Thiessow & Gager

ThiessowGager

1. 

   Thiessow

   sea · beginner ok

   Thiessow is on the west side of the Thiessow/Klein Zicker land tongue on Rügen's Mönchgut, facing the Greifswalder Bodden, and which spot you get depends on the wind.

   intermediateadvancedmedium rigging room

   In seasonMar to May, Sep to Nov

   The model here carries the month's average wind rather than a count of windy days: it reaches 16.9 kt in January, the strongest month it models for this spot.

   Thiessow: the long version, the launch and the rules

   More on Thiessow

   Southwest is the best wave direction, side-onshore with shorebreak and up to about 2 m of surf; west and northwest also bring waves, with some wind shadow in the northern part on a northwest. East wind is offshore and turns the whole thing into flat freeride water, and that is the day to be honest about whether you can get back upwind on your own. Standing depth runs roughly 30-70 m out, or about 50 m parallel to shore depending on who measured, narrowest by the stone wall on the left and widest toward Klein Zicker. Fish traps sit 200-300 m off the beach in summer, the marked stone wall pulls a suction current so keep 20-30 m off it, and there is current near Thiessower Haken if you ride too far south. Sea grass piles up in a southwest, so bring a weed fin. Windsurfers have ridden here for a long time under the Thiewaii name, and the school and campsite scene on the rigging meadow is well established, beginner courses included; independent novices should still think twice, given the offshore east and the shorebreak in southwest. Westerly depressions from autumn to spring are the wind, so March-May and September-November are the months, and wind yield for the area is about 50%.

   Getting on the water

   Access is from the campsite and Surf-Oase area between Thiessow and Klein Zicker, on the west side of the land tongue. Rig on the small meadow directly by the beach, about 20 m from the water, and stay inside the signed kite and windsurf zone. The beach itself is open at any hour. Paid parking is under 50 m away at the campsite, with a second paid car park about 250 m away at the edge of the village; toilets, showers and waste disposal are at the campsite.

   If it goes wrong

   The school on site keeps a motorboat and uses it to collect its own students when they drift; nothing covers independent riders. Sea rescue is the DGzRS, free of charge and funded entirely by donations, reached on VHF 16 or channel 70 by DSC, or by phone on +49 421 53687-0 to the coordination centre in Bremen. The nearest lifeboat stations on Rügen are Glowe, Sassnitz and Breege, all on the far side of the island from Moenchgut, so help from the water is not quick.

   Rules and access

   2026: the signed kite and windsurf zone on the beach is the boundary to work to, and it is set locally rather than by an ordinance you can look up; no published map or bylaw covering Thiessow was found. The water-safety signage came out of a local project set up by ProBoarding, Sail&Surf, the Gemeinde Thiessow, WSA Stralsund and the Biosphaerenreservat Suedost-Ruegen. Parts of the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern coast are closed to watersports, some year-round and some only at certain times, and reed belts and Roehricht zones are to be given a wide berth everywhere. Ask the school where this year's boundary runs.

   Everything on Thiessow

2. 

   Gager

   lagoon · beginner ok

   Gager is a harbor-side spot on the Hagensche Wiek, on the Mönchgut peninsula in southeast Rügen, and the bay is the easy part: protected, comparatively flat, standing depth in a sandy strip up to about 150 m wide along the shore, deeper only at the harbor entrance.

   intermediateadvancedlimited rigging room

   In seasonno month named for this spot

   The model here carries the month's average wind rather than a count of windy days: it reaches 16.9 kt in January, the strongest month it models for this spot.

   Gager: the long version, the launch and the rules

   More on Gager

   W and NW are the directions to come for. W comes through freely and NW is the cleanest, with riders running parallel to the shore; SW to W also works and NE is reportedly good too, while easterly wind close to shore sits in the wind shadow. The access is the problem. The rigging meadow is very small, the entry is small, the harbor entrance must stay clear for fishing and sport boats, and the reed belt is full of nesting birds, so the safest launch is often from the water. Water is warm for the Baltic, about 18.5 C on average in summer with August around 19.6 C, and about 3.1 C in winter; in still, warm spells check the bathing-water advisories for cyanobacteria and Vibrio. The Hagensche Wiek lies in the Southeast Rügen Biosphere Reserve, where shallow areas are closed to navigation to the 2 m depth line year-round with harbor and access exceptions, and how that applies to kites at Gager is unconfirmed, so ask before leaving the accepted shore strip. Treat it as a quiet flatwater spot for competent freeriders or supervised learners, not a teaching lagoon; the only wind number on record is one session on 3 June 2010, about 20 kt in N/NW on a 9 m kite.

   Getting on the water

   Small meadow and a strip of sandy shore by the harbor mole in Gager. The entry is sandy and shelves gently; the start and landing meadow is very small, and launching the kite from the water is the safest option.

   If it goes wrong

   No rescue boat and no organized safety service at the harbor entry; treat sessions as self-rescue unless supervision is arranged directly with a local school.

   Rules and access

   2026: keep a large safety distance from the reed belt, where many birds breed and nest. 2026: the Hagensche Wiek is part of the Southeast Rügen Biosphere Reserve; in protection zones I and II federal waterways may not be navigated outside fairways or approved transit and access waters, and the shallow areas of the Hagensche Wiek are closed to navigation year-round to the 2 m depth line, with harbor and access exceptions. Exact kite-specific boundaries for Gager have not been found.

   Everything on Gager

Kite bag rules for your airline

Type the carrier you are flying: what it charges for a kite bag, and the year of the policy that says so.

Known for Germany:RyanairTUIfly

Every carrier, with limits and what riders report at the counter →

1. The visitor tax at the camp by the spot is what people actually complain about - it is charged per person for both the arrival and the departure day, and on a short stay it can be a third or more of the total bill.

   consensus×5 riders

2. The water in front of the camp is standing depth a long way out but noticeably choppier than the sheltered bays a few kilometres west, with stones mixed into the sand, and in onshore southwest a lot of beginners visibly struggle to get back upwind.

   majority×3 riders

3. The beach strip in front of the camp is narrow and short, which is fine for swimming but tight when several people want to lay out and pump kites at once.

   majority×3 riders

4. Outside the season the peninsula closes down around you - the camp itself only runs roughly April to October, low-season check-in stops at 18:00, and finding a kitchen still serving after a late session is a real problem.

   majority×3 riders

5. Public parking right at the spot is the pinch point - the paid pitch by the water fills up, and the fallback is a walk in from Thiessow or from the Klein Zicker car park about 300 m away.

   majority×2 riders

6. Gager's side of the peninsula is the quiet half: the bay spot before the Gager turn-off is a two-minute walk from the car park and can be empty even in 25 knots, and the harbour is a legal paid overnight with the sunset in the windscreen.

   majority×2 riders

7. Whether the camp is still a surf camp is disputed - one account says the pitches are booked out years ahead by retirees and there is not much kiting left, while campers describe exactly the mix of surfers, cyclists and walkers they came for.

   contested×4 riders

What we could not settle. Ride here? These are the gaps worth filling.

• Is 'Thiessow & Gager' the name riders actually use for this area?
• Exact months/hours the 6pm kite-timing rule applies.
• Solo/nomad friendliness and internet reliability at the campsites.
• Is Rostock-Laage or Hamburg the better airport for reaching Thiessow and Gager?