MapNetherlandsWorkum – Makkum, IJsselmeerMedemblik (Nesbos)Workum – Makkum, IJsselmeer

Medemblik (Nesbos)

North Holland · West-Friesland · Medemblik

also known as Kitestrandje Nesbos, Vooroever Nesbos, De Vooroever, IJsselmeer / Medemblik

Part of Workum – Makkum, IJsselmeer →

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

flat waterbeginner-friendlyhigh crowds

On this page

The spot
Wind
Forecast
Month by month
Water
Level
The scene
Launch
Schools
Tips
Getting there
FAQ

Riding essentials

Season

Apr–Sep

Months riders and schools name

How windy

12-40 knots

Character: synoptic

Room to launch

tight

access rules on record, below

Water

flat

18–22 °C in summerFreshwater IJsselmeer, flat to light chop, effectively no surf, shell banks on the bottom

Hazards

Reported by riders

Level

Beginner to advanced

With a caveat: see Your level

BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced

Crowds

high crowds · busy Apr May Jun Jul

Schools

named at this spot

From the airport

Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS)

Transfer times under Getting there

When it fills in

No thermal cycle. The wind is synoptic and holds or dies with the weather system rather than with the hour, so the session window comes off the forecast.

Nearbystraight-line distance

Backup spotsWhere riders go when the wind doesn't work here.

Schellinkhout / Uiterdijk - legal West-Friesland Markermeer spot, better known for south through west-sector winds.no page yet
Enkhuizen - IJsselmeer flat-water spot used on north/east-sector winds, with its own restrictions around swimming weather and zones.no page yet
Muiderberg - Markermeer/IJmeer flat-water alternative closer to Amsterdam for suitable wind directions.no page yet

The spot

Location and wind

Medemblik (Nesbos) is the official IJsselmeer kite zone at Vooroever Nesbos, just outside Medemblik in West-Friesland, and what makes it worth the drive is the direction: it works on north and east wind, the days when most Dutch North Sea beaches are offshore and useless.

Water

The water is fresh, flat to lightly choppy and shallow near the bank, though how far you can walk is disputed: deeper water from about 60 m in one account, 150-200 m of standing water in others.

Launch

The launch is the weak point. It is a small grass and sand strip with trees, shrubs, posts, bins right behind it, and half the province turns up when the wind goes east.

Season and regulations

The season is legal rather than meteorological: 1 April through 30 September inside the buoyed zone, closed 1 October to 31 March for the birds, as of 2026. Stay out of the swimming zone and the Natura 2000 area, off Andijk, off the harbour side at Vlietsingel.

Skill levels

Foilers and jumpers work the deeper water behind the sandbanks, while a beginner needs more shore space than this place has on a busy day.

The wind

Direction

cross-onoffshorewind blows away from land — rescue cover matters here

Direction to shore

Disputed: cross-onshore in some records, usually offshore in others, on the permitted north-to-east directions. Treat the offshore component as real and stay inside the buoyed zone.

Dominant direction

The directions that work here are N, NE, E. The annual mean at the Marina Medemblik station is WSW, which is not why anyone drives up.

Kite sizes

567891011121314151617

metres · typical quiver highlighted

The quiver, in words

Indicative for a 75-85 kg rider, with no local measurement: 14-16 m on a marginal 12 knot east day, 10-12 m around 18 knots, 7-9 m at 25 and above.

Character

synoptic

When it fills in: see above ↑

Average strength

7 kts annual mean at Marina Medemblik station, based on observations from 2012-04-01 to 2022-09-30.

Typical strength

A day counts as rideable here at 12-40 knots from a permitted direction, held for at least two hours; that threshold is what the local day log scores against. Most days in the year do not reach it, and the ones that do cluster on north and east.

The north and east wind alternative for days when the North Sea is offshore. On easterlies it can beat Enkhuizen; on a busy day the small launch and the traffic take that back.

As of 2026, kiting is legally limited to April through September under the 2018 traffic decision. The best wind is spring and autumn, but October to March is closed, so the shoulder season you can actually use is spring and September.

Forecast

Live forecast

Windguru Windfinder Windy

Month by month

Jan73
Feb78
Mar59
Apr, riders' month69
May, riders' month49
Jun, riders' month53
Jul, riders' month55
Aug, riders' month44
Sep, riders' month43
Oct66
Nov67
Dec65

per cent of the month at force 4 or more

Ringed months are the ones riders and schools name: Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep.

