West Pier (Westerstaketsel)

At the eastern end of the promenade, beyond Klein Strand, the West Pier (Westerstaketsel) runs out to sea alongside the harbour channel. It is a wooden pier about 650 metres long, built in 1888–89 as an extension of the seafront promenade, and was said at the time to be one of the longest wooden piers in the world. It was a favourite walk of King Leopold II and has been a protected monument since 2006.

Walk to the end, where a steel harbour light marks the channel, and you are surrounded by water on three sides: fishing boats and yachts coming in and out of the harbour, the beach stretching away to the west and the dunes and lighthouse of the Oosteroever across the channel. It is a bracing walk at any time of year and especially beautiful at sunset.

The pier is free and always open. Anglers fish from it, but on this pier you need a Flemish fishing permit, which you can buy at any post office. Take a windproof layer: it is always breezier at the end than on the promenade.