Two seas meeting
The Gulf of Riga and the open Baltic collide in a visible line.
Edgars Šulcs — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Andrzej Otrębski — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Andrzej Otrębski — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Zairon — CC BY-SA 4.0
A sandy cape at the northern tip of the Courland peninsula where the Gulf of Riga meets the open Baltic, and the line where the two currents collide can be seen by eye. That is the reason to come: waves arriving from both directions meet at the cape and produce a clear line of turbulence running out to sea. On stormy days the sight is violent and striking, and on calm days the line remains visible. The area is also the centre of the Livonian coast: the Livonians were a Finno-Ugric people who lived along this shore for centuries and whose language has effectively died out in recent decades — the last native speaker died in 2013. The villages along the coast carry signs in two languages, and preserving this heritage is a continuing official effort. During the Soviet period this coast was a closed military border zone, and the decades of prohibited access are what preserved it from development — the same paradox as along most of the Baltic coast. Practical points: access is free though parking may charge. Swimming here is dangerous because of the colliding currents — do not swim at the cape. Access is by car, about two and a half hours from Riga.
The Gulf of Riga and the open Baltic collide in a visible line.
The last native speaker of Livonian died in 2013.
A closed Soviet border zone, which is why it was never developed.
Northern tip of the Courland peninsula
A Finno-Ugric people, linguistically closer to Estonians and Finns than to Latvians, who lived along Latvia's coasts for centuries. Their numbers shrank over the centuries through war and assimilation, and Soviet deportations and the closure of the coast finished off what remained of their community. The language has no native speakers left, but some learn it today as a second language, and the Latvian state recognises the Livonians as an indigenous people.
Slītere National Park, which contains the cape, the small Livonian coastal villages between Mazirbe and Kolka, and the pine forest and empty beaches along the road. The whole area is a long day or an overnight, and the roads are good but services sparse — fill up with fuel and carry water.
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