Vistula Lagoon Vistula Lagoon The Vistula Lagoon (; or "Kaliningradskiy Zaliv"; ; ) is a brackish water lagoon on the Baltic Sea roughly 56 miles (90 km) long, 6 to 15 miles (10 to 19 km) wide, and up to 17 feet (5 m) deep, separated from Gdańsk Bay by the Vistula Spit. It is now known as the Vistula Bay or Vistula Gulf. The modern German name, "Frisches Haff", is derived from an earlier form, "Friesisches Haff". The lagoon is a mouth of a few branches of the Vistula River, notably the Nogat, and the Pregolya River. It is connected to
Freshwater Lagoon following subsidence events. The relatively small catchment basin tributary to Freshwater Lagoon has allowed formation of a durable coastal sand bar which has not been breached by recent storm events. Precipitation usually percolates through the bar without forming a surface channel. U.S. Route 101 traverses the coastal sand bar between Freshwater Lagoon and the Pacific Ocean. Convenient parking on the sand bar adjacent to the highway has made the lagoon a popular scenic rest area for motorists in Humboldt Lagoons State Park. There is also a Redwood National and State Parks visitor center near the north end of the lagoon.