Windekind15h · 12 kt
36NOT RECOMMENDEDMin. level
Intermediate
Optimal wind
14-32 kts
Season
May to September
Live · now
What to check
Discover the spot
The spot
Discover Windekind
A friendly club spot where 'the vibe is always top', right in what calls itself the country's largest watersports area: Windekind, in Groenendijk (Oostduinkerke). Surfclub Windekind has run for over thirty years on welcome and plenty of youth, the rescue jet-ski within reach. Open North Sea, so no flat lagoon — a place for self-reliant riders, with a club's warmth on top.
What marks Windekind isn't the spot but the club. Over thirty years of windsurf, kite, foil, SUP and surf, a crowd of youngsters, camps and clinics — a place with a heart, not an anonymous launch zone. You feel it the moment you arrive: people know each other, people help each other, and the newcomer gets folded into the crew. Out front it's the open North Sea, with chop and, when it blows, waves — a spot that shows its level honestly and rewards the self-reliant rider. The rescue jet-ski stays close by, reassuring on such an exposed coast. This isn't a place you drift into alone and leave; it's one you become a small part of. Anyone who tastes that welcome comes back — for the wind as much as the vibe.
Who & when
Level and best time
Who it's for
Open sea, rated for advanced riders. Surfclub Windekind teaches and runs camps (kite, wing, foil, windsurf, surf), so you can start out here — but with an instructor. In Belgium insurance is mandatory, and the club makes it visible with a talis.
source : surfclub-windekind.be ↗Best time
The winds that work blow off the sea, NNE to SSW. Offshore wind is off-limits. You ride by day, never after dark. On the tide, no source gives a call specific to this spot — don't bank on an assumed window, ask the club.
source : surfclub-windekind.be ↗On site
Arrival guide
Club & access
Surfclub Windekind's spot (Zuidenwindhelling 1, Groenendijk; club rules updated January 2024). On paper it's a €20 day card plus a talis — a ribbon on your harness proving you're insured, which is mandatory in Belgium. In practice, how strictly that's checked varies day to day. A kiteleash, though, is required no matter what.
source : surfclub-windekind.be ↗On site / amenities
The day card gets you a changing room, shower, compressor and a discount at the bar. If something goes wrong, the club comes out on a jet-ski. Parking is paid.
source : 35knots.com ↗Zones & supervision
The legal framework for coastal boardsports (22 June 2016 law): you kite in the launch zone and out to two nautical miles, never in the swim zones or the 50 m around them, by day only, and never in offshore wind. Minors are supervised, and under-12s never go out alone.
source : surfclub-windekind.be ↗Before you go
Safety
Belgian rules: offshore, leash required
The club rules are categorical: 'Het is verboden aan kitesurfen te doen met landwind'. Offshore wind pushes you off the beach toward open sea — which is why here you ride sea wind only (NNE–SSW). Required by law along the whole coast: kiteleash and quick release (22 June 2016 law). Beach checks vary, the rule doesn't.
source : surfclub-windekind.be ↗Zones, swimming & hours
You ride in the launch zone and out to two nautical miles — stay out of the swim zones and the 50 m bordering them. Sunrise to sunset only. Officially you go through the club with your talis on show; in practice, how closely that's checked varies.
source : surfclub-windekind.be ↗Tide: settle with the club
Open North Sea means tide. No fixed tide window is published for Windekind — so no guessing: settle your slot with the club on the day, they read the beach live. Don't ride on a window you've made up yourself.
source : surfclub-windekind.be ↗Community
Soon, by the riders
These spaces will fill up with the community’s feedback.
Your sessions: sea wind, zone, vibe
Windekind camps and clinics: when are they?