Life's a 'beach' during Corona! Take a look back at life before and during 2020 in Oostkapelle beach and village! Oostkapellers are used to keeping calm and carrying on! Here's the places to go and join in the fun as much as possible while we're allowed to!
Houses on the beach, village and holiday parks
If home is where the heart is, then love is through the stomach! Old Dutch homes whether on the beach or in the town are klein maar fijn! Small and cosy and selling something outside the door!
Personalised beach houses. Gabled roof houses and gardens full of flowers. 'Schoon en netjes,' clean and tidy. Honesty boxes outside homes selling home produce, veggies and fruit, old books and toys and home made jam! Inviting you to pick flowers from their field. Liefde door de maag! Love goes through the stomach, into tourists tummies!
More tourists came to Zeeland than ever during the summer staycation of 2020! Some families offered up their holiday home gardens to let loved ones pitch a tent and celebrate summer safely!
Beach life
Oostkapelle Beach is extremely clean and family friendly, as it is accommodating to groups and those seeking solitary calmness. There are 4 beach cafe's 'strandpaviljoens' to help you navigate Oostkapelle Beach (from east to west): Bij Karel (where dogs are welcome anytime), Lage Duintjes, De Piraat and Zee Café. It's crowded around the Piraat Cafe and the lifeguards, where the main entrance to the beach is. It is quieter to the right of the Piraat near Zee Café, where the naturist part of the beach starts. It's also calmer towards the Lage Duintjes and Bij Karel, the walk from Berkenbosch woods over the dunes is beautiful!
We gravitate to Zee Café to enjoy Adriaan's 'sound track of summer' playlist, ice buckets of French rose and gourmet meat and veggie burgers and patatas bravas! He always plays Pink Floyd when the sun sets. He's very friendly with his customers, he's our anchor on the beach!
Kids on the beach
Kids gravitate to one another to seek out sea life, build coastal defences, turn out sand cakes and scoop out sand ice creams, float bottle boats, taste duindoorn (sea buckthorn), test their board skills, their ball skills, jump off the dunes and play with their own shadows! A snow covered sandy beach makes an excellent 'Swiss roll' in winter!' Kids are also good at sharing. There's an excellent Life Guard service 'strandwacht' by the Pirate Café and playground. The life guards go out on the sea during strong tides to make sure everyone having fun safely and they're also there to add plasters to knees too!
No child is bored on Oostkapelle Beach! If you've come unprepared let them swim in their underpants!
Adults on the beach
Adults generally find a nice spot on Oostkapelle beach to sun bathe, read a good book, swim, fly kites, play beach games, sleep or do early morning yoga by Zee Café and gravitate to a beach café to top up their drinks and snacks. If you have small kids you might want to situate yourself next to the playground and facilities by the Pirate café. If your kids are 'tieners' near age 10 and above you might like to situate yourself by the golfbreker (breakwater) where the kids can fish and paddle safely. If you want an all over tan, you can go on the 'naakt strand' naturist beach to the west of Zee Café!
You can rent a beach hut with furniture via the VVV tourist office. Deck chairs and beds, parasols and wind shields can also be rented at the entrance to the beach. If you're looking for a big meal with healthy options go to the Boschhoek on Duinweg near to the beach car park.
You belong to a unique community when you're on Oostkapelle Beach of Dutch and Germans! Everyone is friendly and used to mixing, albeit now at a distance!
Oranjezon sunset
No one can believe how beautiful the Oranjezon sunset is! End of July, beginning of August the sun set happens around 21h45. If you're sitting in a cafe they will play orchestral music to accompany the spectacle! After 19h00 horses, kite surfers and dogs are allowed to run on the beach. The sight of horses racing across the beach is exhilarating and worthy of an 'Eagles album cover' photo! You can enquire at Duno Manege stables about horse riding tours on the beach and through the woods http://manege-duno.nl
Dogs
Dogs during high season (May to September) are allowed on the beach and off the lead before 10h00 and after 19h00 (same time for the horses.) Dogs are allowed anytime on the lead on the 'Hondenstrand' dog beach area of 'Berkenbosch' where 'Bij Karel' is situated (strandpaal 60 to 64.)
Parking: try to leave your car at home when you go to the beach, the parking gets full quickly! Use a bike to enjoy your freedom to park anywhere! Paid car parking is provided at the (east) Strandweg and (west) Duinweg. If you have a full electric car the 'Allegro' two cable, charging station at Duinweg parking can only cope with charging one car at a time (eg: one Tesla!)
Oostkapelle Village
Oostkapelle village is as authentic a Zeeuwse village as you can get. They put on Zeeuws traditional costumes 'klederdracht' only for folkloric occasions these days, but the sense of Christian charity and community is still there. As a tourist it's a privilege that we are invited to experience their customs and past times. The Stichting Tuys http://stichtingtuys.nl foundation is a group of elders and entrepreneurs in the village who are busy preserving and promoting their culture for visitors to see, hear, feel, smell and taste Oostkapelle in a 'discovery package.' Visitors will experience the varied nature and culture of the region from the past and future. It costs 14.95Euro and is available in Dutch or German.
More information on the Oostkapelle and other beaches: https://oostkapelle.net
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