WorldNetherlands › Noord-Holland › Castricum Aan Zee

Castricum Aan Zee 37.9

#4925 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇳🇱 Netherlands · Noord-Holland · near Haarlem

Very consistent, wind is the enemy here, no off season.

Works all yearIntermediate
Castricum Aan Zee, Netherlands
Photo: Minthe · CC BY-SA 3.0 nl · source · photo taken 1.6 km from the spot
Surf score37.9 /100
Surfable days79% of the year
Clean days0% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell0% period 11 s+
Typical size1.0 m 3.3 ft median
Water12°C a 5/4 with boots and hood

Best time to surf Castricum Aan Zee

It rarely works. The nearest airport is AMS (30 km) and the nearest town is Haarlem (20 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan91%0%1.7 m5°C6/5
Feb84%0%1.5 m5°C6/5
Mar77%0%1.0 m8°C6/5
Apr71%0%0.8 m10°C5/4
May73%0%0.8 m13°C4/3
Jun67%0%0.7 m17°C3/2
Jul68%0%0.8 m20°C2mm
Aug70%0%0.9 m20°C2mm
Sep81%0%1.1 m18°C3/2
Oct94%0%1.4 m15°C4/3
Nov82%0%1.3 m11°C5/4
Dec94%0%1.3 m8°C6/5

What is under Castricum Aan Zee

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor sits over 33 m.

Depth 8 km out33 m
Depth 4 km out26 m

Measured, not estimated: NOAA ETOPO 2022 global relief at 15 arc-seconds, about 460 m per cell, sampled along this spot’s own swell window. At that scale the survey sees passes and channels; it cannot see a reef ledge, so nothing here is said about how the wave breaks.

Why 37.9

Seven parts, each normalised 0 to 1 and multiplied by its weight; the sum is scaled so the best spot in the world scores 100. Wave quality and what the spot does on its best days carry more than half of it, which is what separates this from a ranking of where the water is warm.

Wave quality 34.7%
4.0
Best days 22.4%
11.3
Clean days 18.4%
0.0
Consistency 10.2%
9.5
Season spread 4.1%
4.1
Water comfort 6.1%
0.0
Access 4.1%
4.0

The detail

Faces 280° with 47% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 36% of days. Mean peak period 5.7 s. Days over 3 m: 4%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 2.4 m, with a peak period of 7 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 50%. Months that work: 12 of 12. Coordinates 52.557, 4.605 (OpenStreetMap).

What it costs to be here

Living here
€1,890/ month
typically €1,660 – €2,120
Rent, one bedroom€994
Groceries€400
Eating out€227
Getting around€135
Phone + internet€140
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€3,690/ month
typically €3,250 – €4,140
Somewhere to stay€2,180
Eating out€778
Car, transfers, fuel€502
Data + extras€238
Short stays, eating out, a car or transfers.
49% cheaper if you live here instead of visiting

Airport and town on the doorstep, so the local estimate is 8% above the country average. Estimate: World Bank PPP price level for Netherlands (2025, United States = 1.00) applied to a fixed surfer basket, then adjusted for how remote the spot is. Your own number moves with the season and how you live.

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