Norway: Andøya, an island beyond the Arctic Circle

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Turquoise waters, dizzying mountains... Who would suspect that north of the Arctic Circle hides a vast paradise island, populated by only 4,000 inhabitants? Andøya is nestled off the northern coast of Norway. English tourists enjoy the beach as if they were under palm trees. " It's like the Caribbean. It's hard to believe it's at the tip of Norway. It's sublime ," enthuses one man. 16 degrees in the air, and around 10 in the water. Diving into the Arctic Ocean is an unforgettable experience. "Much colder than the Côte d'Azur, but just as refreshing. Great," enthuses a couple.

Off the island lies an area teeming with fish. It's the cetaceans' feeding ground. A family of four orcas regularly surfaces to breathe, much to the amazement of French tourists. " Cetaceans are magnificent. It's a change for us, because we're passionate about birds, but it's very beautiful," confides Claude Cartoux. In the cabin, a French scientist listens to the seabed. " Right now, I think we have a sperm whale in the water. I'd say it's 1.5 miles away. Ah, there's no more noise. I think it's coming up, " she says.

At the surface, the enormous sperm whale arrives. Some of them are regulars. " We can tell if it's John or Ronaldo, for example, based on the mark on their tail ," says Zoë Morange, a sperm whale ecology researcher at the University of Norway Whale2seay - Andenes Whale Research.

Beyond the mountains, another dreamlike location: two rocket launch sites. This is where Jonathan Lasalle, an engineer at Andøyaspace, works. " There, we have a launch pad for atmospheric rockets and sounding rockets. And further away, another launch pad for orbital rockets and space rockets," he describes.

In March 2025, a space rocket took off from Andøya , a first on the European continent. The island is sparsely populated, so there's no risk of debris falling in the wrong places. But the space center was originally created for another mission. " It's the ideal place to analyze the northern lights that form just above our heads, in a circle that goes around the Arctic Circle ," explains Jonathan Lasalle.

A captivating spectacle that lasts for hours on end, thanks to the long polar night. The island's lighthouse, lit 24 hours a day in winter, goes out completely in summer. Jiltse Buitink is the guardian of the place. A land at the end of the world, yet inhabited by humans for thousands of years. " There was no fresh water or shelter from the wind, but it was laziness that brought people here, because there are so many fish to catch, " he says. In summer, Jiltse Buitink records videos on social media to popularize his island. " My father has 2,000 followers on TikTok and 6,000 on Facebook. That's not bad for a fifty-year-old, " laughs his daughter, Linea.

It's 10 p.m.: there are a few campers on the beaches. Here, you don't need permission to pitch your tent. " It's great to sleep here with this view. And what's more, it never gets dark," says one man happily. It's almost midnight sun over the Arctic Ocean. Andøya, a waking dream?