Falling dry on the Wadden Sea

We leave around 9.30 a.m. and it will take two hours of sailing to the sandbank in the middle of the Wadden Sea where the boat will be stranded. The weather is beautiful with a slight breeze. As we sail out of the beautiful harbours of Harlingen, we look out over a wide mudflats with a number of seagulls flying with us.

On board the boat, we’re told that the skippers of the ‘Actief’ had set out earlier to find the right sandbanks and now know exactly where they’re going to run the boat aground. During the boat trip, you can sit back, look around and enjoy the wind in your hair. After all, we won’t be getting off the boat just yet.

Once you have found the right place, it is a matter of waiting. After all, it takes several hours for the water to recede. And honestly? As I look around, I cannot imagine that we will soon be able to walk on the mud flats.

While waiting, you are offered a delicious lunch by the cooks on the boat and guide Nina from the Wadden Sea Association explains all the details about the wadden region to us. She also tells us what we can expect to encounter on the mud flats.

Nina explains, for instance, that mudflats are not taken for granted everywhere in the world. This is because we are in a tidal zone, or an area that is under water at high tide, but rises to the surface at low tide. This phenomenon only occurs in a few places in the world. As such, high tide and low tide both occur twice every 24 hours. The occurrence of high and low tides is due to the sun and moon. The sun and moon orbit our planet and have a strong attraction to each other. This attraction pulls all the water from the earth to the moon and vice versa.

The Wadden Sea is a very unique area precisely because of the high and low tides that occur there. In addition, the wadden region is a World Heritage Site. In fact, the area has been given UNESCO status because it is still a fairly young area. The area was created 8000 years ago after the last ice age. Before that, the North Sea was in fact one big sandy plain and then the first ice caps came and then melted and so the water slowly rose. This is also how the Wadden Islands came into being, along with a marshland. If you walk around on the tidal flats today, you will therefore find bits of peat here and there that still come from those times.

After the delicious lunch and Nina's fine explanation, we go back on deck and you guessed it, the sea level has already sunk enormously. We can now see the bottom through the water already. Time to take off the shoes and go for a nice walk!

Some choose to walk on old shoes, but I and a few others choose to go barefoot to feel the full experience. The boatmen have placed a set of stairs for us to climb down from to take our first steps on the mud flats. As I walk around, I occasionally look back, because what a bizarre sight to see the boat standing so dry in an open mudflat landscape. It is also such a strange sight that you can see so far and then see so little.

Together with Nina, we focus on what is on the ground. From so-called razor clams to anemones, crabs, jellyfish and fish, we encounter all kinds of things.

While muddling around with my bare feet on the tidal flats, I get so happy as a child to go for a nice walk and look for different living organisms on the ground and in the air. We should not forget that the tidal flats are very important for migratory birds. I notice that I am not the only one who is excited. Meanwhile, all the people in the group split up and everyone starts looking equally active. Thus, large anemones and crabs are found and people enthusiastically bring them back to Nina so she can tell them a bit about them.

Although I could walk for hours more and search for the day’s largest anemone, you’re unfortunately limited by the number of hours you can spend walking on the mudflats. Still, we managed to enjoy ourselves on the mudflats for a good two hours. As I don’t want to get wet up to my knees, I decide to head back. I climb the little steps back onto the boat and the hose is already waiting for me so I can rinse my feet with cold water. A lovely end to the walk. With the sun shining and a cold drink in my hands, I relax on the boat whilst feeling my aching feet from walking on the sand. What a fantastic experience this is!

Everyone trickles back onto the boat one by one and shares what they’ve come across. Whilst we’re chatting, the chefs on the Actief are already busy preparing dinner. A delicious vegetarian pasta Bolognese, served with salads, is brought to the table. We’re spoilt for choice today.