Continent |
Europe |
Country |
Germany |
Next Big City |
Hamburg |
Next Town |
St. Peter Ording |
|
Type: |
Ocean |
Rider Ability: |
Beginner, Intermediate, Expert |
Features: |
Rooms, School, Shop, Rental, Rescue, Shower, Toilet, Food, Parking |
Water
Type: |
Shallow, Flat, Chop, Small wave, Medium wave |
Hazards: |
Swimmers, Currents |
Quality: |
Cloudy |
Best Tide: |
High tide, Coming tide |
Usually, you will find quite chaotic choppy conditions here. On good days with strong northwesterly winds a quite big wave can build up. Watch out for the tides, when low tide approaches, it can create quite strong offshore currents. On days with southerly wind directions you can find northerly currents making it difficult to stay upwind. Apart from that you will be facing some offshore sandbars. Most of the time, the sailing conditions are quite good. Sometimes with onshore winds there are very nice and shallow areas.
And also when changing from low to high and high low tides there are some flat, shallow areas for excellent carving.
Beach
Type: |
Sand |
Size: |
Big |
Hazards: |
Bystanders |
Beach Users: |
July, August |
The beach is really huge, almost like a desert and accessible with cars. Once again, watch out for the tide - in strong weather conditions, the parking lot becomes a lake. There is a special area for kite-buggies and a surf zone at the surf school, all the way south of the beach access. Many beach goers during summer.
Weather
Spring:
|
Normal |
Summer:
|
Shorty, Normal |
Fall:
|
Normal, Thick |
Winter:
|
Thick |
Wetsuits all year. Season is like the rest of Germany from end of April till late October. Water temp is 7°C from November to April, during summer it reaches up to 20°C. Air is from sub zero in winter to 30°C in August.
Wind
Best Months: |
March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October |
Wind Type: |
Frontal |
Best Direction: |
E, SW, NW |
Main Direction: |
SW, WSW, W, WNW, NW |
Sometimes it blows, sometimes not. During summer (July/August) not too windy, big gear is good to have. In fall and spring, smaller gear can be the weapon of choice for winds which can reach 30+ knots.
How to get there
Transport |
Car, Train |
Access
|
Short walk |
From Hamburg take the 'Autobahn' A23 northbound. Follow the signs leading you towards 'Husum' until you discover signs directing towards 'St. Peter Ording'. Just before you reach the town of St. Peter, take a right - a sign says 'St. Peter Strand'. It's really easy to find, for it is a popular tourism place. Finding a suitable parking-lot without paying too much can be a bit of work, so paying the fee (quiet expensive) and parking directly on the beach might be best. Otherwise you walk a long way. On the beach, follow the tracks of the other cars and try to stay on the hard sand if you don't have a 4x4.
Extra information
Rules |
Zones, Time, Fees, License |
Kiteleash is strongly recommended, no licenses or anything else necessary. The surf zone is at the surf school, all the way south of the beach access. In summer very crowded, also the beach is huge, the most people lay down at the waterline. Outside the season you can ride everywhere. Make sure you don't ride in the swimming zones. Not much space when onshore winds, can get very packed, since there are also many windsurfers, mainly beginners. Kite-buggies need a license plate and a special license is needed to take a ride in a buggy.
Nightlife
Very small nightlife in St. Peter. But take a look at Cafe Köm, restaurant and meeting place or Riff-Lounge. During summer several events like the German championship, world cup with beach parties etc. Nice restaurants in the village.