially since fishing nets are set up in many places. The lagoon is often called a “marine kindergarten” because it allows you to sail in conditions similar to the sea but in a safe way.
The lagoon has one direct connection with the Baltic Sea – the Pilawa Strait. On the Polish side, in 2023, a canal through the Vistula Spit with a 5-meter-deep waterway to the port of Elbląg will be commissioned. Customs can be carried out at the harbours in Frombork and Krynica Morska if you want to sail to Russia.
The Vistula Lagoon is separated from the Baltic Sea by the Vistula Spit: a wooded, sandy embankment 1-2 km wide, with the highest point called the Camel Hump (56 m above sea level). A controversial natural curiosity is the Cormorant Reserve, which at the time of its establishment covered about 10 hectares, and currently, it stretches at over 100 hectares. Unfortunately, cormorants – of which there are about 6,500 pairs here – effectively destroy the trees with their faeces.
On the Spit, the following establishments are worth visiting: the Vistula Lagoon Museum in Kąty Rybackie, the former German Stutthof Concentration Camp or the lighthouse in Krynica Morska, open to visitors. On the other side of the lagoon, it is worth visiting Frombork, the city where Nicolaus Copernicus lived and worked. There is a museum dedicated to the astronomer with an associated planetarium, as well as his burial place in the cathedral basilica. In summers, there are wonderful organ concerts held in the Frombork’s cathedral basilica.
Almost all the towns along the lagoon have their marinas, in Kąty Rybackie, Krynica Morska, Nowa Pasłęka, Frombork and Tolkmicko – built or modernized in recent years, mainly as part of the Żuławy Loop project. There are also climatic ports and marinas in Piaski on the Vistula Spit, Jagodno and Suchacz.
