Mudflat hiking or Wadlopen

Details

Category: Friesland - places to visit

Mudflat hiking (Dutch: Wadlopen, German: Wattwandern) is a recreation enjoyed by Dutch, Germans, Danes, and others in the Netherlands, northwest Germany and in Denmark.

Mudflat hikers are people who, with the aid of a tide table, use a period of low water to walk and wade on the watershed of the mudflats, especially from the Frisian mainland coast to the Frisian islands.

The Wadden Sea, a belt of the North Sea, is well suited to this traditional practice. Belts of this shallow sea lie off the mainland of the Netherlands, between Friesland and the Frisian Islands; off the coast of Germany; and off the coast of southwest Jutland in Denmark.

In the Netherlands, mudflat hikers can walk from the mainland to Terschelling, Ameland, Engelsmanplaat, Schiermonnikoog, Simonszand and Rottumeroog.

Regulation
In Dutch waters, mudflat hikers are strongly encouraged (or required) to only venture out into the Wadden Sea under the supervision of licensed guides, who will lead walkers onto the organized routes on which they are allowed to traverse the seabed. In the Netherlands, Wadloopcentrum Fryslân in Holwerd, Wadloopcentrum Pieterburen Pieterburen, Dijkstra's Wadlooptochten Pieterburen, Stichting Uithuizerwad Uithuizen, Wadloopvereniging Arenicola Groningen, Wadgidsengroep Noord Nederland, and the Fryske Waedrinners are organisations for the training of mudflat hiking guides and the preservation of the sport.

Though the tides change in very regular cycles, tourists and foreigners can easily misjudge the situation and find themselves quickly surrounded by the rising water on all sides, far away from the beaches. A guide should be hired to prevent any mishaps.