Veerse Meer

The Veerse Meer was created when the Delta Works closed the Veerse Gat in 1961 and the Zandkreekdam sealed the other end, turning a tidal channel between Walcheren and Noord-Beveland into a lake about twenty-two kilometres long and mostly shallow. It is brackish rather than fresh - a sluice in the Zandkreekdam has let salt water in since 2004 to improve the water quality after decades of oxygen problems - and it is one of the most used recreational waters in the country: sheltered from the North Sea, warm in summer, with marinas, moorings, beaches and a chain of small wooded islands made from dredged material and now grown up, several of which can be landed on. Veere itself, at the western end, is a small town that was a wool port with Scotland and has a Gothic town hall and merchant houses well out of proportion to its present size.

What you actually see

• A closed sea channel - twenty-two kilometres of sheltered lagoon since 1961.
• Wooded islands - built from dredged spoil and now grown over, several landable.
• Marinas and moorings - one of the most used recreational waters in the country.
• Veere - a former Scottish wool port with buildings far larger than the town needs.

When to go

May to September. A day.

Honest expectations

Very busy in July and August with boats and campsites. The water is brackish and quality varies - blue-green algae warnings occur in hot summers. Shore access is limited to designated points.

Nearby

Middelburg is south; the Oosterschelde barrier is north-west.