Germany / Lower Saxony
Bensersiel Strand
Bensersiel Strand is an 881 m-long sandy beach facing north-north-west, 4.5 km north-west of Esens (Lower Saxony, Germany). The sea averages 18.1 °C in August, its warmest month, and 4.3 °C in February; it never reaches 21 °C on average.
Average sea surface temperature by month. Current month outlined.
Month by month
October at Bensersiel Strand
Beach-day index 1.9/10 · Germany median 2.3
| Measure | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sea °C | 5.1 °C | 4.3 °C | 4.8 °C | 7.0 °C | 10.3 °C | 13.9 °C | 16.8 °C | 18.1 °C | 16.9 °C | 14.1 °C | 10.5 °C | 7.3 °C |
| High °C | 5° | 4° | 6° | 9° | 13° | 16° | 19° | 19° | 17° | 13° | 10° | 6° |
| Low °C | 3° | 2° | 3° | 7° | 10° | 14° | 16° | 17° | 15° | 11° | 8° | 4° |
| Rain mm | 83 | 66 | 56 | 40 | 55 | 68 | 84 | 89 | 77 | 87 | 85 | 86 |
| Cloud % | 83 | 80 | 74 | 65 | 68 | 72 | 71 | 71 | 71 | 77 | 83 | 84 |
| Wind m/s | 8.6 | 7.9 | 7.2 | 6.1 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 5.9 | 6.1 | 6.9 | 7.8 | 8.0 | 8.4 |
| Daylight h | 8.0 | 9.8 | 11.8 | 14.0 | 15.9 | 17.0 | 16.6 | 14.9 | 12.8 | 10.7 | 8.7 | 7.5 |
| Record high/low | 11°/-5° | 10°/-6° | 12°/-5° | 18°/1° | 22°/6° | 24°/10° | 26°/13° | 28°/14° | 24°/11° | 20°/4° | 16°/-0° | 12°/-6° |
| Beach index | 1.7 | 2.0 | 2.3 | 2.7 | 2.5 | 2.4 | 3.6 | 4.2 | 2.8 | 1.9 | 1.8 | 1.7 |
Long-term monthly averages: air from NASA POWER (2001–2020), sea from NOAA OISST (1991–2020); records are the extremes of 2001–2020. How the index works.
When to go
No month reaches 5.5 on the beach-day index; the best is August at 4.2/10, held back mainly by cool air (highs of 19 °C) and cold water (18.1 °C).
At its warmest the water here is 0.5 °C cooler than the Germany median for August (18.6 °C).
Across the year the sea averages 10.8 °C, cooler than 88% of the coastal beaches in the atlas.
August is the wettest month (89 mm) and April the driest (40 mm); the yearly total is about 880 mm.
Daylight runs from 7.5 hours in December to 17.0 hours in June; in mid-August the sun rises at 06:07 and sets at 21:01 local time.
Orientation, sun and shore
The shore faces north-north-west (340°). Open water fills about 47% of the horizon close by, which makes it an open stretch of shore.
The sun sets over the sea in March–October; in mid-June it goes down at 22:00 local time on a bearing of 313°.
Sunrise is over the sea in May–August.
The opposite shore is only about 5.0 km away to the north-north-west, which keeps the water sheltered from big waves.
Within 1 km, the land is 51% grassland, 19% built-up land and 12% cropland (satellite land-cover map, 2021): a partly built-up setting. Water makes up 54% of that circle.
- Grass 51%
- Built 19%
- Crop 12%
- Tree 9%
- Bare 7%
Land cover: ESA WorldCover 2021 (10 m). Orientation from OpenStreetMap land polygons sampled in 36 directions; depths and heights from the GEBCO 2020 grid (about 450 m cells), indicative only.
Bathing water quality
The official EU bathing-water site “Nordseestrand Esens Bensersiel” was rated Excellent for the 2025 season. It was Excellent in 8 of its 11 classified seasons since 2015.
- 2015Good
- 2016Good
- 2017Good
- 2018Excellent
- 2019Excellent
- 2020Excellent
- 2021Excellent
- 2022Excellent
- 2023Excellent
- 2024Excellent
- 2025Excellent
Source: European Environment Agency, EU Bathing Water Directive assessments · national site profile. Classes are based on four seasons of bacteriological sampling.
The sea peaks at 18.1 °C in August. Most swimmers find water below 20 °C cold; a wetsuit is common here.
Average wind speed at 10 m reaches 8.6 m/s in January, the windiest month.
The mapped beach is tagged as not allowing dogs.
OpenStreetMap shows no lifeguard station within 1 km. Seasonal lifeguard posts are often unmapped, so check on site.
Facilities within 1 km
- 29Restaurants, cafés & bars
- 8Public toilets
- –Showers
- 54Car parks
- –Lifeguard stations
- 49Hotels & guesthouses
- 1Campsites
- 3Grocery shops
- 1Playgrounds & water parks
- 10Bus stops (1.5 km)
- 1Pharmacies & clinics
- 1Cash machines
- 1Bike rental
- 2Viewpoints
Food and drink mapped within 1 km: 25 restaurants, 1 café and 3 bars. Accommodation: 49 hotels and guesthouses.
Counted within 1 km of the beach (bus stops 1.5 km) from OpenStreetMap features and Overture Maps places, release of 2026-10. Unmapped does not mean absent.
Around the beach
Nature
- Nationalpark-Haus Wattenhuus nature reserve 220 m E
Campsites
- Campingplatz Bensersiel 830 m W
Getting there
| Airport | Code | Distance | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sea-Airport Cuxhaven/Nordholz / Nordholz Naval Airbase Wurster Nordseeküste | FCN | 72.7 km | east |
| Groningen Airport Eelde Groningen | GRQ | 90.2 km | south-west |
| Bremen Airport Bremen | BRE | 107 km | south-east |
Straight-line distances from the beach; road distance is usually 20–40% longer.
Local transport: 10 bus stops within 1.5 km, ferry terminal Fähranleger Langeoog (420 m) and 54 mapped car parks within 1 km.
6 towns and villages of 1,000+ people lie within 10 km (about 18.2K residents); within 30 km there are 27 (about 184.1K).
Map and nearby beaches
Loading map…
Open in OpenStreetMap · Directions in Google Maps
- Dangast Strand44.2 km SECompare
Data on this page
- Air temperature, rain, cloud, wind, humidity: NASA POWER climatology 2001–2020, 0.5° grid.
- Sea temperature: NOAA OISST v2.1 monthly normals 1991–2020, nearest ocean cell 22.3 km away.
- Beach outline, surface, rules and public facilities: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), feature w198756491; restaurants, cafés, bars and lodging: Overture Maps places (CDLA-Permissive-2.0).
- Towns and time zone: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Airports: OurAirports (public domain). Sunrise and sunset: NOAA solar equations.
- Satellite view: Copernicus Sentinel-2 (ESA), scene S2B_32UME_20260501_0_L2A.
- Orientation: OpenStreetMap land polygons (ODbL). Depth and terrain: GEBCO 2020 grid.
- Bathing-water quality: European Environment Agency (site DENI_PR_TK25_2311_01).
- Settlements: GeoNames places with 1,000+ inhabitants.
- Land cover: ESA WorldCover 2021, 10 m (CC BY 4.0).
- Search popularity: about 2.4K Google searches a month for the name (KeywordTool, October 2026).
Data compiled 2026-10-13. Something wrong? Report a data error.