Stealth camping on the German riviera

Already when I arrived to Skåne I realised I had not thought about the higher population density going south. In fact, I haven't camped since I left Halland and Germany is even worse. But, being a good boy I went to the tourist office in the lovely village of Binz and asked. She said all forests are protected but the beaches are free, as an "emergency escape". Cool, I thought and didn't think further about the look in her face.

Off I went, heading for the beaches south of Sellin. Slowly I got conserned. All beaches had a sign saying Hochwasserschutzgebiet, High tide protection area, enter at your own risk. On the other side of the boardwalk were houses. Damn!

As it got darker the small patches of trees in front of the houses showed to be a possible solution. I found a lower spot with a couple of trees and started to set up the tarp. It was hardly possible to see! But I was worried about the residents so I sneaked around, slowly building the camp, trying to act like any tourist. The fact I had a video conference with my colleagues at the same time did not help!

It soon got dark and I knew I was safe until dawn. I do not like acting like this but tonight the same thing happens. This time I've passed Groß-Stresow and there are no houses but some national park guys drove by and said I'd better move. "But if it rains it will be an emergency escape" he added, so for a while I stayed, hoping for rain. But then I saw a notice on Facebook from a friend in Frankfurt am Main about her having relatives on Rügen so I packed my gear and left, believing it would sort itself out. Let's see!