New Year's Dive in Scheveningen cancelled due to strong wind

The traditional New Year's dive into the North Sea at Scheveningen Beach has been cancelled, organizers announced on Monday afternoon. The decision was made due to the predicted powerful winds "in combination with a strong current and high waves." Every year, about 10,000 people participate in the dive in the sea to ring in the New Year.

It was yet another event that was cancelled or rescheduled due to the prediction that wind gusts of up to 100 kilometers per hour will hit the coast on Tuesday and Wednesday, with gusts of up to 75 kilometers per hour likely in more inland areas. "It's a real shame, of course," said Alex Schuttert, who chairs dive organizer Stichting Nieuwjaarsduiken Nederland.

"But we are following the advice of the municipality of The Hague and the Rescue Brigade," said Schuttert. The strong wind can produce waves of about three meters high.

"Please do not make the decision to go into the sea on New Year's Day," said Mike van den Hoogenband from the volunteer lifeguard service in The Hague. "By going into the sea, you are putting yourself in danger, and also the emergency services, if we have to come and save you."

Mayor Jan van Zanen of The Hague also asked people not to go to the city's Scheveningen Beach on Tuesday or Wednesday, saying it is "really too risky." Van Zanen hopes that the dive can go ahead on New Year's Day the following year. "Then I will definitely join!"

The country's largest New Year's dive was cancelled in 2021 and 2022 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Participants are typically gathered in front of the Grand Hotel Amrâth Kurhaus before they run into the water. This was to be the second year in a row where the event was organized closer to the Beelden aan Zee Museum due to renovation work on the boulevard near the Kurhaus.

New Year's dives are also organized annually in other places in the country. Several organizers announced earlier in the day that the dives will not take place on Wednesday due to the expected bad weather. So far, events in Ameland, Bergen (Noord-Holland), Castricum, Egmond aan Zee, Harlingen, Heemstede, Noordwijk aan Zee, Rotterdam, Terschelling and Wijk aan Zee have been scrapped, among others.

The Dutch custom of taking a dip on January 1st dates back to 1960, when a group of friends plunged into the sea near Zandvoort. The sea temperature is typically around 6 to 7 degrees Celsius on New Year's Day and has been slightly warmer the last few days, ranging from a high of 8.1 degrees at a few moments over the weekend, down to a low of 7.6 degrees at sunrise on Monday.