I love the Mecklenburgische Seenplatte. It’s so beautiful and there’s no better way to enjoy it than from your own canoe or kayak. This is part II of our long weekend paddling tour there. Click here to check out our journey from the start if you haven’t already.
Day 3 – Carrying Kayaks
From Bibertours on the Labussee, we immediately passed the (apparently fancier) Biber Ferienhof and went through the locks at the Diemitzer Schleuse. The locks spit us into Großer Peetschsee, and onwards to Vilzsee which channeled us through a narrow passage to the Fleether Mühle. This is the first of 2 Tragestellen on this tour. This means there is no water to get you from one lake to the next, so you have to carry your boat over. Some paddlers have their own little wagons to attach to their canoe or kayak to make this process easier, but both stations offer wagons to rent. We decided to help each other carry our boats over one by one.
The Oberbek, a narrow passage from Pack und Paddel at the Fleether Mühle to the Rätzsee, is beautiful. We paddled slowly to take in the lily pads and stillness. When we got to the 4 km long Rätzsee, we finally had the wind just right. And we let it push us the whole length of the lake. Several of groups of paddlers passed us by, seemingly in a hurry. But one of the wonderful things about the Rätzsee is that it is off limits for motorboats. It is quite peaceful except for the occasional group of loud children, so we took our time to enjoy this lake. The wind moved us along as we relaxed and watched birds swim around with their chickies.
We thought the Oberbek had spoiled us, but the Drosedower Bek is even longer and just as pretty. After dawdling down this small stream, we landed in the Gobenowsee. Here we found our campsite. Even though this site was also really full, the set-up of the camp makes it feel more spread out. Once our tent was up, we jumped in the lake, since it was such a hot day. Before cooking our curry rice and lentils, we stopped by the camp kiosk and had some Kartoffelpuffer with Quark (potato pancakes with German sour cream). It was delicious and inexpensive!
Day 4 – Schwaanhavel
It was busy at the lake front in the morning. We wanted to head out at the same time as a nearly-ready-but-not-quite large group. We pushed off and started paddling in the wrong direction almost getting to one of the exits on the lake (which would have put us back on Labussee) before I thought to look at the map. This put us behind the finally-ready-and-very-large group. We trailed behind leisurely, not trying to get too close. All of the paddlers crossed under the bridge and entered Klenzsee. This little lake had a row of tiny homes with boat garages.
Before we knew it, we were at the Kanuhof in Wustrow. Here you can camp and rent kayaks and canoes. C was grateful he’s not a teacher as we passed a school group of about 30 teenagers packing up their campsite on our way to use the bathroom at the Kanuhof. I reminded him that this is what MY life is like part of the school year 🙂
It was good to take a rest here because this is a long Tragestelle compared to the one we had before. At the Kanuhof we would have to carry our kayaks up to the main road, across the street and down to the Plätlinsee, a total of 300 m. Again, we worked as a team (taking several breaks) to move the loaded kayaks from one body of water to another.
On the Plätlinsee, I enjoyed (for the dozenth time) a plethora of baby waterfowl playing around as well as some diver ducks with cool feathers on their heads. The lake is long, but the final one on our tour. It’s part of an NSG (Naturschutzgebiet literally “nature protection area”), so we had to stay near the buoys in the center to avoid disturbing wildlife.
At the other end of the lake, the last buoy is placed to help direct paddlers towards the Schwaanhavel. Even with another few kayakers ahead of us, it took us a little while to actually see the exit. It is covered with a ton of reeds, and you can only see that it leads somewhere if you’re close enough and looking at it from the right angle. But this hidden gem is really a treasure.
The Schwaanhavel is multifaceted and mysterious, and only for paddlers. At the beginning we went through a short stretch that feels a bit like an irrigation canal. There was farm land above us on one side and forest on the other and the path is perfectly straight, like it was man-made. It’s also so shallow that it is impossible to not stir up the ground with your paddle and sometimes the boat scrapes along the bottom.
Throughout the rest of the Schwaanhavel we are shrouded by the forest. Grass grows over the edge of the banks, fallen trees make bridges under which we sometimes need to duck; it feels a like a jungle. Despite the high volume of boaters out on this weekend, it is quieter under the cover of the trees. We paddled slowly or not at all, just taking in the sights and sounds of the Schwaanhavel, including the multitudes of birds, fish, snails, and dragonflies. It’s so peaceful and a wonderful way to end our kayak journey. From here we traveled up river into the Wesenberg Schleuse and back to the Kanu-Mühle to return our boats and equipment.
We had a 4-day/3-night round trip from Wesenberg. Looking to plan your own paddling weekend? Look no further! Here’s everything you need to know about planning one day to one week in the Mecklenburgische Seenplatte. On top of being a great water destination, Mecklenburg is home to a lot of other great weekend trips from Berlin.
Photo Credits: C.O. and myself