I finally bought myself a stand-up paddle board and I'm looking to go out on Zurich Lake near Küsnacht. I've seen many paddle boarders in the area but I'd be grateful if somebody could clarify the general rules for where/where not to go on the lake.
In addition to wearing a life-jacket and labelling your board, this website states only that "zones marked with yellow buoys may not be used." So I'm assuming that most of the lake is free to explore as well as paddling across the middle (while keeping an eye out for the bigger boats). Is that right?
Is there perhaps a map outlining all the permissible/off-limit areas and boat routes on the lake? For anybody interested, I found this official guide to understand the meaning of the various coloured buoys .
It is an official requirement but only if you venture further than 300m away from the shore, with reference to Zurich Kanton's website . So no problem if you stick to the lake shore and don't venture out to the middle (I believe that Zurich Lake is 3,000m at its widest point).
you can carry a small inflatable one if that's more convenient for you.
SUP clubs give that (well at least one on greifensee).
I would think it's a Kanton rule but I'm not sure.
I have windsurfed many times on Zurichsee without and never had an issue. And 95% of people don't seem to wear one in Zurich, Luzern, Neuchatel, Geneve...
In Italy (lake garda) they are very strict about it (but also never had an issue...)
By the way, I've been searching for alternative paddle boarding locations in the vicinity of Alstetten, where I live. I’ve passed by the Limmat at Killwangen-Spreitenbach many times and thought it seemed like a fairly calm stretch of the river and there appear to be several river boats nested there. Is anybody familiar with that part of the river, and perhaps seen paddle boarders?
Do you know if it's permitted to SUP at night on Lake Zurich? I thought it'd be an amazing experience to be out on the water after dark. Though I imagine that this is safer to do with more than one person.
I wouldn't do it on one board, though. Paddle, I mean.
It is good you asked, I like the idea. I haven't seen people SUPing here in dark, nor have I tried at night, either. I'd be worried not for me but about poor visibility and swimmers. Or some poor duck. Or the Loch Ness beast, or sumfin.
Thanks for looking this up squeezethecroc! For anybody in the Zurich area looking to get such a light, I bought mine from Sufari surf store near Stauffacher.
If anybody is interested in joining me for a nighttime paddle, please feel free to PM me!
thinking of Lake Neuchâtel and how extremely fast conditions can change - if the top of mountains cool and the lake area remains warm- it very quickly creates a deadly vacuum. Minutes and you can go from calm- to gale force winds.