Joy and Frustration Over the App That Predicts the Best Waves

When Surfweer sends an alert, the water at Scheveningen can fill with surfers waiting for the same break. “When such a surf alert is issued, you can walk over people’s heads,” says Zeeland surfer Mike Ruissen.

The Netherlands has an estimated 25,000 to 35,000 regular wave surfers, some of whom go out every day. The number has doubled between 2015 and 2025, although exact figures are unavailable. The problem is that good waves are scarce. Surfing conditions depend on four elements coming together: the tide, wave height, wind direction offshore and wind direction at the coast.

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When such a surf alert is issued, you can walk over people’s heads.

Tobias van Tellingen, a keen surfer, founded Surfweer in 2010. He studies weather maps and visits surf spots himself to assess conditions, then sends alerts by text message, WhatsApp and Signal. The service now has about 1,000 paying subscribers. Van Tellingen says he wants to get as many people outdoors as possible.

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The Netherlands is a country of rules, and if such a kook, a beginner surfer, crashes into a groyne, you will see that we are no longer allowed to surf there.

But the service has also made some surfers nostalgic for quieter beaches. Ruissen once spent time working out for himself where the best waves would break, with an empty beach as the reward. Now he increasingly finds himself among large groups waiting for the same waves. Van Tellingen knows the criticism that he sends too many surfers to the same places, but attributes the crowds mainly to the sport’s growing popularity. People also tend to choose familiar places and convenience, he says, even though walking farther can reveal a spot of their own.

Pascal van der Mast, owner of the Surf Club in Domburg and a multiple Dutch champion, says some locations should not be publicized. He points to the risk that inexperienced surfers could collide with structures and trigger new rules. “The Netherlands is a country of rules, and if such a kook, a beginner surfer, crashes into a groyne, you will see that we are no longer allowed to surf there,” he says.

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If you walk a little farther, you can easily find a place of your own.