Country

Netherlands

2,200 kilometres of North Sea coast. In autumn and winter, when the beaches empty out, the sea wakes up.

Best season: Autumn and winter
Water temperature: 5-18 °C
Spots: 1

The region

The Dutch coast is flat, sandy and almost uniformly north-west facing. That puts it exactly right for the wind waves running across the North Sea — and exactly wrong for anything that needs calm. As in Germany there is no true ocean swell: what arrives was made by the wind of the last few hours.

Scheveningen, on the edge of The Hague, is the centre of it. The spot is busy year-round, well served, and one of the most straightforward places in Europe to stand on a board for the first time. The flip side: on good days it is crowded, and line-up etiquette matters here more than most places.

The season follows the autumn and winter lows. From November to March the wind most reliably builds usable waves — though by then the water is in single figures. Between 5 and 18 degrees a wetsuit is mandatory year-round, with boots and gloves in winter.

Scheveningen Beach break Beginner

This district of The Hague is the best-known surf spot in the Netherlands and surprisingly good for beginners — except in high summer, when it is often simply too flat.

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