Denmark’s ‘Cold Hawaii’: the artfully cool surf zone on the Jutland coast | Denmark holidays
The North Sea wind is buffeting my body and face, shaking me awake after a six-hour journey from Copenhagen on buses and trains to this rugged stretch of the Danish coast. From my high vantage point on the grassy dunes, overlooking what feels like an endless sea, there is hardly another soul to be seen, save for the specks of a few surfers who are trying their luck on the crashing waves.
Surfers, windsurfers and paddleboarders flock to this stretch of north-west Jutland, which is playfully known as “Cold Hawaii”. The phrase was coined in the 1990s by the international surfing community, and popularised by world champion windsurfer Josh Stone, to describe this laid-back shoreline and its 31 official surf spots running for around 30 miles (50km) from a little north of the industrial harbour of Hanstholm down to the sandy beaches of Agger.
Unlike tropical Hawaii, however, the European version is lined with the heathlands, dunes and forest of the Thy national park. The weather is also brisker – you’d be loath to spend long in the water here without a wetsuit to keep you warm.
The wild beauty of the coastline feels markedly different to the largely agricultural landscape I have come to know in the several years I’ve lived in Denmark. Cold Hawaii has been recommended to me countless times as somewhere a little more under the radar than the popular resorts on the north coast of Zealand, or Skagen on the northern tip of Jutland. It’s not easy to reach Thy by public transport and, once here, the patchy local bus service makes it far easier to explore by car. For that reason, Cold Hawaii has remained something of a local secret, and there’s a strong sense of community here even in winter, when all the summer houses sit empty.
On a sun-drenched afternoon in early spring, with the tourist season yet to begin, the surf schools and ice-cream shops are still quiet. Driving into Klitmøller – the unofficial centre of Cold Hawaii, which hosts an annual international surfing competition – there are hints of how the area has transformed into a surfers’ paradise over recent decades. As well as surf shops and schools, there’s a wine bar, a spa and a co-working space on the main street. Several artists are based in the area, too, including the internationally renowned Jeppe Hein.
It’s a similar story in the nearby seaside town of Vorupør, where I’m staying at the Vorupør Badehotel. It is an expansion of the original Vø Surfshop, opened by Peter Joseph Jensen and Sigrid Bruun Jakobsen in 2011; another couple joined them to open the hotel in 2023. My bubblegum-pink room is nestled in the eaves with huge windows looking out to sea and a freestanding tub (a luxury for a Copenhagener like me). In cosy Danish fashion, there’s a shoes-off-at-the-door policy.
Standing on Vorupør beach between anchored fishing boats, I’m joined by families enjoying strolls in the blustery wind and dappled sunshine – it’s that time of the year when Denmark emerges from the winter gloom and everyone rushes to be outside as much as possible. Not so long ago, Vorupør was a quiet fishing village, but in recent years it has become increasingly popular with Danish, German and Belgian tourists, giving rise to a flurry of new places to stay, restaurants and boutiques.
One notable addition, not far down the coast, is the restaurant Tri. The founder and head chef, Nicolas Min Jørgensen, earned a Michelin star just a year after opening in 2022, winning acclaim for a hyperlocal approach to produce and menu-planning. The flavours of the sea, Thy national park and the nearby Limfjord, which cuts through northern Denmark, are evident in the mussel broth and seaweed, smoked roe butter and magnolia flowers that feature on the menu.
During dinner, Jørgensen waves to fisher René, who harvested the first shrimps of the season from the Limfjord that morning, and points out farmer Niels, who is eating in the restaurant and enjoying his own berries.
The next day, I venture to SMK Thy, the new, highly acclaimed outpost of the National Gallery of Denmark (Statens Museum for Kunst), which opened in the village of Doverodde last year. From Vorupør, it’s a 30-minute drive inland to the banks of the Limfjord, passing the dune plantations of Thy national park.
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A 42-metre former grain silo from the 1960s towers over the collection of warehouses that now host exhibitions such as Living Landscapes (until 18 October) featuring artists from Claude Lorrain to Edvard Munch and rising Danish stars such as Rasmus Myrup. Inside, a winding steel staircase traverses three floors and rewards visitors with remarkable views over the Limfjord. There’s also a “Nature Village” with pavilions serving as bases for outdoor education, exploring nature and kayaking.
It’s hard to figure how the National Gallery ended up in this sleepy part of Jutland, but it is already proving popular with people who might otherwise feel disconnected from the collection in the Danish capital on the other side of the country.
Across the Limfjord is another notable destination for culture lovers – Kunsthal Thy gallery was set up in 2023 by artist Rasmus Søndergaard Johannsen in a barn on the medieval manor house estate of Boddum Bisgaard. Its programme features a roster of international and Danish avant garde artists, working in sculpture, video and installations that feel unexpected in this quiet corner of Denmark, and quite different from SMK Thy’s efforts over the water to share its collection with a regional audience.
And it’s that sense of the unexpected that lies at the heart of the region’s growing appeal. It’s why outdoor adventurers may be willing to swap the classic Atlantic surf hubs of Biarritz in France or Ericeira in Portugal for a northern outpost dubbed Cold Hawaii. That and a certain understated sense of Scandinavian style, of course.
The trip was supported by Visit Denmark and Visit Nordvestkysten. Doubles at the Vorupør Badehotel start at £178 B&B. Several trains depart in the morning from Copenhagen central station to Sjørring in the Thy district, which connects to local buses run by Nordjyllands Trafikselskab. A ticket from the train company DSB covers transport from Copenhagen to Vorupør, including two trains and a bus, from 516 krone (around £60)
