Map›Netherlands›Ameland (Hollum / Noordzee)Netherlands
Ameland (Hollum / Noordzee)
Frisia · Ameland (Wadden island) · Hollum
Riding essentials
Season
Mar–Nov
Months riders and schools name
How windy
15-25 kt
Character: synoptic
Room to launch
huge
access rules on record, below
Water
waves
19 °C in summerWide sandy open North Sea beach with waves, deep water and strong current
Hazards
8
Reported by riders
Level
Intermediate to advanced
With a caveat: see Your level
Crowds
low crowds · busy Jul Aug
Schools
3
named at this spot
From the airport
305 min
Amsterdam Schiphol (AMS)
When it fills in
Frontal wind with no thermal cycle, so there is no afternoon fill-in to wait for; it blows at any hour, including through the night. What sets your session is daylight, the tide and, from 1 March to 1 November, the pole-zone rule.
Nearbystraight-line distance
Backup spotsWhere riders go when the wind doesn't work here.
- Ameland Noordzee - Nes/Ballumno page yet
- Ameland Noordzee - Burenno page yet
- Ameland Waddenzee - Nes veerdamno page yet
The spot
Season rules and wind
Conditions and facilities
The wind
Direction
Direction to shore
onshore to cross-shore for N, NW and NE on the north-facing North Sea beach
Dominant direction
N, NW and NE are the safe directions posted for the Ameland North Sea zones. A wider W-NW-N-NE-E band is ridden there in practice, and Hollum in particular gets ridden on winter westerlies.
Kite sizes
metres · typical quiver highlighted
The quiver, in words
Indicative for a 75-85 kg rider, no local size table found: around 12 m at 15 kt, 9 m at 20 kt, 7 m at 25 kt, and 5-6 m on the 30 kt-plus fronts. Autumn and winter put you on the small end far more often than midsummer, and deep water plus a hard current is an argument for being slightly underpowered rather than over.
Character
synoptic
Average strength
The nearest station at Ameland/Hollum returns a model-based value around 10 kts; no reliable monthly average table was available.
Typical strength
Rideable from about 15 kt, and 15-25 kt covers most days. The sessions the North Sea side is ridden for sit higher, 25-40 kt or 6 to 8 Bft, which is when the waves turn into jump ramps. The nearest station with a long record averages 14 kt over the year, so the big days are a minority you wait for rather than a norm.
Forecast
Live forecast
Month by month
- Jan94
- Feb81
- Mar, riders' month85
- Apr, riders' month77
- May, riders' month73
- Jun, riders' month82
- Jul, riders' month60
- Aug, riders' month53
- Sep, riders' month60
- Oct, riders' month66
- Nov, riders' month73
- Dec84
windy days per month (3 h+ at 12 kn+)
Ringed months are the ones riders and schools name: Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov.
- 94%Jan6°
- 81%Feb6°
- 85%Mar7°
- 77%Apr10°
- 73%May14°
- 82%Jun17°
- 60%Jul20°
- 53%Aug20°
- 60%Sep19°
- 66%Oct15°
- 73%Nov11°
- 84%Dec7°
windy days per month (3 h+ at 12 kn+) · water °C below · season highlighted
Modelled from the operational forecast archive at 1.5–7 km (2023-2024), daylight hours only, not a ground station: it resolves thermal, lake and valley winds far better than coarse reanalysis but still tends to understate a strong local thermal.
Every figure, month by monthWindy days · Force 4+ · 12 kn or more · Knots · Wind from · Peaks at · Air · Water · Readings
| Month | Windy days | Force 4+ | 12 kn or more | Knots | Wind from | Peaks at | Air | Water | Readings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 94% | 98% | 94% | 24.2 kt | WSW | 12:00 | 6 °C | 5.9 °C | 62 |
| Feb | 81% | 89% | 88% | 19.7 kt | W | 11:00 | 6.5 °C | 6 °C | 57 |
| Mar | 85% | 98% | 95% | 19.7 kt | SW | 14:00 | 6.7 °C | 6.9 °C | 62 |
| Apr | 77% | 95% | 92% | 20 kt | ENE | 13:00 | 8.5 °C | 9.6 °C | 60 |
| May | 73% | 89% | 82% | 15.9 kt | NE | 13:00 | 12.4 °C | 13.9 °C | 62 |
| Jun | 82% | 93% | 85% | 16.5 kt | NE | 15:00 | 15.1 °C | 17.2 °C | 60 |
| Jul | 60% | 82% | 73% | 16.9 kt | WSW | 13:00 | 17.3 °C | 19.5 °C | 62 |
| Aug | 53% | 76% | 69% | 15.2 kt | WSW | 13:00 | 18.5 °C | 20.1 °C | 62 |
| Sep | 60% | 73% | 62% | 15.4 kt | ENE | 13:00 | 17 °C | 19.1 °C | 60 |
| Oct | 66% | 84% | 74% | 17.6 kt | SW | 12:00 | 13.6 °C | 14.6 °C | 62 |
| Nov | 73% | 83% | 82% | 20.7 kt | NNW | 14:00 | 9.4 °C | 10.6 °C | 60 |
| Dec | 84% | 89% | 84% | 21.5 kt | SW | 12:00 | 6.5 °C | 6.8 °C | 62 |
How this is modelledmodelled · 2023-2024
A weather model's cell over this place, not a station on it. Good for comparing places, weaker for one beach.
