Schiermonnikoog

Schiermonnikoog is the smallest of the inhabited Wadden islands and almost all of it is national park: dune ridges, a very wide beach, salt marsh and a shallow lake behind the dunes. Visitors cannot bring cars, which sets the tone for everything else. The ferry from Lauwersoog takes about three quarters of an hour, a bus meets it, and from the single village of low houses and hedged gardens you travel on foot or by bicycle. The beach on the north side is broad enough that at low tide the sea looks a long way off, while the flats on the south side are the working part of the Wadden, covered in feeding birds. Nights here are dark by Dutch standards.

History

Tides, prevailing winds and North Sea storms are slowly pushing the island south and east, and in 1250 it lay about 2 kilometres further north and had a quite different shape. It is first mentioned in writing in October 1440, in a document for Philip the Good, and its first known owners were the monks of Klaarkamp, a Cistercian abbey on the mainland, whose grey habits gave it its name, grey monk island. After the monasteries were dissolved in the Reformation it passed in 1580 to the States of Friesland, which around 1640 sold it to the Stachouwer family, and it remained private property for three centuries. Around 1700 its people lived in four settlements, the largest, Westerburen, around the old monastic buildings, but storms flooded it in 1717 and 1720 and drifting sand and the sea forced its abandonment around 1725, and the whole island is now the country's first national park (Wikipedia, Schiermonnikoog).

What's there

• The north beach - hundreds of metres of hard sand at low tide, wide enough that people lose sight of each other.
• The village - one grid of low houses, hedges and gardens, with everything on the island within a short ride.
• The Westerplas and reed beds - a shallow lake behind the dunes with hides and constant bird traffic.
• The salt marsh and mudflats - the sheltered southern side, where the tide uncovers feeding grounds twice a day.

When to go

April to October covers the useful season, with May and September the best combination of light, birds and space. Summer holidays fill the limited accommodation, so book well ahead. Ferry times dictate the shape of any day trip, and in winter the crossing can be rough and much of the island closes down.

Good to know

The car ban is the point, but it means hauling luggage from the harbour and depending on bus and bicycle in whatever weather arrives. Beds are limited and expensive in summer. There is one village, a handful of shops and no nightlife to speak of. The wind is relentless on the beach, and a day trip is largely spent watching the ferry clock.

Nearby

Lauwersmeer national park lies just inland from the ferry harbour at Lauwersoog.

Key facts