Since I heard about “wadlopen” as a kid, I’ve wanted to give it a try. I think it’s a pretty Dutch activity and I struggle to explain it. In the north of the Netherlands you can cross the seabed of the Wadden sea on low tide. We call it “wadlopen”, literally “walking on the Wadden”, which translates best to mudflat walking. The water retreats so far that you can walk from the mainland to the islands and sand banks in the Wadden sea. I was visiting family in the Netherlands and decided to add this to my itinerary.
Mudflat walking to the Engelsmanplaat
I opted for the walk to the Engelsmanplaat. It’s a sandbank named after the English. At high tide it’s mostly under water, but at low tide you can walk to a small house on stilts, where the rangers who look after the birds stay during the summer months. A lot of birds pass through the area and the rangers protect them, but also do research. The Wadden sea is Unesco world heritage because it is the largest unbroken system of intertidal sand and mudflats in the world.
The drive up to the start, a parking place near Wierum in Friesland, was a long one from the south of the Netherlands. It was a sunny day while I was in the car, but when I arrived the clouds quickly came rolling in. It was still warm, so I started in a singlet. In my backpack I had some extra layers, food and water. Everything was wrapped in plastic bags because you never know how wet it’s going to get.
We got a short explanation from our guide of where we were going and then slid onto the mud. He looked very professional, with an antenna sticking out of his backpack, and told us he had been doing it for the last 35 years! The first few steps were a bit strange and it did feel like I was just slipping and sliding. Then you get the hang of it and you keep walking at a steady pace, constantly pulling your feet out of the mud. If you stand still for too long, it just gets harder to get out. Within minutes my black and red Allstars were grey. Mud was splashing up and stuck to my legs. After a while I even fished a 2cm long shell out of my shoes.
Footsteps on the bottom of the sea 
My shoes after 3 minutes of walking 
My group walking on the mudflats 
Plants on the seabed 
Straight from the start you get to feel the experience
After a while we got out of the very muddy bit and started wading through water. At first it was ankle height, but it slowly increased. At times you may have to cross a fairway with waist high water, but we were lucky because the water reached just above our knees. Our guide Johannes was carrying two poles, to make a stretcher if needed, and used these to feel the depth of the water. Low tide hadn’t reached its peak yet when we walked to the Engelsmanplaat.
It’s incredible to think you are walking on the seabed. The landscape kept changing. We walked through water, through mud, through areas with lots of mussel beds and through areas with seaweeds. Occasionally a jellyfish floated past us, from ones smaller than your hand to bigger red ones. Crabs walked on the sand and everywhere were clams and mussels. There were so many shells in all sizes and colors and that’s also why it’s so important to wear shoes. They are necessary to protect your feet and they won’t let you go on the mudflats without them.
There was still a fair bit of water on the way there 
We had to wade through kneedeep water 
Me and the wide nothing 
A reddish jellyfish floats by 
Still enjoying the experience despite the dark clouds 
Walking through small banks with mussels as the sea retreats
I walked through water in between sand banks with mussels. Suddenly my leg drops as I step into a hole. Luckily it’s not too deep. Johannes tells us he was walking through a different area the day before, where they have something called “the bath tub”. You can imagine what it is. When you accidentally step into the bath tub, you fall into a 3m deep pool.
We then reached the wet part of the Engelsmanplaat. It was like walking on uneven terrain after heavy rainfall. The ground wasn’t soft, but there were lots of little puddles. Our aim was the little ranger house in the distance. Normally the rangers happily invite you up there and may explain a thing or two about the area and their work. However, now it’s corona time they put a warning up not to go up into the house.
When we reached the house we had a little break to eat a sandwich before making our return to shore. We didn’t just walk straight back, but picked a different route that made a half moon shape. For a long time we could walk on an actual sandbank that stays dry even at high tide. A group of kayakers paddled towards us for a break on the sand. To the left of us was higher water, reaching all the way to the island of Schiermonnikoog. On the other side we could see the island Ameland, with many mudflats and water in between.
The tide was even lower now and where we had waded through the water before there was only a small layer left now. There were seaweeds that looked like mother nature had spent an afternoon doing arts. They created beautiful patterns on the sand. There were also a lot of oysters around this area. Our guide opened a massive one and one of the guests ate it.
A stream of water and many boat lying on the sand banks 
De Kalkman is the house on stilts where the rangers stay in summer 
Another perspective of the rangers’ house 
Kayaks arrive at the sandflat 
A crab that got stuck in the sand 
The seaweeds created beautiful patterns on the seabed, like a work of art 
An oyster surrounded by shells 
Wading through the water of the fairway 
A piece of peat that the water brought up
You could tell the group was now getting a bit tired as it stretched out a lot more. You can see the shore of the mainland, but it’s still a long walk. For the most part the soil was pretty firm, but at the end we had to go through the mud again, which was a lot harder after the 14 km we had just walked.
We saw some more boats that were lying on the sand, anchor out. People come out here to do just that. To let themselves get stuck and wait for the tide to come back in. We could see the green buoys that indicate the fairway to boats, but there was hardly any water.
Back on the shore I looked at my legs. My shoes looked ruined. They were not only filled with mud (I could feel it pile up under my feet) but also had a weed strung through the laces and seemed to have some shells for decoration. Before heading back to the cars we could wash off the majority in a wide brook. It was impossible to get it all off.
At home I dumped my shoes into a bucket of water. The next day it smells like a seal colony. It seems you can leave the Wadden, but the Wadden don’t leave you. I’m trying to clean my shoes now by soaking them several times in water with detergent. We’ll see if the smell comes out. It was a great experience!
One of a few boats stuck in the sand, waiting for the water to return 
Buoys marking the fairway 
We finished!
Mudflat walking, what do you need to know?
There are several companies offering a variety of walks from the north of the Netherlands. I booked with wadgids.nl. The difficulty is different for every walk, but there are family friendly walks as well as walks for experienced mudflat walkers. The walk to the Engelsmanplaat is somewhere in between. You need to be in shape to do it since it’s not easy.
What do I take?
- Shoes that are tight around your feet. Take high Allstars with laces or surfboots. Our guide walked in surfboots with duct tape around the top so that the shells don’t get in.
- Shorts, because whatever the weather, they’ll probably get very wet.
- Sunscreen, hat and sunglasses.
- Extra layers in a backpack.
- Water and snacks.
- You can take binoculars if you wish.
- You can take a camera or phone, but keep in mind things could get wet.
- Dry clothes in the car for after the walk.
Good to know
- There are no facilities anywhere. The mudflats are the toilet.
- It’s possible to do walks that finish at an island and to take the ferry back. In that case you need to carry all you need on the other side.
- Pick the right shoes. It’s very heavy if you take hiking boots for example.
- The guide can only spend a certain amount of hours on the mudflats, so the pace is quite high.
- The weather can change a lot so make sure you have extra layers handy.