Trend destination Sylt gets new sand

Sylt continues to fight against the constant loss of land to the wind and waves. This year, millions of cubic metres of sand will again be washed up on the beaches to prevent the North Sea island from disappearing. While Mediterranean beaches are getting more and more crowded during the summer months, many Swiss people are increasingly drawn to the north. Sylt in particular benefits from this trend: the German North Sea island has welcomed a growing number of Swiss guests for years (Travelnews reported).

The popular holiday resort is taking action against natural land loss. To protect the coastline, around two million cubic meters of sand will be added to the beaches this year. The project is set to begin on April 15 and is expected to cost approximately 12.5 million euros (just under twelve million Swiss francs), according to the Schleswig-Holstein Coastal Protection Agency (LKN).

The beaches south of Rantum, in Westerland, and between Wenningstedt and Kampen have been hit especially hard. Hörnumer Odde also saw severe dune erosion. The 2024/25 storm surge season was unusually intense—Storm Ursula brought the highest summer water levels since 1923 when it struck in August 2024.

Fresh sand is dredged from depths of up to 30 meters, about eight kilometers off the coast of Westerland, by specialized ships. These suction dredgers pump the sand-water mixture to the shore through pipelines, where it is spread across the beach by bulldozers.

Since 1972, more than 60 million cubic meters of sand have been deposited on Sylt. Every spring, coastal protection teams assess where additional replenishment is needed, as wind, waves, and currents constantly erode the shoreline. These efforts aim to safeguard the island in the long term—but the threat remains: without regular sand replenishment, Sylt could gradually disappear into the sea.