Brouwersdam

The winds

Where you can kitesurf at the Brouwersdam

The Brouwersdam was built between 1962 and 1971 as part of the Delta Works. It closed the Brouwershavense Gat, a sea inlet between the islands of Goeree-Overflakkee to the north and Schouwen-Duiveland to the south, and turned the water behind it into a lake. The dam is 6.5 kilometres long and carries the N57. On the sea side a sand beach runs almost its full length, with beach clubs and car parks behind it.

Kitesurfing happens on the sea side, in a zone in the middle of the beach, roughly level with the Port Zélande holiday park on the lake side. The border between the provinces of South Holland and Zeeland crosses the dam there, and both municipalities place their kite area on this stretch. North of it, towards the work harbour, the beach is kept for swimmers, and most of Ouddorp's beaches beyond the dam are closed to kitesurfing. Signs at the beach entrances show where the zone starts and ends.

The lake behind the dam is the Grevelingen. It covers about 11,000 hectares, and Rijkswaterstaat calls it the largest saltwater lake in Western Europe. Windsurfers have sailed it from the dam since the early 1980s, and a surf centre stands on the lake side. It is also a protected nature area, and kitesurfing on it is limited to one zone at the far end of the lake.

Which wind directions work at the Brouwersdam

In the kite zone the beach faces north-west. A south-westerly blows along the beach from the left as you face the sea, and a westerly comes in cross-onshore from the same side. A north-westerly blows straight onshore, a northerly comes in cross-onshore from the right, and a north-easterly blows along the beach from the right. Local schools ride in everything from south-south-west round to north-north-east.

East, south-east and south winds blow off the dam and out to sea. Do not kite on the sea side in them: if anything goes wrong, you drift away from the beach. In an easterly, local schools move to the Grevelingendam near Bruinisse, where the lake's only kite zone is, about half an hour's drive away.

KNMI's hourly records from its station at Schaar, at the mouth of the Oosterschelde about 15 kilometres south-west of the dam, show how the wind changes through the year. From 2016 to 2025 the mean wind was strongest in February, at 15 knots, and weakest in May, at 11 knots. From October to February it averaged about 14 knots. South-west was the most common direction for winds of 12 knots or more. In spring the daytime wind came most often from the north, and in summer from the west. The station is not on the beach, so use these figures for direction and season more than for strength.

Why kites stay on the North Sea side

A dam with the North Sea on one side and a flat lake on the other sounds ideal for kitesurfing, but the lake side is closed to kites. The Grevelingen is a Natura 2000 area, and a national decision of November 2016 bans kitesurfing on it all year, except in one marked zone at the Grevelingendam, at the eastern end of the lake. The reason given is disturbance to birds. The lake is the most important wintering area in the Netherlands for great crested grebes and red-breasted mergansers.

Windsurfers may use the lake. On the dam's lake side there is shallow water near the shore, a surf centre, and a small pool known as Het Poeltje, used for windsurf lessons since before the surf centre opened in 1993. The lake has no tide: a sluice in the dam keeps the water salty, but the level stays almost the same all day. Some guides advise boots in the shallows because of the shells on the bottom.

Tides, waves and the sluice

On the sea side the tide matters. At Rijkswaterstaat's measuring post off the dam, high and low water were on average about 2.3 metres apart in September and October 2026, and close to 3 metres on spring tides. At low water the beach is wide and you can stand in the water near the shore, which makes it the easier time to learn. Around high water the beach narrows, a shorebreak builds, and the current along the beach gets stronger. Tide tables for Brouwershavensche Gat 08, the measuring post just off the dam, cover this beach.

According to one spot guide, sandbanks in the Voordelta, the shallow sea off the Delta coast, take most of the swell before it reaches the dam, so the zone is usually choppy rather than wavy. The same guide reports bigger waves at high tide in strong winds from west to north-west.

Keep clear of the Brouwerssluis, the sluice in the southern part of the dam towards Schouwen. Rijkswaterstaat lets water from the lake out to the North Sea through it for about 12 hours a day on average, and the flow causes strong eddies at its entrance. Divers report a strong current near the sluice, and a breakwater stands beside it on the sea side.

Kite zone rules and the swimming beach

The northern part of the dam belongs to the municipality of Goeree-Overflakkee. Its beach-use decision of 11 July 2023, in force since 19 July 2023, bans kitesurfing on most of its North Sea beaches. The map attached to the decision shows kitesurfing allowed at the southern end of the municipality's part of the dam, up to the border with Schouwen-Duiveland. The written text lists that same stretch among the banned areas, so the map and the text disagree. Follow the signs on the beach.

North of the kite zone, towards the work harbour, a swimming area is marked with yellow buoys. Windsurfing, kitesurfing and other board sports are banned inside it. Lifeguards watch that beach in summer: in 2026 they were there daily from 11:00 to 18:00 in July and August, and at weekends from April to September.

The southern part of the dam belongs to Schouwen-Duiveland. Its tourist office lists a zone for kitesurfers, stunt kites and kite buggies on the beach at the Brouwersdam 2 entrance, next to the Goeree side's kite area. The beach at the Schouwen end, south of the sluice, is a family beach. Schouwen-Duiveland's beach rules also keep kite flying at least 200 metres from beach pavilions and dune crossings.

The sea beyond the zone is protected too. Around the Bollen van de Ooster sandbanks, several kilometres north-west of the dam, rest areas for sea ducks are closed to visitors, some all year and a larger part from 1 November to 1 April. Kitesurfing is not allowed in them, so stay near the beach.

Lessons and busy days

Several kite schools work from the beach along the dam, and they give the shallow water at low tide as the reason the Brouwersdam is an easy place to learn. The schools teach from about late March or April to early November. Take lessons before you ride alone; the zone is shared with experienced kiters, windsurfers and wing foilers.

On windy days in July and August the zone fills up, and one guide warns that German public holiday weekends are the busiest of all. Arrive early, and rig and launch away from people walking on the beach.

If you lose a kite or board, report it to the Coastguard centre on +31 88 958 4000. In an emergency, call 112 or the Coastguard on 0900 0111.

Water temperature, wetsuits and getting there

Rijkswaterstaat's measurements off the coast put the sea at about 6 °C in February, the coldest month, and about 21 °C in August, the warmest. That means a 5/4 with boots, gloves and a hood in winter, a 4/3 in spring and autumn, and a 3/2 on warm summer days.

The Brouwersdam is about 55 kilometres from central Rotterdam, around 50 minutes by car in light traffic, and about an hour from The Hague. From Amsterdam, allow an hour and three-quarters. Car parks line the sea side of the dam, and local schools and the Schouwen-Duiveland tourist office describe parking on the dam as free. Buses stop at Port Zélande, in the middle of the dam; check the timetable, because some services run only in summer.

Reading the live wind at the Brouwersdam

Check the direction first. Anything from east round to south blows offshore on the sea side, which means the Grevelingendam in an easterly, or a day on the beach. South-west round to north-east works in the zone.

Then compare the strength with the forecast for the Brouwersdam, and look at the gap between average and gust. A small gap usually means a steady wind off the sea. A large one usually means the wind has crossed land first, or that a front is passing.

None of the stations in the widget stands on the dam, and the nearest is some distance away, so use them for the direction and the trend more than for the exact strength in the zone. Read them next to the tide table, because the beach is wide with shallow water at low tide and narrow, with shorebreak, at high tide.

The widget above shows the latest readings from the stations around the spot.

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