Summer / beach weather on Dutch coast - how reliable is it?

[Chocchops72]

We've almost settled on the Dutch coast for a short holiday with SIL and her family. We will have three teenage boys between us, so are relying on watersports / beach activities to keep them amused. Plus it's SILs family's first trip out of the UK for over 10 years, so expectations are high.

How reliable is the summer / beach weather on the Dutch coast? Is it warm enough for swimming and will we need neoprene tops for warmth when body boarding etc? What clothes will we need to pack?

We don't want super-hot temperatures (we're all Scottish, though we've been living in France for 15 years we still find the canicule / heatwave summers unbearable).

Thanks for any advice.

Whereabouts are you going and which month?

It’ll be the same as northern England. Maybe a bit drier. Make of that what you will.

There’s a thread on AMA about living in the Netherlands so you could ask there!

Ive found it similar to southern England, so you can have great weather or rain and thunder.

Yes to shorty wetsuits if you want to spend extended periods of time in the sea, in my opinion.

Have a fantastic time - those endless wide empty beaches and windy weather are ideal.

Doh, of course.

We are looking at Zandvoort and Katwijk aan Zee. We'll be picking them up from Amsterdam airport so don't want to be more than an hour from schipol.

Mid July, for 4-5 nights.

Zandvoort is a nice beach area - large with lots of food and drink places. It can get crowded in the summer but still good holiday place. Because it’s a low lying area it doesn’t get very hot - probably a high of 20. Have a good time!

It will be similar to the East coast of the UK as it's only a few miles away. So it could be sunny and hot or cold, wet and windy.