The Ostend pier extends 300 metres into the North Sea from the seafront, offering a walk over the water and views back along the coast in both directions. At the far end a café serves drinks and snacks; the deck is exposed to whatever the North Sea is doing that day. The pier was rebuilt after storm damage and World War II destruction and is now a solid structure, popular with fishing lines on weekday mornings and promenading families on weekends.
The pier marks the point where the harbour channel meets the open sea, and in heavy weather the shipping traffic passing through the entrance locks is close enough to feel genuinely large. This is still a working harbour — the ferry terminal for Dover is nearby — and the industrial scale of it contrasts well with the holiday atmosphere of the beach to the east.