It has received a rare ’10 stars’ from the Dutch Beach Association
Translated by Thomas Ansell
The beaches of Ameland, one of the Frisian Wadden Islands, have been named the cleanest in the Netherlands. This comes after the yearly ‘beach election’ process, which is held by the Dutch Beach Association and the Netherlands Tidy Society (Strand Nederland and Stichting Nederlands Schoon). Eight inspectors looked at 36 beaches, from Zeeland in the south to the Wadden Islands in the North, and decided that Ameland’s sands shores were the best overall. As reported by the Omrop Fryslân.
Indeed, the jury saw fit to hand out a rare ’10 stars’ to Ameland. “On Ameland everything is coming together this year, from the pavilion to the car-park, and from the waterline to far up the paths that lead to the beach. An exceptional joint presentation from the Gemeente, business owners, residents; and visitors”. A separate commendation was given to the Strandpaviljoen Sjoerd in Nes for ‘most sustainable pavilion’.
“We looked at the car park and bike park, we walked via the paths to the beach, checked out the pavilion, and then traced the waterline. De Zeeuwen (Zeeland) had the cleanest beaches for years, but it’s definitely now Ameland”, says Henk Kleim Teeselink from the jury.
The Gemeente Ameland says that lots of volunteers help keep the beach clean, referring to the campaigns by the Juttervereniging Ameland and the Stayokay Youth Hostel.
With the weather in the Northern Netherlands due to hit nearly 30-degrees Celsius this weekend, the island of Ameland is well-worth a visit. Ferries run from Holwerd (Gemeente Noardeast-Fryslân) to Nes on the island of Ameland several times a day. For more information check out the VVV Ameland. Please remember to do your part to help keep Ameland clean.
Image via Merk Fryslân.
