Oudeschild Harbour

Oudeschild's harbour is the living heart of the village and the reason to linger. The fishing fleet — cutters that go out for shrimp, sole, and plaice in the Waddenzee — ties up here, and in the early morning you can watch the catch being unloaded. Nets hang drying along the quay. Herring sellers operate from stalls near the water. The smell is exactly what a working Dutch fishing harbour should smell like.

A walk along the harbour wall gives views over the Waddenzee towards the mainland. At low tide the mud flats are exposed and the birds — oystercatchers, redshanks, curlews — work the shallows in large numbers. The harbour is also the departure point for some of the boat trips around the island that run in summer.

things to do sight
A story
In the 17th century, Oudeschild was one of the most important anchorages in the Netherlands — ships from the VOC (Dutch East India Company) and the WIC (West India Company) would gather here in huge fleets before sailing for Asia and the Americas, waiting for the right wind. At its peak, hundreds of ships could be anchored here at once.