The beach now
All cameras →Zandvoort right now
Open-Meteo · Zwemwater.nlBeach weather
A so-so beach day
Daylight
08:12 - 18:40 · 10 h 28 min of daylight
- Air
- 10°C Feels like 8°
- Sea
- 17.6°C Water temperature
- Wind
- 9kn 3 Bft
- Chance of rain
- 43%
- UV
- 1
- Bathing water
- Good Out of season
In season now
- Beach pavilionsupuntil 1 November · 14 days left
- Lifeguardsoff dutyback from 1 May
- Wisentenpadopenuntil 1 March
- Fallow deerrutting seasonuntil 1 November · 14 days left
- Dogs on the beachall daydaytime ban from 15 April
- Jellyfishfewback from 1 June
- Bird migrationalong the coastuntil 16 November · 29 days left
- Harbour porpoisesclose inshoreuntil 1 May
- Young grey sealsat seaback from 1 December
- Amberrarebest chance from 1 November
Nine kilometres of beach
Beach pavilions →The beach is about nine kilometres long and fifty to a hundred metres wide, with forty-five entrances, all of them free. The pavilions line three boulevards, from north to south: Barnaart, de Favauge and Paulus Loot.
Where the boulevard ends in the south, behind the Zuiderduin entrance, South Beach begins; Paal 69 is its best-known beach club. Further south are the kitesurfing strip and, between posts 68 and 71, the naturist beach.
Season
Most pavilions are only there for the season: they go up from 1 February and must be gone before 1 November. A handful stay open all year.
From autumn 2026 until summer 2028, Boulevard de Favauge is being rebuilt. About the new boulevard →
Dogs on the beach
15 April - 1 OctoberFrom 15 April to 1 October, dogs are banned from the whole beach between 9 am and 7 pm. Early mornings and evenings are fine, and from October to mid-April dogs are welcome all day.
The fish vans
Herring, kibbeling and a mackerel roll
Ten vansFish vans have stood along the boulevard since the 1950s. You order at the hatch and eat on your feet, looking out to sea.
- KroonBoulevard Paulus Loot, by the water tower The southernmost van, closest to South Beach and Paal 69. Herring, kibbeling and fried mussels.
- Boudewijns VisserviceBadhuisplein, by Holland Casino Here since 1951, all year round. Plenty of choice, all fried fresh.
- Guijt VisspecialiteitenRaadhuisplein The only one in the village rather than by the sea. Arie Guijt has stood here for some twenty years, and his van is becoming a permanent kiosk.
- SnackvoortBoulevard de Favauge, by beach entrance 18 Not a fish van but a snack van: fries, croquettes, kibbeling and soft-serve ice cream.
- Fish and Moreby Thalassa, next to Snackvoort Come by train and this is the first fish you pass. Herring, kibbeling and salmon.
- De ZeemeerminBoulevard Barnaart, by the Strandhotel Run by Patrick Berg, Arlan's twin brother. Between them they've been here more than twenty years. Fried fish, rolls, herring and generous platters, right by the sea.
- De Zandvoortse Vis & SnackBoulevard Barnaart Fish and snacks, and kibbeling people come back for.
- Berg Visby the turn-off to the circuit Arlan Berg's van parks where the road climbs off the boulevard towards the circuit, every day of the week. Hand-battered kibbeling in big portions, a row of sauces, fresh herring and rolls filled almost too full.
- KroonBoulevard Barnaart Kroon's second van, at the north end.
- Vis van Floorfurthest north, by car park P1 Noord You'll know it by the MB-Trac with an elephant on the bonnet, and by the queue of regulars. Fresh kibbeling (battered cod bites), with a chat thrown in. Ask the price of the shellfish before you order.
From autumn 2026 until summer 2028, Boulevard de Favauge is being rebuilt, so Boudewijns, Snackvoort and Fish and More may stand a little further along. After that, permanent kiosks take the place of the vans along the boulevards.
Swimming safely
The flags at the lifeguard post
The flags fly at the two lifeguard posts and the first-aid post on the Rotonde. Red and yellow also go up on the red-and-white chequered masts outside the pavilions when needed. Since 2026 the warning flags carry a pictogram as well.
The dunes behind the village
All about the dunes →North and south
Bringing the dog? It's not allowed at all in the south, and only in parts of the north.
What you'll find on the beach
Most shells are trough shells and cockles. The long, narrow one is the American razor clam, a newcomer that doesn't belong here originally. A cluster of empty yellow bubbles is a sea wash ball: whelk egg cases, washed up after a storm.
In winter there's sometimes amber in the tideline, among the driftwood and bits of peat, rarely bigger than a centimetre. Careful: phosphorus from old munitions looks just like it and catches fire as it dries. If in doubt, don't touch it and cover it with sand.
In September and October thousands of birds a day pass along the coast. Parnassia bird observatory stands on a high dune in the Kennemerduinen, and its counts are live online. Harbour porpoises are easiest to spot on calm days in winter and early spring.
Seal on the beach? Stay at least 30 metres away, put your dog on a lead and call A Seal on +31 88 27 47 780.
Swimming and currents
Bathing water and lifeguards
The beach has fourteen official swimming spots, and the bathing season runs from 1 May to 30 September. Zandvoort's lifeguard club, the Zandvoortse Reddingsbrigade, founded in 1922, patrols the beach in summer from two posts, north and south. Its eighty lifeguards are called out around 650 times a year.
Out at sea it's the KNRM, the Dutch lifeboat service (like the RNLI). The Zandvoort station is on call all year, with twenty-six volunteers and the lifeboat Annie Poulisse, driven into the surf off the beach on a Seatrac. The boathouse is called Pieter Houbolt.
Emergency at sea? Call 112 or the Coastguard on 0900-0111. On the beach, also alert the lifeguards at the nearest post.
Drift and rip currents
Signs at several beach entrances warn of dangerous currents. The current along the coast carries you hundreds of metres without your noticing, and at the sandbars the water can run hard back out to sea: a rip current.
- Line yourself up with a landmark on the boulevard and check you're still level with it.
- Caught in a rip? Don't swim against it. Swim parallel to the beach until you're clear.
- Don't go in alone when the beach isn't lifeguarded.