Beach pavilions are the preferred hangouts of the jet set, offering the latest cocktails and the hottest music. Often you are refused entrance if you are the wrong age or dressed in the wrong clothes. Wijk aan Zee, just a stone’s throw away from the steel mill, attracts a completely different crowd, and yet it’s a real hotspot.

Surfers can rent boards between the Timboektoe and Aloha beach pavilions, where Martin, the heart and soul of the local surfing club, has set up shop. “I was born on the beach”, he proudly proclaims. “I’m 21 years old now and have been surfing for 13 years. When I started surfing here, there were 20 of us, a tight group, but these days there are 200 to 300 people on the water. It can be difficult, but you just have to try and find your own way”.

Steel mill
For those who immediately think of sunny 'Beach Boys' era California when they hear the word surfing, Wijk aan Zee takes some getting used to. The huge smoke stacks of the Corus steel mill are just a few kilometres away. Even on sunny days, there is often a pall of dense smoke hanging over the beach.
 
One of the regulars at the Wijk aan Zee beach explains that the really fanatical surfers are interested in completely different issues, such as the currents out at sea.

"Because of the proximity of the IJmuiden pier, there is an area here with a different type of current. The sandbanks are situated differently which means you don’t get washed away that easily. And the current makes the waves break better".
 
Surfers’ paradise
The two beach pavilions also contribute to the popularity of this particular spot. Edith from Amsterdam explains that her perfect weekend away from the hectic life in the capital begins with a cup of coffee at either Timboektoe or Aloha. Particularly after the recent renovations, the pavilions are perfect spots to hang out.

And according to Luca, who is in Wijk aan Zee with a friend from Slovakia, the surfing there and everything surrounding it is becoming increasingly trendy. Because many people are so into sports and a healthy lifestyle. “These beach pavilions are really turning this place into a surfers’ paradise. At least, that’s what they’re trying to achieve”.

However, their attempts are having an adverse effect on the hard-core surfers. To them, Timboektoe and Aloha are definitely not part of what Wijk aan Zee is really about. On the contrary. 

Irrelevant
"Those two beach pavilions are irrelevant. The surfers came first, the beach pavilions came later. Not the other way around”.
 
Whatever the case may be, the transformation of Wijk aan Zee is a fact. Even when at some point in the future the hard-core will leave in search of a less commercial spot with less occasional surfers. A hotspot has been created that is easily a match for all those other hip beach pavilions, even when it’s under the smoke of the Corus steel mill.

Photo: Sonic Julez at Flickr under Creative Commons licence