Texel

The winds

Where you can kitesurf on Texel

Texel, in North Holland, is the largest and most westerly of the Dutch Wadden Islands, 20 minutes by ferry from Den Helder. Its North Sea beach runs along the whole west side, from De Hors, the sand plain at the south tip, to the lighthouse at the north tip. Red-topped beach posts count the beach in kilometres, and the island's rules use their numbers to say what is allowed where. The beach entrances carry post numbers as names, from Paal 9 near Den Hoorn to Paal 33 near De Cocksdorp, but they do not always stand at that post: the Paal 9 entrance is nearer post 10.

The municipality sorts the beach into zones. The sport beach is meant for fast sports such as kitesurfing: it runs from post 17.60 to 18.99, just north of Paal 17, and from post 28.20 to 32, from Paal 28 to the lighthouse. On the recreation beach, which covers most of the rest, kitesurfing is allowed too, but not on the built-up stretches around pavilions, kiosks and beach huts. The nature beaches of De Hors and the Slufter are closed to all beach sports.

The Wadden side, facing east across the Waddenzee, is closed to kitesurfing apart from one place, Dijkmanshuizen, which is open from 1 April to 1 October.

Paal 17: Texel's main kite beach

Paal 17 is the beach entrance at the end of the Ruijslaan, about 2.5 kilometres south-west of De Koog and 5 kilometres west of Den Burg, the island's main village. A kite school has worked from here since 2005. The NKV, the Dutch kitesurfing association, lists this beach and the north beach together as Texel's North Sea kite spot, open all year.

The pavilion at the entrance stands on a built-up stretch, from post 16.64 to 17.60, where kites may not launch. The sport beach starts at post 17.60, a few hundred metres to the right as you face the sea, and runs about 1.4 kilometres north to post 18.99, where De Koog's built-up beach begins. Signs on the beach mark the zone.

The beach is wide, and maps show no groynes on this stretch. The NKV rates the spot for experienced riders and describes North Sea conditions, with breaking waves and current. The school at Paal 17 says the shallow troughs at low tide suit beginners. If you are new to the sport, take lessons before you ride here alone.

Rijkswaterstaat plans to add about 1.5 million cubic metres of sand to the beach between posts 14.5 and 21 in 2026–2027, Paal 17 included. While the works are on, follow the signs and fences on the beach.

Which wind directions work on Texel

At Paal 17 the beach faces west-north-west. A south-westerly runs side-shore from the left as you face the sea, a westerly comes in side-onshore, a north-westerly blows almost straight onshore and a northerly comes in side-onshore from the right. A south-south-westerly and a north-north-easterly both run along the beach. Everything from north-east through east to south blows off the land. Do not ride on the North Sea side in those winds: a rider who falls or loses the kite drifts away from the island.

Paal 9, in the south-west, faces due west. A south-south-westerly, which runs along the beach at Paal 17, comes in side-shore there, and a northerly runs along it.

KNMI's station on De Hors, about 9.5 kilometres south of Paal 17, records the wind every hour. From 2018 to 2025 the mean wind was strongest in January, at about 16 knots, and weakest in May and June, at about 12 knots. It blew at 12 knots or more in about half of all hours, most often from the south-west, then the west and the south. About two in five of those hours came from a direction that blows offshore at Paal 17.

Counting only daytime hours with at least 12 knots from a direction that works at Paal 17, the share was about one in three over the year. January came out best, at nearly one in two, with July next, and March and April worst, at about one in four. Paal 9 faces further west and scored higher, at about two in five. The station stands on an open sand plain, not on either beach, so use these figures for direction and season more than for strength.

Texel's kite rules: sport beach, recreation beach, built-up beach

Texel's general bylaw, the APV of 2016, bans kitesurfing on open water and on the coast, and bans kites with two or more lines on the beach, except in areas the municipality designates. The current version has been in force since 1 January 2024, and the kite article has not changed in substance since 2017. The designations are in the Regeling watersporten en kustgebruik 2019, in force since November 2019 and still current in November 2026.

Under that regulation you may launch and land a kite only on the sport beach and the recreation beach, never on a built-up stretch. On the water you must keep enough distance from the beach, swimmers and other water users. The recreation beach covers posts 9.77 to 17.60, 18.99 to 21.91, 27 to 28.20 and 32 to 33.02, but the municipality's beach page bans kitesurfing on the last of these. The island's beach policy of 2019 marks the built-up stretches, around the pavilions at Paal 9, 12, 15, 17, 19 to 21, 28 and 33.

Before November 2019, kites could launch only on the sport beach, and the island's tourist office still says so on its beach page. If you are unsure, use the sport beach, where signs mark the zone.

In summer 2026 the Texel lifeguards staffed eight posts, at Paal 9, 12, 15, 17, 19, 20, 21 and 28, from early July to the end of August, between 10:00 and 18:00 according to their website. Their swimming zones were smaller than in earlier years. Launch well away from them, and give swimmers a wide berth on the water.

