Ferries from Søvik ferjekai

Søvik is the mainland end of the Herøy triangle — the quay where the county road actually reaches a road, and the reason the island communities south of Sandnessjøen have a car connection at all.

Where the boats go

• Austbø — about 15 minutes, 21 sailings. The busiest.
• Herøy — about 25 minutes, 14 sailings.

69 active sailings across the quay, operated by Nordland fylkeskommune.

⚠ Austbø gets more sailings than Herøy — and it is not the same island

Austbø is on Dønna; Herøy is its own municipality further out. The higher sailing count to Austbø reflects the road traffic crossing to Dønna, not a preference for one destination over the other.

Check which one your journey needs before joining the queue. They leave from the same slipway.

Where the road goes

Inland from Søvik the road runs north to Sandnessjøen and the Helgeland Bridge, and south towards Brønnøysund on the Fv17 Coastal Route. This quay is a spur off that system rather than part of it.

The scale is worth stating plainly: 69 sailings here, 88 at Herøy and 77 at Bjørn on Dønna — well over 200 daily-timetable sailings serving a few thousand people across a handful of islands. That density is a policy choice, not a market outcome.

What the crossing carries

Salmon farming, local commuting, school traffic and the ordinary business of island municipalities. There is no tourism to speak of here, which is why the timetable is shaped the way it is — dense early and late, thin in the middle of the day.

Practicalities

No reservations, arrival order, AutoPASS billing by registration, free for foot passengers. This is a small ferry; a summer Friday afternoon can exceed a sailing.