Brandasund

On Gisøya Island, on the west side of Brandasund Sound, there is a very privileged trading post and traveller's Inn from the 1600s, with the North Sea as its nearest neighbour. In 1991 a road was built over Bømlo out to these islands, but for thousands of years the sheltered harbour here was a main stopping place along the outer coast. During the great herring period of the 1700s and 1800s, Brandasund was a centre for the herring fisheries on the Sørafeltet fishing grounds. Today, the area belongs to the municipality of Bømlo.

Bukken

In Christian IV’s diary from Norgesreisa (trip to Norway) in 1599, we find the reference or anecdote that is the origin of the name Bukken. A Dutch full-rigged ship once passed the mountain outcrops on the island with the guesthouse so close that a ram grazing there jumped down on a yardarm (rånokk), thus the name “Buch van Raa!”

Espevær- the Trading Post

In the sea west of Bømlo lies Espevær, half an hour’s rowing trip across the sound from Vespestadvågen. This is a well-run and well-maintained local community, established on the back of the rich herring fisheries in the 1850s. It is fishermen, skippers and the tradesmen who have made their mark on the culture in Espevær, with their contacts to the south towards Haugesund and across the North Sea to the British Isles.

Glesvær- Trading post

Glesvær is one of the oldest trading posts on the West Norwegian coast. In the 1700s and 1800s this was the most important fishing centre on Sotra. The first certain mention of the trading station Glesvær is in 1664. At that time it was the Bergen merchant Hendrich Wessel who owned the place and was in the possession of a trading privilege. Abraham Wessel, who took over in 1688 also obtained Royal Privilege for “Kiøbmandskab med Bønderne alleene at drive” (the only one to be allowed to carry on trade with the farmers).

Golta- Gneiss

Over thousands of years, autumn storms and strong land-driving winds have cleaned the bare rocks of Golta. The waves can beat far in over land and make it dangerous to walk along the shoreline. When the storms have calmed, the results of their work comes into view.

Hiskjo

Matrehola

On a large gravel terrace in Matredalen (the Matre valley), a couple of kilometres from the coastal settlement Matre, lies Storseterhilleren, at the end of a large stone block that came rushing down from the mountain. The Matre river runs just over 100 metres to the east of the cave.

Mosterhamn

Mosterhamn is one of the old privileged trading posts situated centrally in the shipping lane, whether the ships sailed on Langenuten, Nyeleia through Fitjar or into the Hardanger Fjord. From prehistoric times Bømlo and Moster were the first landing places when arriving from the west; a landscape with good harbours.

Rambjørg

Risøya