Paal 9 and the north beach

Paal 9, at the end of the Hoornderslag near Den Hoorn, is the southernmost beach entrance. The beach either side is recreation beach, so kites may launch there, but not on the built-up stretch around the pavilions, which runs from post 9.77 to 10.73 and reaches a few hundred metres north of the entrance. About 600 metres south of the entrance, at post 9.77, the nature beach of De Hors begins.

Stone groynes cross the beach either side of the Paal 9 entrance and then every 400 metres or so north to Paal 16. In a northerly, a rider who drifts goes south, towards De Hors and the strong current of the Molengat channel. The NKV does not list Paal 9 as a kite spot, and the surf school at the entrance now mostly teaches wave surfing. Rijkswaterstaat plans a large sand nourishment here in 2027–2028.

In the north, the second sport beach runs from post 28.20, just north of the Paal 28 entrance, for about 3 kilometres to post 32, near the lighthouse. Keep at least 50 metres from the hard seawall around the lighthouse, and do not ride beyond post 32. The beach at Paal 28 faces about the same way as at Paal 17. Paal 28 has a lifeguard post in summer. Paal 31 and 33 have none, and the municipality's 2025 review of beach guarding notes strong currents there. One school calls the lighthouse beach a spot for experienced riders because of the current.

De Hors, the Slufter, the Wadden side and the Razende Bol

De Hors, the wide sand plain at the south tip, and the Slufter, the tidal valley north of De Koog, are nature beaches. The municipal zones allow no beach sports there, so you may not launch or land a kite. Both lie in the Duinen van Texel National Park, which reminds visitors that birds can take kites for a threat, and Texel's Natura 2000 plan has potential breeding sites of beach-nesting birds on De Hors fenced off.

On the Wadden side, Dutch inland shipping rules ban kitesurfing except where the waterway authority designates an area, and then only by day. Texel has one such place, Dijkmanshuizen, on the Wadden shore about 3 kilometres north-east of Oudeschild, open from 1 April to 1 October. Everywhere else on the Wadden side, the Mokbaai behind De Hors included, kitesurfing is not allowed.

The NKV lists Dijkmanshuizen for winds from east to south, when the North Sea side blows offshore. It describes a small beach with little room and shallow water, for experienced riders. A school that uses the spot says it works best around low tide and that you need shoes.

Off the south tip, across the Molengat, lies the Razende Bol, also called Noorderhaaks, a sandbank island. Texel's bylaw counts it as coast, and the 2019 zones do not designate it for kites. The Natura 2000 plan for the North Sea coastal zone does list it as a kite location, with launching only from a marked spot on its southern part and at least 750 metres from marked breeding sites and the closed area. The northern part, where seals rest, is closed from 15 May to 1 November.

The NKV calls the crossing one for advanced riders only, because of shipping and strong currents, and describes the trip from Den Helder, not from Texel. A kitesurfer got into trouble there in June 2025, and two wingfoilers were rescued off its west side in October 2025.

Rijkswaterstaat is drawing up new Natura 2000 plans for the Waddenzee and the North Sea coastal zone, with a draft due in the third quarter of 2027. The rules for the island's nature areas may change after that.

Groynes, currents and rescue

From just south of Paal 9 to Paal 16, 18 stone groynes run out from the beach, about 400 metres apart and up to about 250 metres long. Launch and land midway between two of them, and in an onshore wind keep clear of the one downwind of you.

Rip currents, called muien in Dutch, form between the sandbanks all along the coast. Texel's lifeguards say they are easiest to spot at low tide, as a stream running seaward between two banks. In August 2025 a swimmer drowned in one near De Koog after the lifeguards had gone home. If you have to swim in and a current pulls you out, swim parallel to the beach until you are out of it.

At the south tip, the Molengat, a channel about 650 metres wide between Texel and the Razende Bol, carries a strong tidal current close along the south-west coast, and Rijkswaterstaat says it is moving towards the island. From Paal 9, turn back well before De Hors.

The KNRM, the Dutch lifeboat service, keeps boats at De Koog, about 3 kilometres from Paal 17, at De Cocksdorp in the north and at Oudeschild on the Wadden side. Across the country it goes out about 200 times a year to search for missing surfers, and in more than half of those calls the surfer is already ashore. Put your phone number on your kite and board. If you lose either at sea, report it to the Coastguard centre on +31 88 958 4000. In an emergency, call 112 or the Coastguard on 0900 0111.

Tide, sandbanks and water temperature

At Rijkswaterstaat's measuring post off the beach, 4.5 kilometres north of Paal 17, high and low water were on average about 1.6 metres apart in September and October 2026, and about 2 metres on spring tides. Those data were still provisional. At low tide the beach is at its widest, and sandbanks with shallow troughs between them lie in front of it.