A windy day has at least three consecutive daylight hours at 12 knots or more. The typical daily max and the direction are columns of the table above, month by month. Highlighted months are the riding season from the spot record.
High-resolution weather model (modelled) · Open-Meteo historical forecast archive — best-match operational model (ICON-D2 / AROME / ICON-EU / GFS by region), not a ground station · 2023-2024
The water
Type
waves
Standing depth
No. The North Sea side is deep, and at Hollum it drops away quickly.
Tides
North Sea tidal beach with a modest range: at the Nes reference, high water runs about +93 cm and low water about -82 cm. Low water widens the sand you rig on. No spot-specific rideable tide window is published for Hollum, and the current is the thing to ask about locally rather than the tide height.
Temperature
19 °C summer · 5.5 °C winter
Modelled monthly average: 6–20 °C
Wetsuit
Cold-water North Sea spot: summer is usually a full 3/2 or 4/3 depending on the weather, winter a thick suit with boots, gloves and hood. That is inferred from Ameland water temperatures, not from a Hollum packing list.
Currents
Very strong current at Hollum, reportedly because the spot sits close to the edge of the island.
Conditions
Your level
not for beginners here
The scene
What riders come here for
Launch and rules
three ways on to the water, and what each one asks of you
With a school or a boat
3 schools name this spot
On your own
Room to launch: huge
Somewhere else
3 spots nearby
Rescue
Launch
Wide sandy North Sea beach near Hollum, between beach poles 3 and 4. Free parking at the Oranjeweg car park, about 200 m from the beach, with the access at the end of Oranjeweg. Beachclub The Sunset is the nearest food and shelter; there is nothing at the poles themselves.
Rules & access
1 min read
Seasonal zones
Winter access
Access rules drift faster than anything else we hold — check locally, and propose an edit if this has changed.
Schools that ride here
Rider tips
- In season, stay inside the Hollum zone between poles 3-4, and bring gear on and off the beach only there.
- Do not read the island-wide beginner label as a Hollum safety rating.
- Skip offshore wind here, and take local advice on the current if Wadden island water is new to you.
- Bring full cold-water rubber outside summer; Ameland winter water sits around 5-6 C.
- Check the Holwert-Nes ferry times before planning a day trip: about 50 minutes on the regular boat, about 20 on the express.
Getting there
Airport
Amsterdam Schiphol (AMS) for most international arrivals; Groningen Airport Eelde (GRQ) is closer regionally but has fewer routes.
Route
Ferry from Holwert/Holwerd to Nes, then across the island to Hollum and Oranjeweg by car, taxi, bus or bike. The regular ferry takes about 50 minutes and the express about 20 minutes.
Transfer
305 min
Cost level
medium
Staying
Hollum and the rest of Ameland have island hotels, holiday homes, campsites and beach-resort accommodation, hundreds of places in all.
No-wind days
Cycling and walking around Ameland, lighthouse visits in Hollum, beach walks, mudflat/Wadden Sea nature activities, museums, terraces and boat trips.
Photos
FAQ
Is Hollum suitable for beginners?
No, local school guidance specifically says it is not beginner-friendly because of very strong current, waves and water that deepens quickly close to shore.
What are the access rules?
From 1 March to 1 November, kitesurfing and gear transport on the North Sea side are only allowed between beach poles 3 and 4 near Hollum, staying 50 m from the waterline; outside that period riding is allowed outside the marked zones except where kite flying is prohibited.
What is the wind like?
The safe directions are N, NW and NE, driven by synoptic North Sea weather systems rather than a thermal pattern.
What hazards should riders know?
Very strong current near the edge of the island, water that deepens quickly, and open North Sea waves are the main reported hazards.
Last updated: August 2026