Willemstoren Lighthouse

Built in 1837, it was the island's first.

It is still working and still automated, and you cannot go inside or climb it — what you get is the tower, the keeper's house beside it, and a great deal of wind. This is the point where the two coasts meet: flat turquoise water on one side, open Atlantic breaking on the other, a hundred metres apart.

The drive down is the trip: one road, the sea on both sides for the last stretch, and almost no traffic. Go in the late afternoon and turn round at the lighthouse, taking the slave huts, the salt pyramids and the flamingos at Pekelmeer on the way. Free, no facilities, no shade whatsoever. Fifteen minutes here, half a day for the whole southern loop.