It's a spot on the North Sea (`Noordzee`) so there's tide at this spot. When the tide is low, you can't feel the bottom at most places, but you can head out from the beach to a nearby sandbar where you can stand. When the tide is high however, the slope of the sea bed is less steep, so you have more room where you can stand (50m max.). The spot isn't a flat water spot (it's on the sea), it also isn't choppy (like many inland spots), but you can have very short breaking waves (nothing surfable: too low and too short for that) near the beach sometimes which can make it somewhat harder to ride. But on the water itself there are typical low sea waves (long waves about 1-2 m high not breaking, not choppy), which makes for a very comfortable ride. And when there's very high tide, the beach slowly fills with water, creating a perfect flat spot (10-20 cm deep) for about 2-3 hours, but these moments are unfortunately rare.
The beach itself is very wide (like 200m average even on high tide) and long maybe 2km or more. It consists out of soft sand with here and there some shells. At the water line there's a stroke of harder cleaner sand. In general it's kite friendly (if you look out for shells). Safe launching: to begin with the beach is huge, so space enough always you would say. Problem is the hard packed sand makes the beach also a Mekka for kite-buggiers and a like. Fortunately this isn't really a problem. But on very hot and steamy day's (when it mostly doesn't blow anyway), it can be crowded with people, and you have to watch out in the water and at the shore line. Most of the time there's room enough though, and you can launch and land safely. Entries: lots of them, the beach lays against a dune stroke with a road behind it, you can park all along the beach (for free), and every 100-200 m there's an entry.
The season starts in April, till about October (so it's a fairly short season. The water will be ranging from 10°C in April to 20°C max in August, and the air will be around 14°C in April to 30°C in August/September. So a wetsuit is needed as the day's where you can ride without one are very rare. I would go for a full 4/3 mm wetsuit in this period (April till end of September/beginning of October). Sometimes you can ride in a shorty from end of July till end of September. The off season starts at the end of October till beginning of April. The Air temperature isn't coming higher than 10°C at the end of October only getting colder in the winter (sub zero temperatures aren't uncommon in the Netherlands). The water temp is about 14°C at the end of October dropping in the winter to about 3°C. So it is possible to surf off-season (with a good winter wetsuit/drysuit gloves, cap, booties etc.). Conclusion: suitable from April till beginning of October with a 4/3 mm wetsuit and a short for the warm days.
- March - April - May - September - October - November
Wind Type:
- Frontal Winds
Best Direction:
- SW - NW
Main Direction:
- SW - WSW - W - WNW - NW
In summer it mostly blows around 10-20 knots, sometimes for a week at a time, while sometimes it doens't blow for weeks. Escpecially in the hot (high air pressure) season it can be wind still for weeks (from end of July till mid September). The wind is very unpredicatble and you have to keep an eye on the weather forecasts. On average I would say it blows 4 day's out of 7.
Usual directions ranging from Southwest to Northwest. Southwest is my personal favorite direction (sideshore). If you could only take one kite with you I would take the 16m (for 80kg average weight). This is the most used kite size around here.
From Schiphol Airport (rent a car): Bear right on A13/E19
follow directions Rijswijk-Zuid/Delft/Rotterdam. After 16050 m. bear right on A20/E25Rijksweg A20 follow directions Ring Rotterdam (west)/Europoort/Hoek van Holland/Havens 200-9000. After 4580 m. Bear right on Rijksweg A4 follow directions Ring Rotterdam/Schiedam-Noord/Europoort/Zierikzee/Andere Havens. After 1280 m. keep left on Rijksweg A4 follow directions Ring Rotterdam/Europoort/Zierikzee/Andere Havens. After 5460 m continue ahead onto A15 Botlekweg follow directions Pernis/Hoogvliet/Hellevoetsluis/Europoort/Havens 2800-9000. After 730 m bear left on A15 Botlekweg follow directions Havens 3100-9000/Hoogvliet/Hellevoetsluis/Europoort. After 1020 m bear left on A15 Botlekweg follow directions Spijkenisse/Hellevoetsluis/Europoort/Havens 4000-9000. After 12420 m continue ahead onto N15 Europaweg. After 240 m bear left on N57Harmsenbrug follow directions Europoort/Oostvoorne/Havens 5700-9000. After 640 m turn left onto N57Harmsenbrug follow directions Brielle/Hellevoetsluis/Middelburg. After 18690 m keep right on N57. After 17270 m bear right on N652 Kuijerdamseweg. After 1240 m turn right onto N652 Kuijerdamseweg. After 150 m turn right onto N652Kuijerdamseweg. After 270 m turn left onto N652. After 160 m turn left onto N652 Rampweg. You arrived at the destination: Rampweg (road to "Renesse", you already passed the "Brouwersdam" by now).
The beach has a extreme sport area where it is allowed to kite or buggy (beach or sea). You can read it when you enter the beach and the yellow markers, which float in the sea, mark the area in the water. This is because the authorities has to deal with a lot of recreation in the summer. Keep those rules in mind for the rest of us.
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