Hasseløy

Hasseløy – or Bakarøy, as many still call it – sits just across the bridge from Haugesund city centre. It is close enough to feel like part of downtown, yet far enough to have its own rhythm. You can sense the harbour here. The wind, the steel, the salt in the air.

The island is in transition. Some buildings are worn and marked by time, reminders of shipyards and working harbour days. Others are carefully restored, or completely new – modern apartments rising where industry once dominated. There is something honest about that mix. Not polished. Not perfect. Just real.

I am drawn to Hasseløy because of these contrasts. The quiet residential streets behind the waterfront. The rough textures of old structures against clean new facades. The way the light changes over Smedasundet, especially on grey western Norway days.

It is a small island, but it tells a bigger story — about a city that is slowly reshaping itself while still carrying visible traces of where it came from.