I love to do things I have never done before. One of these is to sleep on the beach. Oh, well, young people sometimes do this. But the older age like me lacks of situations to do so.
In spring a friend of mine sent me a link for a sleeper beach basket – with other words: to sleep in a beach basket on the beach in Travemünde. I thought this is a wonderful idea to surprise my sweetheart when we come over. Shortly after I had booked a night for us.
The beach basket is something typical for German beaches. They were invented 135 years ago and since then they are a kind of symbol for Germany’s beaches, Baltic Sea and North Sea. In 2016, they re-invented the beach basket, this time in sleeping version.
Until I really saw it I couldn’t really imagine how it would be and hoped it would be comfortable enough. Actually it looks like a beach basket tipped over on its back. It’s large 1.30 m and long 2.40, more than a bed and with its mattress and bed cover and pillows it looks super cozy. There is a possibility to close all with a light top that has a ‘window’ to look out. At each sleeper’s side there is another porthole window.
The sleeper beach basket stands together with all the other hundreds of baskets.
The cost is like a hotel room and various from 30 to 70 €. There is the possibility to book also a light breakfast or evening snack. You book online or in person at the beach but you pay always cash on the beach.
Bathroom? Well, showers and toilets are always nearby and you get also some towels.
I had a short talk with the owner of the beach baskets two days before the booked night to be sure what to do. She gave us a time until when we should arrive, she would wait though. That evening, with my sweetheart a little skeptical, we arrived in time. Mrs. Seipel gave us all information plus a bag with some brochures and a key for the toilet. We closed the beach basket and went off for dinner. Later we came back and started our adventurous night under the stars.
I enjoyed it much more than my sweetie unfortunately. I loved to wake up early in the morning with the sunrise coming over the sea, the seagulls screaming and the cool air outside.
Inside the sleeper box it was warm and cozy. We had just a shirt on and it was perfect, though outside the temperature was low (around 10°C/50°F). The only thing that could disturb is the usual morning cleaning on the beach. Heavy, noisy machinery that takes away the seaweed.
If someone would ask me I would always recommend a night or even more. It’s something new, an experience, a great idea to do something different. They told me that it is even very romantic when it’s raining. It is completely closed and you hear the rain on the ‘roof’. I would like to try that as well…
(this is NOT a sponsored article!)
Travemünde, Schleswig-Holstein/Germany:
For further information:
Sleeper beach basket in Travemünde
Other places where to sleep in a beach basket at the Baltic Sea (in German and Danish)
?excellent H.