ACTIVITIES
Westvoorne consists of Oostvoorne, Rockanje and Tinte and is primarily a green and recreational municipality. The municipality has a beautiful variety of nature and landscape with peace and quiet. Thanks to its unique flora and fauna, Voorne's Duin is one of the most important nature reserves in Western Europe. The unique variation in nature and many sights and activities also make Westvoorne a special recreational community. Cycling, walking or horse riding is possible on the beach, in the woods and in the dunes.
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Beach
Rockanje beach is a particularly beautiful beach on the North Sea coast. Due to its unique location, almost entirely oriented to the south, the beach of Rockanje is a true paradise for real sun lovers.
Add to this the fact that the beach slopes very slowly towards the sea, then you immediately understand why Rockanje beach is the favorite recreation destination for many people. Because there are a number of sandbanks in the sea off the coast, you will not be bothered by waves while swimming.
As a result, children and less experienced swimmers have it relatively easy here.
Rockanje beach is also a clean beach. Years in a row, this beach has earned the European high-rated Blue Flag. The Blue Flag symbolizes a clean and safe beach. There are five beach bars on the beach of Rockanje, each with its own style and audience.
In recent years, many kite surfers have discovered that Rockanje beach is an ideal place to go kiting. Lots of onshore wind and shallow water.
Cycling and walking
The Dunes of Oostvoorne (264 hectares) are located west of the village of Oostvoorne. A very varied nature reserve with forest, moist dune valleys, thickets and dry sandy slopes. In contrast to the dune areas in the north of the Netherlands, where the dunes are several thousand years old, we are dealing with relatively young dunes on Voorne. The oldest are about 800 years old, but new dunes are still being formed on the beach. Thanks to this low age, the dune sand is rich in lime. Plant growth has adapted to this and offers an enormous variety of species. In the dune area you can encounter large grazing animals, Icelandic ponies and Galloway cattle. These help the Zuid-Hollands Landschap to keep the dune terrain open. Feeding is prohibited due to the health of the animals.
In the Tenellaplas Visitor Center you can go for more information about the dune area. There is a permanent exhibition about the origin of the area, the wealth of plants, birds and other animals. There is a shop in the visitor center where many natural items are available. The desk staff will be happy to assist you. Various walking routes start from the visitor center.
To dive
The Oostvoornse Meer is divided into zones so that divers, surfers and fishermen do not disturb each other when practicing their sport.
The Oostvoornse Meer is very popular with divers from the Netherlands, Belgium and even beyond. Especially due to the maximum depth of over 40 meters and the almost always very good visibility through the hard sandy bottom. In winter, visibility can reach up to 20 meters; in summer it is limited to about 5 meters.
The Oostvoornse Meer is perhaps the most beautiful diving spot in the Netherlands. About 600,000 dives are made in it every year. Divers from abroad also know where to find the lake. You can even get a diving license in a weekend. The average depth of the lake is 20 meters, some wells are up to 43 meters deep. Where now the Oostvoornse Meer is located, there used to be 'Maasdrogen', a notorious sandbank where many ships have sunk. There is also a real ship graveyard and wrecks are still being discovered. Numerous attributes have been sunk especially for the divers. Famous are the underwater (Volkswagen) Beetle and the 46 meter long tunnel.
Kitesurfing
For those who no longer find ordinary windsurfing exciting enough, 'kitesurfing' is a new challenge. The beaches in our region are excellent for practicing this new sport; we are also seeing more and more kite surfers. The Slikken van Voorne is particularly popular. The Slikken van Voorne is located on the coast west of Oostvoorne to the north of Rockanje
Kitesurfing is allowed on the beach in Rockanje in the low season (1 October to 1 April). During the high season this is allowed between the following beach poles:
North side bathing beach, between beach posts 10.0 and 12.0;;
South side bathing beach, between beach posts 13.3 and 15.4;
Slikken van Voorne, between beach posts 7.6 and 10.0.
