Ter Heijde combines a two-kilometre beach with water sports and local history ranging from fishing to a naval battle. There are two beach entrances to help you find your way: Strandweg and Karel Doormanweg. Parking is very limited at both. If you need to park, take this into account when planning your journey. The beach entrances are also marked by recognisable posts belonging to Nationaal Park Hollandse Duinen.
Beach and water sports
The beach at Karel Doormanweg is considered relatively quiet and is used by wave surfers. At the Strandweg beach entrance, there is a beach vehicle, a beach wheelchair and an accessible toilet. When comparing the access points, different features stand out: relative tranquillity and surfing at Karel Doormanweg, and the three facilities at Strandweg. Check their availability before your trip.
Dreams Surfschool offers surfing lessons in the North Sea in Ter Heijde. It also offers rafting, bodyboarding, stand-up paddleboarding and skimboarding. From March to October, the surf school is located at Ter Heijde’s family beach and offers weekly courses for children and adults. As course availability may vary by season, check the dates in advance. Dreams Playground has an indoor skatepark with a range of obstacles for learning to skateboard. The water sports and skatepark offer different things: the water activities listed here, and learning to skateboard in an indoor setting there.
Church and local history
The Hervormde Kerk consists of an eastern section dating from 1720 and a western section dating from 1952. The two sections were built 232 years apart, representing markedly different building periods. A plaque commemorating Maarten Harpertszoon Tromp is set into the façade. He died on 10 August 1653 during the First Anglo-Dutch War in the naval battle off the coast of Ter Heijde. The church is considered the only tangible remnant of the town’s history.
At the entrance to the town, a monument consisting of two cannons commemorates the 1653 naval battle between the English and Dutch fleets. The memorials place different emphasis: the church honours Tromp as an individual, while the monument focuses on the battle between the fleets.
Ter Heijde was once a fishing village where the fish that had been caught was sold on the beach. The last fishing boat disappeared from the beach in 1830. Together with the memories of the naval battle, this offers another historical perspective on the coast: not only as the scene of a conflict, but also as a place for fishing and selling the catch.
Discover more destinations: Poeldijk, De Lier, 'S-Gravenzande, Naaldwijk
For the regional travel overview: Westland.
