Netherlands / Zeeland
Westkapelle Strand
Westkapelle Strand is a coastal resort area in Zeeland, Netherlands. Its longest mapped beach stretches about 1.3 km and has a sand surface. The sea averages 18.9 °C in August, its warmest month, and 5.9 °C in February; it never reaches 21 °C on average.
Average sea surface temperature by month. Current month outlined.
The sea peaks at 18.9 °C in August. Most swimmers find water below 20 °C cold; a wetsuit is common here.
Average wind speed at 10 m reaches 8.1 m/s in January, the windiest month.
OpenStreetMap shows no lifeguard station within 1 km. Seasonal lifeguard posts are often unmapped, so check on site.
Services in the resort
- 20Restaurants, cafés & bars
- 4Public toilets
- –Showers
- 50Car parks
- –Lifeguard stations
- 20Hotels & guesthouses
- 2Campsites
- 2Grocery shops
- 15Bus stops (1.5 km)
- 2Cash machines
- 1Bike rental
- 1Viewpoints
Food and drink mapped within 1 km: 15 restaurants, 1 café, 2 bars and 2 fast-food outlets. Accommodation: 20 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.
Bathing water quality
The official EU bathing-water site “Westkapelle Erika Badstrand”, 600 m from the beach centre, was rated Excellent for the 2025 season. It was Excellent in 11 of its 11 classified seasons since 2015.
- 2015Excellent
- 2016Excellent
- 2017Excellent
- 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.
Month by month
October at Westkapelle Strand
Beach-day index 2.0/10 · Netherlands median 2.3
| Measure | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sea °C | 6.6 °C | 5.9 °C | 6.4 °C | 8.7 °C | 11.8 °C | 15.0 °C | 17.6 °C | 18.9 °C | 17.6 °C | 14.8 °C | 11.5 °C | 8.4 °C |
| High °C | 6° | 6° | 8° | 11° | 14° | 17° | 19° | 20° | 18° | 15° | 11° | 8° |
| Low °C | 4° | 4° | 5° | 7° | 10° | 14° | 16° | 17° | 15° | 12° | 9° | 6° |
| Rain mm | 80 | 68 | 57 | 38 | 54 | 59 | 75 | 87 | 72 | 87 | 89 | 91 |
| Cloud % | 82 | 79 | 75 | 68 | 69 | 69 | 67 | 70 | 70 | 78 | 83 | 83 |
| Wind m/s | 8.1 | 7.6 | 6.7 | 5.6 | 5.7 | 5.3 | 5.3 | 5.6 | 6.2 | 7.2 | 7.5 | 7.9 |
| Daylight h | 8.3 | 10.0 | 11.8 | 13.8 | 15.6 | 16.6 | 16.2 | 14.7 | 12.7 | 10.8 | 8.9 | 7.9 |
| Record high/low | 12°/-3° | 12°/-5° | 16°/-5° | 19°/1° | 21°/5° | 25°/9° | 30°/13° | 29°/14° | 26°/10° | 21°/5° | 16°/-0° | 13°/-4° |
| Beach index | 1.9 | 2.1 | 2.3 | 2.7 | 2.6 | 2.6 | 4.2 | 4.7 | 3.6 | 2.0 | 1.9 | 1.8 |
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 4.7/10, held back mainly by cool air (highs of 20 °C) and cold water (18.9 °C).
Across the year the sea averages 11.9 °C, cooler than 85% of the coastal beaches in the atlas.
December is the wettest month (91 mm) and April the driest (38 mm); the yearly total is about 860 mm.
Daylight runs from 7.9 hours in December to 16.6 hours in June; in mid-August the sun rises at 06:30 and sets at 21:11 local time.
Orientation, sun and shore
The shore faces west (260°). Open water fills about 36% of the horizon close by, which makes it an open stretch of shore.
The sun sets over the sea in every month; in mid-June it goes down at 22:04 local time on a bearing of 311°.
The opposite shore is only about 500 m away to the west, which keeps the water sheltered from big waves.
About 1 km offshore the sea is roughly 25 m deep and 4 m at 3 km. Behind the beach the ground is about 1 m above sea level 500 m inland and 1 m at 1.5 km, a flat coastal plain.
Within 1 km, the land is 42% grassland, 30% built-up land and 17% tree cover (satellite land-cover map, 2021): a partly built-up setting. Water makes up 34% of that circle.
- Grass 42%
- Built 30%
- Tree 17%
- Bare 7%
- Crop 4%
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.
Getting there
| Airport | Code | Distance | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ostend-Bruges International Airport Oostende | OST | 53.7 km | south-west |
| Antwerp International Airport (Deurne) Antwerp | ANR | 80.4 km | south-east |
| Rotterdam The Hague Airport Rotterdam | RTM | 83.5 km | north-east |
Straight-line distances from the beach; road distance is usually 20–40% longer.
Local transport: 15 bus stops within 1.5 km and 50 mapped car parks within 1 km.
8 towns and villages of 1,000+ people lie within 10 km (about 13.2K residents); within 30 km there are 37 (about 246.5K).
From above
Around the beach
Viewpoints
- Wijzersteen 780 m S
Attractions & museums
- Polderhuis Westkapelle Dijk- en Oorlogsmuseum museum 430 m SW
Lighthouses & piers
- Leuchtturm Westkapelle lighthouse 430 m E
- Grôôt Ôôd pier 850 m S
Campsites
- Minicamping de Vuurtoren 550 m E
- Vakantiepark De Boomgaard 610 m E
Map and nearby beaches
Loading map…
Open in OpenStreetMap · Directions in Google Maps
| Beach | Distance | Warmest sea | Length | Surface |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Westkapelle Strand | – | 18.9 °C | 1.3 km | Sand |
| Domburg Strand | 4.2 km NE | 18.9 °C | 682 m | Sand |
| Zoutelande Strand | 4.4 km SE | 18.9 °C | 844 m | Sand |
| Dishoek Strand | 7.3 km SE | 19.2 °C | 5.2 km | – |
| Oostkapelle Strand | 8.6 km NE | 19.0 °C | 15.6 km | Sand |
| Vlissingen Strand | 12.7 km SE | 19.2 °C | 592 m | – |
| Vrouwenpolder Strand | 13.2 km NE | 19.0 °C | 323 m | – |
- Domburg Strand4.2 km NECompare
- Zoutelande Strand4.4 km SECompare
- Dishoek Strand7.3 km SECompare
- Oostkapelle Strand8.6 km NECompare
- Vlissingen Strand12.7 km SECompare
- Vrouwenpolder Strand13.2 km NECompare
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 11.6 km away.
- Beach outline, surface, rules and public facilities: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), feature w80328769; 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.
- Photos: Wikimedia Commons, author and licence under each image.
- Satellite view: Copernicus Sentinel-2 (ESA), scene S2B_31UET_20250621_0_L2A.
- Orientation: OpenStreetMap land polygons (ODbL). Depth and terrain: GEBCO 2020 grid.
- Bathing-water quality: European Environment Agency (site NLBW89_WESTKPLERBSD).
- Settlements: GeoNames places with 1,000+ inhabitants.
- Land cover: ESA WorldCover 2021, 10 m (CC BY 4.0).
- Search popularity: about 1.3K Google searches a month for the name (KeywordTool, October 2026).
Data compiled 2026-10-13. Something wrong? Report a data error.