15 ktJan6°
15 ktFeb6°
13 ktMar7°
14 ktApr10°
11 ktMay15°
11 ktJun19°
12 ktJul20°
11 ktAug20°
11 ktSep19°
13 ktOct15°
14 ktNov11°
14 ktDec7°

avg knots per month · water °C below · season highlighted

Modelled from weather reanalysis on a 10–25 km grid (2022-2024), not a ground station: reliable for trade and synoptic winds, understates thermal sea breezes and valley winds.

Every figure, month by monthForce 4+ · Knots · Wind from · Air · Water

Month	Force 4+	Knots	Wind from	Air	Water
Jan	73%	15 kt	WSW	5.3 °C	5.7 °C
Feb	78%	15.4 kt	WSW	6.8 °C	6.1 °C
Mar	59%	12.6 kt	SW	7.3 °C	7.2 °C
Apr	69%	13.6 kt	SW	9.1 °C	9.8 °C
May	49%	11.3 kt	NNE	13.5 °C	14.7 °C
Jun	53%	11.4 kt	WSW	16.4 °C	18.5 °C
Jul	55%	12 kt	WSW	17.6 °C	19.8 °C
Aug	44%	11.1 kt	SW	18.5 °C	20.3 °C
Sep	43%	10.8 kt	S	16.3 °C	19.2 °C
Oct	66%	12.6 kt	SSW	13 °C	14.8 °C
Nov	67%	13.8 kt	SSW	8.1 °C	10.7 °C
Dec	65%	13.9 kt	SW	5.8 °C	6.9 °C

How this is modelledmodelled · 2022-2024

A weather model's cell over this place, not a station on it. Good for comparing places, weaker for one beach.

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.

ERA5 reanalysis grid point (modelled) · Open-Meteo historical weather API — ECMWF ERA5/ERA5-Land reanalysis, not a ground station · 2022-2024

The water

Type

flat

Standing depth

Shallow enough to stand close in, but nobody agrees how far out: about 200 m of shallow water in one account, about 150 m of walkable water in another, and deeper water from roughly 60 m out, which is where the jumping happens. There is foiling depth behind the sandbanks.

Tides

No tide-dependent riding on record; IJsselmeer is an inland freshwater lake with managed water levels, and Medemblik is not tide-dependent.

Temperature

Summer (°C) 18–22 °C typical summer range for Medemblik/IJsselmeer; another figure gives 18.9 °C summer average.

Winter (°C) 4–6 °C typical winter range for Medemblik/IJsselmeer; another figure gives 4.9 °C winter average.

Modelled monthly average: 6–20 °C

Wetsuit

Summer shorty or thin/full suit depending on tolerance; spring/autumn full wetsuit; winter thick winter wetsuit, hood/gloves/boots. May-August can be shorty conditions; September-April needs a wetsuit.

Currents

No tidal current on record; wind-driven chop and managed IJsselmeer water-level changes are the relevant water movement.

Conditions

Freshwater IJsselmeer, flat to light chop, effectively no surf, shell banks on the bottom. The official kite zone sits off the grassy and sandy Nesbos shoreline and is marked by yellow buoys; the neighbouring Natura 2000 area and the swimming zone are out of bounds.

Blue-green algae warnings turn up at the Nesbos swimming water in warm spells: one was posted 2026-08-06, with the water measured at about 18.7 °C on 2026-08-26.

Your level

BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced

Listed as both beginner and advanced, and the shallow flat water really does suit lessons. The tight launch, the trees and posts around it, the summer bathers and the limited water space make it demanding once it fills up. Advanced riders are asked to ride farther out and upwind, behind the sandbanks, so there is room near shore.

The scene

What riders come here for

foilingfreeridefreestyleeast-wind sessionsflat-water progression

Who it suitsbeginners

Medemblik fills up whenever north or east wind is forecast. Advanced riders are asked to move farther out and upwind, wrap their lines on shore, keep kites away from the trees, and give each other room when it is packed.

Launch and rules

three ways on to the water, and what each one asks of you

With a school or a boat

2 schools name this spot

See who they are

On your own

Room to launch: tight

Read the access rules

Somewhere else

3 spots nearby

All 3 spots within 40 km are under Nearby

Rescue

No dedicated beach rescue. The KNRM lifeboat stations at Andijk and Medemblik cover the region and ran a kitesurfer rescue drill at Nesbos in 2019, which is not the same as supervised cover.

