Drag Harbor Webcam – Ferry Quay and Boats on Tysfjorden

The Drag Harbor Webcam looks north over the harbor at Drag, a village of about 300 people on the southern shore of Tysfjorden in Hamaroy municipality, Nordland, north of the Arctic Circle. A white shed with a blue container sits just below the camera, and a road runs down past it to the quayside and a rock breakwater. On the right, small boats lie at floating piers in front of the long ferry quay, with village houses and a tall pointed roof on the slope behind. To the left, a forested hillside drops to the water with a few farmhouses along the shore, and the bay opens out to the fjord and a line of distant mountains. Through the year the light swings from midnight sun to polar night, so the same harbor looks very different in June and in December.

About Drag Harbor

Drag, called Ajluokta in Lule Sami, had 305 residents in 2023 on 0.45 square kilometers (110 acres). Until 1 January 2020 it belonged to Tysfjord municipality, created in 1869 and then split along the fjord between Narvik and Hamaroy. The area has a large Lule Sami population, and Arran, the national Lule Sami center, stands on the slope just east of the ferry quay.

Norwegian maps name the inner harbor Dragshamna and the wider bay Dragsbukta. National Road 827 runs through the village and out along Dragsarmen to the ferry quay, where boats leave for Kjopsvik on the far shore, 12.6 kilometers (7.8 miles) away as the crow flies. AVVE, the company behind this camera, runs the municipal industrial quay and the guest pier at Drag on behalf of Hamaroy municipality and links the stream from its page about the quay. The industrial quay was finished in October 2013. It is 62 meters (203 feet) long and 15 meters (49 feet) wide, with 8.5 to 9 meters (28 to 30 feet) of water at the lowest tide, and it was designed for bulk ships up to 113 meters (371 feet) long.

Tysfjorden itself runs 62 kilometers (39 miles) from the Ofotfjorden in the north to Hellemobotn in the south and reaches 897 meters (2,943 feet) deep, the deepest fjord in Northern Norway. No bridge or tunnel crosses it, which is why the ferry at Drag matters. From 1990 a large share of the Norwegian herring stock spent the winter in the fjord and orcas followed it in, although fewer herring and fewer orcas have arrived since 2008. The old municipality chose a lobster for its coat of arms because Tysfjord is the northernmost lobster habitat in the world.

Weather and Climate in Drag

The nearest climate figures come from Kjopsvik, across the fjord. The mean annual temperature there is 4.2 C (40 F), and the daily average stays below freezing from about mid-November to the end of March, with January averaging minus 2.7 C (27 F). Summers are mild, averaging 10.9 C (52 F) in June, 13.3 C (56 F) in July and 12.5 C (55 F) in August, with daytime highs around 16 C (61 F). About 1,080 millimeters (42.5 inches) of rain and snow fall in a year. October is the wettest month at 154 millimeters (6.1 inches) and May the driest at 54 millimeters (2.1 inches). In wet weather, raindrops on the camera housing can blur parts of the picture.

Light changes this view more than temperature does. The midnight sun shows in the area from the end of May to mid-July, when the harbor can stay bright around the clock. From the beginning of December to mid-January the sun stays below the horizon, and even midday brings only twilight. By early October the mountain at the right edge of the frame can already carry a dusting of snow, and the northern lights are commonly seen over the Tysfjord area in late autumn and winter.

Things to Do Near Drag

Arran, the Lule Sami center founded in 1994, is a short walk from the harbor. Its museum runs permanent and temporary exhibitions on Lule Sami history, culture and society, and the center also holds a culture hall, a kindergarten, a research department and a language center. Drag Helland Church stands just outside the village. For a walk, AVVE has put up ten hiking posts around the Drag area, at spots such as Dragsvatnan, Baestastein, Jennygruva, Botelvatnet and Kaldvassholla.

The ferry from Drag crosses Tysfjorden to Kjopsvik in about 45 minutes, and from there National Road 827 continues to the E6 and Narvik without another crossing. The old Tysfjord area is also home to Stetind, a 1,392 meter (4,567 foot) granite obelisk chosen as Norway’s national mountain in 2002, and to Hellemobotn, a scenic hiking area with a canyon at the head of the Hellemofjorden, only 6.3 kilometers (3.9 miles) from the Swedish border. Prehistoric rock carvings at Leiknes include the world’s oldest known depiction of an orca. Elsewhere in Hamaroy, the Knut Hamsun Center by Steven Holl opened at Presteid on 4 August 2009, 150 years after the writer’s birth, near the farm where he grew up.

Similar Webcams You Might Like

More cams from the harbors and towns of northern Norway:

• Narvik Webcam
• Bodo Webcam
• Harstad Webcam

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Drag in Norway?

Drag is in Hamaroy municipality in Nordland county, northern Norway, on the southern shore of Tysfjorden and north of the Arctic Circle. It is about 180 kilometers (112 miles) northeast of Bodo and about 110 kilometers (68 miles) south of Narvik.

What can you see on the Drag Harbor Webcam?

The camera faces north from above a white shed and the road down to the quayside. Floating piers with small boats and the long ferry quay fill the right side, a forested hillside with shoreline farmhouses fills the left, and the bay opens to Tysfjorden and distant mountains in the middle.

What is the weather like in Drag?

Cool and often wet. At Kjopsvik across the fjord, July averages 13.3 C (56 F), January averages minus 2.7 C (27 F), and October is the wettest month.

How long is the ferry from Drag to Kjopsvik?

The crossing takes about 45 minutes. The route carries National Road 827 over Tysfjorden, and the two ferry quays are 12.6 kilometers (7.8 miles) apart as the crow flies.

Who runs the Drag Harbor Webcam?

AVVE, the Drag company formerly called Tysfjord ASVO, streams it on its YouTube channel. Founded in 1993, it offers work training and adapted jobs for NAV, Norway’s labor and welfare administration.

Does Drag have the midnight sun and polar night?

Yes. The midnight sun shows in the Tysfjord area from the end of May to mid-July, and the sun stays below the horizon from the beginning of December to mid-January.

Is Drag in Tysfjord or Hamaroy municipality?

Hamaroy. Drag was part of Tysfjord municipality until 1 January 2020, when Tysfjord was divided along the fjord between Narvik and Hamaroy, and the western side with Drag went to Hamaroy.

Source: AVVE (Tysfjord ASVO)