Monster – Molenslag Beach

Directions

Navigation system address: Molenslag 2, Monster. Go past your destination point until you can go no further (the sea front) and park there.

Parking offseason is free, but charges get pretty hefty in the spring and summer. You may choose to park way before Molenslag even, in the residential areas, but it gets pretty busy there too.

Catering

There are a couple of ‘strand pavilioenen’ on the beach just left and right of the Molenslag entrance to the beach. Bij Ons (directly to your left as you enter the beach) have really cool Caribbean-style wood sculptures and wood-carved furniture. They have always allowed me to take me dog in there, but I am not sure what the official policy is.

Offleash area

OK, brace yourselves, as this is going to be confusing:

Dogs are not allowed to the left of the entrance between 15 May and 15 September, although the locals seem to interpret this to mean that they are not allowed off-leash between these dates. I personally have never had a problem.
Dogs are always allowed (left and right of the entrance) between 7pm and 10am.
As far as I understand it, dogs are always allowed (the whole year round and all day long) past the second pipeline to the right of the entrance (it’s a good 500 meters, though).

What is so special about it?

Well it’s the beach! And it gets (slightly) less crowded than the main beach in Kijkduin.

The stretch of sand between the dunes and the sea stays broad enough, even during high tide.

The dunes behind the beach (I understand it is called the Sonneveld) are absolutely stunning. Totally off-limits for dogs (and for humans, for that matter), though. But you can still admire them from the elevated part of the beach.