Launch

Small grass and sand launch at Vooroever/Nesbos off Oosterdijk/Droge Wijmersweg, with free parking at the Droge Wijmers car park and a short walk over the dike.The rigging strip is narrow, with trees, shrubs, posts and bins right behind it, and the start and landing zone is sand with very little room.Toilets on the terrain are opened in good weather, and a beach pavilion is within walking distance.

Hazards riders report 12 reported

Wind

Spot can become crowded on easterly or northerly wind days because these are rare safe directions elsewhere in the Netherlands
Offshore component on the permitted north-to-east directions, unresolved and disputed

Crowds and zones

Tight launch and landing area with trees/bushes close to the rigging zone
Summer bathers increase launch/landing risk
Possible blue-green algae warnings at the Nesbos swimming water in warm periods

Bottom

shallow sandbanks near shore
shell-covered bottom
Shell-covered bottom and shell banks; wear booties.
Shallow sandbanks close to shore, with deeper water beyond/behind them

Protected areas and rules

adjacent nature reserve/tree line to avoid
Adjacent nature/Natura 2000 area and marked swimming zone are off limits
Harbour/Vlietsingel area to the north and left is off limits.

Rules & access

1 min read

2026: kitesurfing at Medemblik/Nesbos is allowed only inside the official buoy-marked kite zone and only from 1 April through 30 September; from 1 October through 31 March it is prohibited so the birds get their rest.

Permitted zones

The 2018 traffic decision sets the terms: use in the summer half-year only, the zone physically marked with buoys, the south boundary marked, an information panel with the rules at the access point, and the neighbouring Natura 2000 area and swimming zone kept clear.

Andijk, east of Medemblik, is forbidden for kitesurfing, and the harbour/Vlietsingel side is off limits as well.

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

Check the date before you drive: closed 1 October through 31 March as of 2026.
Wear booties. The bottom is shells and shell banks.
Stay inside the yellow buoys and keep off the nature reserve, the swimming zone, the harbour side and the Andijk shoreline.
On a busy east-wind day, rig fast, wrap your lines while you rest, and leave the water near shore to the learners.
Go out about 60 m before you start jumping; that is where it gets deep enough.
Foil behind the sandbanks near the half-moon breakwater.
Take the car if you can. The bus via Hoorn works but adds a walk at the far end.

Getting there

Airport

Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS)

Route

By car, take the A7 toward Medemblik, then N239/N240/Markerwaardweg and Droge Wijmersweg/Oosterdijk to the free parking by Vooroever/Nesbos. By public transport, buses run from Hoorn station to Medemblik on route 139, and it is about a 15-minute walk from Spooksingel.

Transfer

About 50 minutes by car from Schiphol Airport to Medemblik; public transport from Schiphol to Medemblik is about 1h37-1h42 before the local walk to the spot.

Cost level

medium

Staying

Medemblik has hotels, campsites, bungalow parks; Hoorn and Enkhuizen widen the choice across West-Friesland and the IJsselmeer shore.

No-wind days

Kasteel Radboud in Medemblik, walking/cycling the Vooroever/Nesbos, Medemblik harbour and old town, Hoorn-Medemblik heritage/steam attractions, and the Zuiderzee Museum in nearby Enkhuizen.

FAQ

Is Medemblik (Nesbos) suitable for beginners?

Yes, NKV lists it as beginner and gevorderd, with shallow water for lessons, though the tight launch, obstacles and summer bathers make it demanding when crowded.

What is the wind like?

The spot is prized for working on north, north-east and east wind, directions that are often offshore or unsafe at other Dutch North Sea spots.

When is the best time to go?

Kitesurfing is legally allowed only from 1 April through 30 September, with October through March closed for bird and nature protection.

Are there rules or restricted zones?

Yes, riders must stay inside the buoy-marked kite zone and avoid the adjacent Natura 2000 nature area, the swimming zone, and the harbour/Vlietsingel side.

What hazards should riders know?

A shell-covered bottom, shallow sandbanks close to shore, and heavy crowding on rare north or east wind days are the main reported hazards.

The bigger pictureEverything about IJsselmeer - Workum/Makkum

Last updated: August 2026