Sauna & hire
Hire the whole sauna for your party. Up to 10 people, though not in summer. Booking is handled in our booking system.
SEK 1,500 / 3 hoursMore about the sauna →
Badholmarna
Est 1910Come and swim in the Bohuslän archipelago. Three islands joined by bridges in the Bottnafjorden at Bovallstrand — as far out as you can get without a boat. Open around the clock, all year round, and always free.
About us
Sweden's oldest bathing company
Badholmarna lies in the Bottnafjorden at Bovallstrand, right where the fjord opens towards the archipelago and the open sea. AB Bovallstrands Badinrättning was founded in 1910 and is Sweden's oldest bathing company still run and owned the way it always was. We do our best to keep Badholmarna the place it has always been.
Child-friendly beachesRocksDiving towersTrampolinesSwimming laneBathing hutsKioskSaunaToiletsParking
1910The year five Bovallstrand residents founded the company
3Islands, joined by stone and timber bridges
1935The stone bridge is finished and opened by the Crown Prince
0 krFree entry — all upkeep is done voluntarily
What’s on
The latest from the islands
Opening hours and prices for the sauna, dates for the season’s events, and where to buy the book about Badholmarna.
Sommarkväll
An evening on the outer island with food, song and music. Thank you to everyone who came — the proceeds go to maintenance and improvements in full.
See the photographs →
The tennis courts
The bathing company owns the tennis courts in Bovallstrand, which are leased in summer to Bovallstrand Tennis Club. Play and booking are handled by the club.
To the tennis club ↗
The Badholmarna book
The book about Badholmarna is sold at ICA Nära in Bovallstrand, the kiosk on Badholmarna and Gösta Hansson’s tobacconist on Smögen. We also send it by post.
SEK 200 + postageOrder by email →2027 calendar
The year at Badholmarna
27Jun
Annual general meeting
Shareholders are welcome to the annual general meeting in Elektrotjänst’s new premises at Bärbydalsgatan 2.
3Jul
Cleaning day
The yearly summer clean-up. We meet at the stone pier; all ages welcome. Bring tools for gathering seaweed and litter — gloves, hedge shears or a trimmer. Sausages on the grill at Gullviksstranden afterwards if the weather allows.
15Jul
Sommarkväll
An evening on the outer island with food, song and music. Food from Torgboden is sold on site. First come, first served!
11Sep
The sauna opens
Friday sauna. Women 15:00–18:00, men 18:15–about 20:30. Payment by Swish only. Open until the middle of May — never in summer.
Support Badholmarna
Help us keep Badholmarna
Every contribution is welcome, large or small. The money goes to maintenance in full. All the work done at Badholmarna is voluntary. Think of it as an entrance fee you choose to pay.
Swish123 063 5524
Bank giro5545-5760
Photo archive
A hundred years in photographs
1,522 photographs in 30 galleries — from swimming galas and seaweed baths in the 1940s to sailing, cleaning days and Sommarkväll today.
Our history
From bath house to three islands
The idea of a bathing company was first raised in 1896, as the great herring fishery was coming to an end. Local people feared that food prices would rise once the summer visitors arrived. Not until late 1908 was the plan taken up again — and for the 1910 bathing season AB Bovallstrands Badinrättning was able to open for business: “to conduct bathing and hotel operations”. Seaweed baths, steam baths and mud baths were on offer.
- 1910The company is founded. 165 shares make it possible to buy a merchant’s property by the shore for 40,000 kronor.
- 1929“Bathing resort day” — 4,000 people pay one krona to get in. The surplus goes to the upkeep of Badholmen.
- 1930Sörholmen is bought and a timber bridge built out to the island.
- 1932The annual general meeting decides to buy land for the tennis court that is still there.
- 1935The stone bridge is finished. Badholmarna is opened by the Crown Prince — his name is carved near the diving tower.
- 1939Biskopsholmen and Mittholmen are bought and joined to the others.
Getting here
At Bovallstrand, a stone’s throw from the square
From the square in Bovallstrand, Badholmsvägen takes you all the way — the road behind the kiosk. A couple of hundred metres and it ends. You’re there!
By car
Take the E6 to the Dingle junction and follow the signs for Bovallstrand (road 174). In high season, parking close to Badholmarna can be hard to find — use the long-stay car park opposite the church.
By bus
Line 860, the Smögen express, runs from Gothenburg to Hallinden. Change there to line 862, which goes to Bovallstrand.
By boat
Follow the channel in through the Bottnafjorden. Badholmarna lies inside Kö-ö. Please do not moor at the islands — use the guest harbour by the square.N 58 28,49 · E 11 18,94
The tennis courts
The bathing company owns the tennis courts in Bovallstrand, which are leased in summer to Bovallstrand Tennis Club. Play and booking are handled by the club.