Rijkswaterstaat measures the sea temperature at a wave buoy in the Eierlandse Gat, the channel between Texel and Vlieland, about 22 kilometres north of Paal 17. From 2019 to 2025 the water averaged between 6 and 7 °C in February, the coldest month, and just under 20 °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.

Getting to Texel with your kite gear

TESO's ferry crosses from Den Helder to 't Horntje, on Texel's south tip, in about 20 minutes. On a weekday in November 2026 it left Den Helder every hour on the half hour from 06:30 to 21:30, and the last boat back from Texel left at 21:00. You cannot book a crossing: you buy a return ticket in Den Helder.

Since 16 June 2026 a car up to 6.5 metres long costs €48 return if you travel out from Friday to Monday, and €32 from Tuesday to Thursday. The length includes anything sticking out at the front or back. A foot passenger pays €3 return, luggage included. TESO publishes no rule for surf or kite boards. Its conditions carry hand luggage free, and the crew decides what counts as hand luggage.

Den Helder is about 85 kilometres from central Amsterdam, around an hour and a half by car in light traffic. Trains run to Den Helder, and bus 33 links the station with the ferry. The car park at the terminal is free but often full in summer.

On Texel, Paal 17 is about 12 kilometres from the ferry, a quarter of an hour by car, and Paal 9 about 7 kilometres. Parking at the beach entrances at Paal 9, 12, 15 and 17 costs money every day from 08:00 to 20:00. In 2026 that is €5 an hour, or €20 a day and €30 for eight days with the Texelvignet, a parking pass linked to your number plate. Bus 28 runs from the ferry via Den Burg to De Koog, and the Texelhopper, a minibus you book at least 30 minutes ahead, stops at both Paal 9 and Paal 17.

Reading the live wind on Texel

Check the direction first. Anything from north-east through east to south blows offshore on the North Sea side. That means a day on the beach or, in an easterly between 1 April and 1 October, a trip to Dijkmanshuizen. South-west round to north works at Paal 17, and in a south-south-westerly Paal 9 gets the wind side-shore.

Then compare the strength with the forecast for Texel, 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 beach at Paal 17, so use them for the direction and the trend more than for the exact strength there. In July and August, check where the lifeguards have set out their swimming zones before you launch.

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

More spot guides

• Leucate – La Franqui — Aude · Golfe du Lion · Occitanie
• Bol & Zlatni Rat — Island of Brač · Hvar Channel · Dalmatia
• Gruissan — Aude · Golfe du Lion · Occitanie
• L'Almanarre – Hyères — Var · Presqu'île de Giens · Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
• La Palme — Aude · Golfe du Lion · Occitanie
• Wissant — Pas-de-Calais · Côte d'Opale · Hauts-de-France
• Beauduc — Bouches-du-Rhône · Camargue · Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
• Marseille – Prado — Bouches-du-Rhône · Rade de Marseille · Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
• Port-Saint-Louis — Bouches-du-Rhône · Camargue · Golfe de Fos
• La Torche — Finistère · Baie d'Audierne · Brittany
• Canet & Le Barcarès — Pyrénées-Orientales · Roussillon coast · Occitanie
• Piantarella — Strait of Bonifacio · Corse-du-Sud · Corsica
• Le Jaï – Étang de Berre — Bouches-du-Rhône · Étang de Berre · Provence
• Six-Fours — Var · Six-Fours peninsula · Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
• Le Crotoy – Baie de Somme — Somme · Baie de Somme · Hauts-de-France
• Penthièvre – Quiberon — Morbihan · Quiberon peninsula · Brittany
• Saint-Malo — Ille-et-Vilaine · Côte d'Émeraude · Brittany
• Klitmøller — Cold Hawaii — Thy · North Sea coast · North Jutland
• Hvide Sande — Ringkøbing Fjord · West Jutland
• Skagen — Grenen · Skagerrak & Kattegat · North Jutland
• Amager Strandpark — Øresund · Copenhagen
• Camber Sands — Rye Bay · Romney Marsh · East Sussex
• Weymouth & Portland Harbour — Portland Harbour · Weymouth Bay · Dorset
• Exmouth — Exe Estuary · East Devon
• Hayling Island — Hayling Bay · Havant · Hampshire
• Brouwersdam — Grevelingen · Goeree-Overflakkee · Schouwen-Duiveland
• Wijk aan Zee — IJmond · Beverwijk · Velsen-Noord
• Zandvoort — Zuid-Kennemerland · North Holland
• Bloemendaal aan Zee — Bloemendaal · Zuid-Kennemerland · North Holland
• Vlieland — Wadden Islands · Friesland
• Muiderberg — IJmeer · Gooise Meren · North Holland
• Workum — IJsselmeer · Súdwest-Fryslân · Friesland