IJsselmeer marinas

The IJsselmeer is the largest lake in the Netherlands: the old Zuiderzee, fresh and tide-free since the Afsluitdijk, with harbours right in the old town centres.

It is open water. From Enkhuizen to Stavoren or from Lemmer to Medemblik you sail for hours without a bridge or lock, and in a stiff breeze a short, steep chop builds quickly. Most of the lake is three to five metres deep; towards the shores it shallows and you keep to the buoyed channels. The locks at Den Oever and Kornwerderzand lead out to the Wadden Sea, those at Enkhuizen and Lelystad to the Markermeer. Through the locks at Lemmer and Stavoren you are on the Frisian lakes within the hour.

The harbours lie in old Zuiderzee towns with the pontoon a short walk from the centre: Enkhuizen, Medemblik, Stavoren, Hindeloopen, Workum, Makkum and Lemmer, and across the water Urk and the modern marinas of Lelystad. The IJsselmeer is the area for sailing on wide water and tying up in a different town every evening: day legs of fifteen to thirty miles, a wide choice of visitor berths, and in July and August sometimes full for late arrivals. For a motorboat not built for the sea it is water to respect in strong wind.

All 36 marinas in the IJsselmeer sailing area, grouped by water, with facilities, number of berths and maximum boat sizes. Blue Flag: 10 · visitor berths: 17.