About 400 years ago, Klitmøller, a small town in the northwest of Denmark, was known mostly to the naval traders between Denmark and southern Norway. The seaside used to be full of local merchants sailing corn and bullocks to Norway and bringing timber and iron back.
In the 19th century, the trades began to decrease because of changes in both the area’s natural conditions and naval technology.
After a stagnation period, fishing again took the lead in Klitmøller. This continued more or less successfully for the next 150 years until 1967, when a large harbour was opened in Hanstholm, about 10 kilometres north of Klitmøller, to which all of the fishermen moved their boats. At that time, Klitmøller again fell into stagnation. However, German surfers discovered the area during the 1980s and since the 1990s, traders and fishermen have been completely replaced by thousands of surfers who come to the North Sea for the best waves in Europe, i.e., to surf what is now known as Cold Hawaii.
Nordregio News asked Finn Jorsal, the President of the Friends of Cold Hawaii association to tell us about some of the major challenges and advantages of developing business in a rural area.
The secret to the success of Klitmøller and Cold Hawaii is primarily the reef, which stretches out to the north from Klitmøller Beach. It consists of flint and chalk, which is never affected by the changing weather conditions, unlike all the rest of the Danish North Sea coast, which consists of sand.
The attractiveness of the area is not only related to Klitmøller, but also to the coastal areas of Thy. Cold Hawaii in fact consists of 31 surfing spots from Agger in the south to Hamborg (a very small collection of houses to the northeast of Hanstholm) in the north. Those 31 spots, depending on wind direction and waves, are considered some of the best in Europe.
Cold Hawaii has now become a global brand because of the surfing possibilities, but the most interesting thing for me is what this has implied concerning Klitmøller.
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