The Surfing Experience

Surfing, sailboarding and kitesurfing in Germany

You don”t have to travel all the way to Hawaii to catch a good wave. Germany’s North and Baltic Sea coasts and its lakes offer excellent surfing and kite conditions for beginners and pros.

Most of the resorts mentioned in this article are in Northern Germany but there are a couple further south, in Bavaria and at Lake Constance (the Bodensee) on the border with Switzerland. There’s something for everyone, for families, for beginners, for pros.

Canoe Experience – Canoe, kayak and rafting
Canoeing is a pleasant activity that poses a different interesting challenges for the paddler depending on the speed of the water, his/her own capability and the weather. Anyone can go canoeing on the water, the only thing you should be able to do is swim. Then there is nothing that stands in the way of an exciting river expedition.

Let your thoughts roam while canoeing or kayaking on still waters or fight against nature’s forces rafting in wild rapids. With its great variety of lakes and rivers, Germany offers great facilities for many exciting water adventures. Nature parks, idyllic biosphere reserves or entire cities can be explored from a totally new perspective, either alone or in a group with a canoe.

In Brandenburg, which has an abundance of water, the entire network of rivers and lakes invites you to go on limitless water sport adventures. From waterway to waterway floating along the rafters and boatmen’s old trade routes through the pristine landscape – who would want to go ashore?

Fehmarn – Sunny surfer island
Fehmarn is known to surfers as the ‘Hawai’ of the Baltic Sea because the best spots in the entire country are located here. Up to 20 spots offer appropriate conditions for every wind direction and every level of skill. Altenteil, for example, is ideal for jumping and surfing as the waves can reach heights of up to 2,5 m.

St. Peter Ording – Beach life and world class kites
Since 2006 the German Championships as well as the World Cup in kite surfing have taken place at St. Peter Ording on the North Sea coast of Schleswig-Holstein. With its stiff breezes and legendary beach life, St. Peter Ording offers the best conditions for this trendsetting sport.

Sylt – Wind, waves and World Cup
Sylt is trendy and thus expensive but it has ideal conditions for aquatics. Beginners dare their first attempts in the calm wadden sea on the east coast while real pros let themselves be whipped across the waves by the harsh wind on the west coast. Every year world-class surfers also rise to this challenge at the Surf World Cup. The Kitesurf Trophy off the coast of Westerland offers genuine high-altitude flights.

Sahlenburg Beach – Perfect holiday feeling on sandy beaches
Sahlenburg Beach on the North Sea coast near Cuxhaven is a truly relaxing spot to surf. The shallow water is suitable for kite surfers and also offers beginners good conditions.

Hooksiel – Surfing highlights at Hooksmeer
Only 13 km from Wilhelmshaven the North Sea resort Hooksiel is a real gem for surfers: A man-made lake with a surface area of 60 ha also called Hooksmeer is independent of the tides and has a bay with a surfing school and water skiing facility.

Norderney – Sporting experiences off East Friesland
Wild breakers, heavy swells and a strong current challenge your surfing talent s on the island of Norderney, the second largest of the seven East Frisian Islands. But beginners can also acquire a taste for the sport in the bay at the marina. For those who want more of a thrill, kite surfers are lifted up several meters high and carried through the air by the fierce gusts of wind which characterize this top spot. And each year at the White Sands Festival (Whit weekend) there are a lot of sports, live music and parties to be enjoyed.

Wismar Bay – A paradise for storm surfers
Wismar Bay is ideal for “storm surfers”. In few other places do surfers fly so rapidly across the waves. Swimming, sailing and surfing are all fun here. And, if a calm does happen to set in, a visit to the picturesque Hanseatic city of Wismar makes up for the lost kick.

Warnemände – Classic waves
Near the Hanseatic city of Rostock skilled surfers can go wild in the Baltic Sea resort of Warnemände, an absolute classic for wave fans.

Schwerin – Surfing on lakes
Glistening water surfaces, endless sandy beaches – the Schwerin lakeland area with its untouched nature is still a well kept secret. There are ideal water and wind conditions for wind and kite surfing on the outer lake of Schwerin at Retgendorf and Flessenow.

Dämmer Lake – Fresh wind in the swamp
Dämmer Lake, Lower Saxony”s second largest lake, is surrounded by swamps. The lake offers excellent beginners and free ride conditions with a water level low

Krombachtalsperre – Sports and relaxation
Surrounded by forests and meadows the more than 90 ha Krombachtalsperre is located in the heart of the Westerwald. Due to the altitude (550 m) there are generally good wind conditions; the spot is particularly recommended during northwest and northeast winds. And, after a successful day surfing, the large sunbathing area gives you the opportunity to relax.enough for you to stand up in. Two surf spots are located on the east side of the lake in Häde and Lembruch.

Walchensee – Surfing in the Bavarian Alps
Very deep and very large – that”s the Walchensee. The altitude of 800 m makes enjoyable surfing possible in the Bavarian Alps. Most surfing spots are on the western shore. Especially in the summer months surfers and sailors enjoy using the consistent thermal north-easterly winds. The surrounding Jochberg, Herzogstand and the Karwendel mountains make surfing on the Walchen Lake an extraordinarily scenic experience while riding the clear, cool waves.

Lake Constance – Southern flair
Lake Constance (Bodensee in German) is Europe”s third largest inland water surface. Located in the tri-border region of Germany-Switzerland- Austria, it provides a southern flair with the perfectmixture of water, wind and sunshine. Good surfing possibilites can be found in Lindau, Hagnau, Immenstaad or Ludwigshafen. However, you should pay attention to the gale warnings for if a low-pressure system is approaching the waves on the more than 250 metre deep lake can at times swell up to one and a half metres in height. For this reason Lake Constance not only provides spectacularly panoramic views but surfing pros get real value for their money.

The information in this article came from the German National Tourist Board, www.germany-tourism.de