Haven van Zoutkamp
What once began as a small fortified town grew into a fishing village with a large fishing fleet of its own. Now you see mostly pleasure boats moored, but the atmosphere of a real fishing port is still there.
Until the late nineteenth century, the city of Groningen suffered greatly from low tides. By closing off the Reitdiep from the Lauwerszee, this was remedied. With the advent of the afsluitdijk, Zoutkamp got both an inner and an outer harbour. Today, the inner harbour serves as a recreational harbour. Where 35 shrimp cutters were moored in the 1960s, you now see mostly pleasure boats. Every year at Whitsun, the entire fishing fleet returns to bring in the new Shrimp Queen.