Spot Guide Texel Freische Isles Netherlands

Stef Nys talking Texel

Overview

Texel is one of the Friesche isles in the Netherlands. It has more wind and sun than any other place in the Netherlands. It has a population of approximately 14,000 people, scattered over its seven towns and the outside areas. Texel has a varied landscape, which is beautiful in all seasons, picturesque villages with cosy little cafes and restaurants, nature, fresh air, space and plenty of recreational facilities. As soon as you arrive on the island you feel like you are on a holiday even if It is just a one day trip.

How to get there Drive to Den Helder in the Netherlands and follow the signs for the ferry. The ferry leaves every thirty minutes in the high season (july, august) and you can drive on it with a car. As a guide the price I paid last time I visited was 35 Euros for a car both ways, passengers included. If you have a trailer or drive a camper you will pay more. Check www.teso.nl for actual prices, time tables and so on.

For windsurfing you choose your location depending on wind direction:

S or N wind: head for Paal 9. When driving of the ferry follow direction Den Hoorn and take the road left immediately after the town.

SSW or NNE: Paal 12 or Paal 15: follow direction Den Hoorn but drive straight on after the town. First road on the left will bring you to Paal 12 and the second to Paal 15.

SW or NE: Paal 17, 19 and 21 are possible with Paal 17 being the most popular because it has the parking place closer to the beach than the others. Drive towards Den Burg (Texel town) and then follow direction De Koog. Take the fourth road on the left to head to Paal 17. Drive to the Koog for the other spots. Paal 28 is possible too but we never tried it.

All these spots offer similar side shore North sea conditions with sometimes high currents depending on the tide. Occasionally the island catches some great swell coming from Iceland. Because the waves are not blocked by sandbanks it can get very big on a good day.

W: Paal 33 looks amazing with westerlies if you check Google maps. We have however not been been able to try it yet. Expect huge currents though as a lot of water in the "Waddenzee" (the sea between the islands and the mainland) has to pass in between the islands while the tides go up and down (to give you an idea: high tide is nearly an hour later at one side of the island compared to the other side, because of this bathtub flush effect).

NW or E gives one more spot definitely worth mentioning: De Hors. De Hors is located at the south of the island and getting there is a huge mission but on a good day the reward is memorable! During the high season it is not advisable because you have to take an army only road (no kidding). In off season they do not make a problem of you driving there. During our last visit (somewhere in January 2008, 5 deg C and 40 knots NW wind) Martin van Meurs set a new Dutch speed record and clocked plus 50 knots on his GPS (before correction or something like that though) while we were enjoying the longest wave rides in side off conditions on small but super clean waves. If you wanna try this spot mail us and we will tell you how to get there. The walk from where you park your car to the beach is over 15 minutes so this will remain a spot for the purists!

Best Wind directionsS toW and N to NE for the North sea spots and E to NW at De Hors.

Parking Paal 9: parking very close to the beach. All others a walk is required (or during low season you could risk drive to the sea, rig and then park your car on the parking spots). De Hors: Last time I considered leaving my gear and just buy new gear to avoid carrying my gear back after the session to give you an idea.

Safety Strong current, groynes at Paal 9 and 12, shorebreak

Other activities Surfing, kiting, extreme bird watching, the is also a nice MTB track near Den Hoorn or get some more adrenaline pumping in the skydive center www.paracentrumtexel.nl

Apres surf Head to De Koog to party till the morning. The main road in De Koog is filled with bars, clubs and restaurants.

Windhut rating 4