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Safe Mud flat hiking with Wadloopcentrum Pieterburen.

The oldest and most experienced mudflat hiking organization.

Wadloopcentrum Pieterburen is the oldest and therefore the most experienced mudflat organization in the Netherlands.

Durig the years we collected an incredible amount of knowledge about the Waddensea, the mudflats, the weather, the tides and the dangers around mudflat hiking. This knowledge is still with the older generation of mudflat guides who still do hikes within our organization. They now hand over all this knowledge to a younger generation of mudflat guides.

Measuring is power and knowledge is power.

Wadloopcentrum Pieterburen has his own educational centre en is authorized by the Government to examine the mudflat guides. During wintertime our guides are retraining and in spring they make reconnaissance tours to establish the best routes for the hikes that season. With the obtained data we adjust our maps of the hiking routes every year.

Some things are important for you and us:

  • Every guide is retrained every year in first aid including CPR.
  • We do our hikes with GPS and compass navigation.
  • On the hikes there is always more than one guide. During the hikes the guides exchange their knowledge so every guide has up-to-date knowledge about the Waddensea and the route so if something happens to one guide the others will take over.
  • We have rescue excercises in cooperation with Coast-Guard and Life Boat Association.
  • We keep our knowledge and skills up to date by compass - and stretcher exercises.
The guides always prepare carefully their mudflat hikes and will exclude every chance.

  • The guide has a map with the expected tidal curve and he is aware of any expected higher or lower tide-level.
The guide has on him:

  • a map with the compass route and the depths of the channels he has to cross.
  • a recent weather forecast . Besides that he is able to estimate the changes of the weather on the spot because the weather at sea differs often from the weather on land.
  • a time-schedule , taking the tides in account, for the mudflat hike as a whole.
  • savings-equipment like a first aid set, a stretcher, long rope and rockets.
  • a VHF to contact the Coast Guard in case of emergency. They know we are mudflat hiking and where we go.
Further provides a guide to the:

  • Registration and deregistration of wading at the coast guard center.                They will know of our presence on the Wad, the                number of participants and where we go.

This text below is not unimportant::

What you, as a participant , can do about a safe mud flat hiking:

It may sound a bit strange and demanding because you make a mudflat hiking tour with the most experienced mudflat hiking organization of the The Netherlands. But still it is important because you don’t want to be the weakest link!

What we are trying to say is that if you, as a participant, had a bad preparation for the tour you are the weakest link in the group. And that can cause a delay or an unwanted situation.

However, we want to help you not to be the weakest link. That’s why we have on our website a page: mudflat hiking information.
We want you to read that information carefully. We don’t want to frighten you but you knowing this information gives uw the opportunity to offer you a wonderful mudflat hike and a unique wadden-experience:


A nice and safe mudflat hike: You and your companions are welcome to it!

We give you and your companions than a fine and safe mudflagwalk.

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