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Groningen, Netherlands

Apr · 28% rideable

Schildmeer

What it's actually like

The Schildmeer is a lake near Steendam in the province of Groningen, with a surf beach on Roegeweg. Visit Groningen, the provincial tourist board, calls it a perfect surfing beach, thanks to a spacious car park, a wide grassy access area and a sheltered location, and suits it to wing foilers, wind foilers and windsurfers with fins. Surfcenter Experience sits right beside the beach.

November to February are the windiest months in the record, and even then it is about one day in two at best. November and January clear 12 knots for three daylight hours on just under half of their days, December on more than four in ten and February on four in ten. March to September sit between about one day in seven and three in ten. The mean over those rideable hours is 15 to 17 knots. In December and January the share of windy days holds through the day; in spring and summer it builds into the afternoon, from under one in ten at 8am in April to about a quarter by mid-afternoon. This is an inland lake: pick your days and it can still deliver a proper winter sesh.

Groningen Airport Eelde is about 34 km by road, around 37 minutes, and Groningen station about 31 km.

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Your month

When it's good

12 kt+ for 3+ daylight hours · kite

April · 28%. 8 rideable days in 30, 2.2 hours a day over 12 kt. Go elsewhere.

Where else it blows in April

At a glance

Is it for you?

Skill levelComfortable
WaterMillpond
Wind · AprHit and miss
Crowds · AprBusy patches
Local vibeFriendly enough
Water qualityUsually clean
NightlifeA bar or two
CostMid

Geek analysis

April in the record

28% of days clear 12 kt for three daylight hours or more.

In April the wind most often sits at 4 to 7 kt (38% of daylight hours). No daylight hour is over 12 kt on at least half the days. The best hours are 3pm to 4pm, each on 26% of days. See both charts in the full report

No weather station near enough to check these figures against.

April on the record

The month's own figures, not the year's average.

Rideable days8 of 30Four Aprils in the record
Wind, rideable hours14 ktMean over daylight hours at 12 kt+
Air13.0°CMaximum

Take it with you

The full Schildmeer report

Seven sections over six pages, built from the same record as this page. A PDF you can read on the plane.

01Hour-by-hour & month-by-month wind02The month's own records03Stays, the school & kit04Launch notes05Lake rules, the fairway & shallow water06Getting there, packing & best months07Sources, and their limits

When it gets busy

Crowds

WindChaser has no crowd count for the Schildmeer yet. The Surfcenter teaches on the lake on Friday evenings and Saturdays from April to October.

On the water

What April usually does

April sits outside the best months here. 28% of days clear 12 kt for three daylight hours or more.

Your playground

Launches & safety

Conditions change. Check local rules and conditions before you ride.

  • Launch
  • Hazard
  • Parking
  • School
  • Stay
  • Webcam
  • Approximate

Local intel

Getting there & on the ground

Nearest airportGroningen Eelde (GRQ)About 34 km by road, around 37 minutes.
On the groundNovember to FebruaryThe windiest months in the record, at about one day in two at best.
Getting aroundBy roadGroningen station is about 31 km by road. A spacious car park at the surf beach.

Stay, schools & kit

Who works this beach

© SurfcenterSurfcenter ExperienceSchoolGoogle MapsWindsurf · WingWindsurf, wing and SUP lessons beside the surf beach, from age 14. Nico Prien, the windsurfer, co-owns the Surfcenter and co-founded Surfcenter Experience.Website

All 3 stays near Schildmeer on one page

Something wrong?We check before it changes.Suggest a change

Sources

Wind dataOpen-Meteo · MET Norway Nordic 1 km · 2022 to 2026Weather data by Open-Meteo.com, licensed under CC BY 4.0. The figures on this page are statistics we counted from that data. Model data: The Norwegian Meteorological Institute (MET Norway), CC BY 4.0. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026 (ERA5). Neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use that may be made of the Copernicus information or data it contains.
Map data© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
PhotosHero, The Schildmeer at SteendamAndre Hosper · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 4.0School, Surfcenter ExperienceSurfcenter · Google Maps · Google Maps Platform terms