With green meadows interrupted by small villages as well as eleven kilometres of beach, the stretch of Dutch coastline between Cadzand and Breskens is one of the most popular holiday destinations in the Netherlands and offers visitors an opportunity to seek the "black gold of Cadzand" - shark teeth.

"The best places to find them are between Cadzand and Niewvliet-Bad on the beach near the radar tower," says Lex Kattenwinkel from Goes.
According to geologists, the shark teeth are between 2 and 15 million years old, stemming from the Tertiary geological period when most of the Netherlands was covered by the sea.

Ancient earth sections are close to the surface of the soil at Cadzand making it easier to find the teeth, according to Kattenwinkel.

Hunting for the "black gold" is only one of the many attractions offered in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen where the season starts at about Easter time and ends at the end of October.

This southernmost part of the Netherlands measures only 70 kilometres from east to west and 20 kilometres from north to south, squeezed between the Belgian border and the Westerschelde - the ocean arm that forms a natural barrier to the rest of the Netherlands.

"We have Belgium right on our doorstep," says Nynke van der Ploeg, director of the Tourism Office of Zeeland-Flandern, with the culinary delights of Belgium finding their way to the region.

Four Michelin stars can be found distributed among the restaurants of region. The Oud Sluis in Sluis has three and the De Kromme Watergang in Hoofdplaat-Slijkplaat one star.

And visitors wanting to shed their excess pounds can do so on more than 1,000 kilometres of cycle paths linking the bathing resorts to the small villages in the hinterland.

One of the favourite destinations is Groede. Only a few steps from the church square visitors can delve into the history of the 19th century at the Vlaemsche Erfgoed by visiting the workshops in the Slijkstraat. Nearby is the De Natte Pij which looks more like a museum than a hotel.

From the beach of Seeland-Flandern however numerous container ships can be seen passing by. Some 120,000 ships are counted annually at the mouth of the Westerschelde, making the sea here one of the busiest shipping routes in Europe. It is therefore no surprise that shipping fans have found the most favourite spots for watching the vessels - on the dyke of Ossenisse and between Perkpolder and Walsoorden.

Further information at: www.vvvzeeland.nl

 14 January 2008

Reported by Bernd F Meier for dpa.

Photo: At the beach in the Netherlands: a container vessel passes Cadzand.
Taken by Bernd F. Meier

[Copyright dpa]