katwijk

WHAT IT IS LIKE
The location: There are two locations at the coastal line in Katwijk where you are allowed to perform on waves. The first location is at beach place 6, which is very nearby the restaurant "Het Zwaantje". This location may be called our home place and most of our members are kayaking at this particular spot. The second location is at the north end of the Katwijk Boulevard in front of the outlet canal where the Rhine enters the sea (see also attached map).

The waves: The wavelength is the depending strongly on the weather and may reach a maximum height of 4 meters. Usually, however, the waves on which you are able to surf are rather short and often break at the sandbanks or the waterfront nearby the beach. Due to the presence of many sand banks in front of the coastal line the movement, the breaking and the location of the waves may vary considerable. At favorable circumstances waves break at two different places (nearby the coast and further at sea), resulting in two different play spots.

Wind: When the direction of the wind is coming from a variety of western angles you will find good possibilities to perform on the waves. A strong current parallel to the coastal line is usually present with winds from a southwest angle. This current may easily drift you away from beach place 6. The most favorable wind is coming straight from the west with strength 4 or higher. When the wind is blowing from eastern directions good waves will be very hard to find.

Seasonal information: Spring and autumn are the best seasons for kayaking at sea. In summer time you will hardly find any waves whereas in wintertime it will be very cold, especially because the water temperature drops to approximately 5 degrees Celsius which is often accompanied by a very cold wind.

Watch out! Because of many sand banks along the coastal line of Katwijk there may be very dangerous currents towards open sea. Furthermore, on both sides of the outlet canal there are wave barriers with a large sandbank in between. At low tide this bank will become visible. When water from the Rhine is being dumped in the canal it is very dangerous to kayak in this area. A strong current towards open sea will be present. Kayaking near the outlet canal when water is being dumped is, therefore, strongly discouraged.

How to get there:
When in Leiden follow the signs to Katwijk. The kayak locations in Katwijk are shown on the map. Beach place 6 is in front of the restaurant "het Zwaantje" and the white watchtower. The outlet canal is at north end of the boulevard.

More information:
Contact the "Kano Branding Team Katwijk". To check wavelength, tides etc. go the (dutch) meteo page on this site.

Locals:
Beach place 6 is the area in which kayakers of KBT Katwijk are allowed to kayak. It is not safe to go kayaking at southern direction of beach place 6 since this area at sea is reserved for the members of the surf club and sailors.

Events:
KBT Katwijk organizes regularly activities for their members. Annual wave performing events will be organized. More information available elsewhere on this site.

Info sources:
Rik Teernstra, member of K.B.T."KATWIJK, go to this (Dutch)site by clicking here.