Scheveningen.

Scheveningen is the beach district of The Hague and the capital of Dutch surfing. The break is the Scheveningen Pier, an exposed beach and pier on the open North Sea, sand-bottom either side of the structure. Surf schools, lifeguard towers, and the Pier’s promenade are within walking distance of the lineup. The North Sea is closed-fetch water with no real swell window outside its own basin. Everything that breaks here is wind swell from low-pressure storms moving across the sea.

Peak runs November through March, when storms move across the North Sea and push north-west swell at the coast. December is the most consistent month. Working size is 0.5 to 1.5 m at short period; periods sit 5 to 8 s typical. Offshore is south-east, the land breeze. Tide is the daily fork: best from one hour before high through high. Outside winter, May runs clean dawns and mostly waist-high days.

Water sits at 3 to 9 °C in February, 16 to 20 °C in August. A 5/4 with hood, gloves, and booties from December through March; a 4/3 in autumn and spring; a 3/2 at summer dawn. The North Sea runs brown after storms with run-off from the Rhine and Maas. Crowds are heavy: schools fill the inside every weekend. The pier sand-bar holds the consistent peak; walk south past the structure to find less-crowded sand on a closeout day.