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.

History

The lake was once an outlet of the Scheldt, the Veerse Gat to the west meeting the Zandkreek to the east. It was closed off from the Scheldt by the Zandkreekdam in 1960 and from the North Sea by the Veerse Gatdam in 1961, among the first works of the Delta Works (Wikipedia, Veerse Meer).

The landscape

• 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.

What to expect

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.

Key facts