Not every water stop has to involve getting wet. Hohwacht works for riders because it offers a place to refill a bottle, sit near the sea and let the engine cool, and because the little harbour has a calm, working character that is a relief after the busier resorts to the east. The marina holds a mix of small fishing boats and sailing yachts, and a few smokehouses and kiosks do a quiet trade. In the early morning, before the day-trippers arrive, you can hear the halyards tapping against the masts and the cry of gulls.
The place started as a fishermen's settlement on a sheltered bay, and the old name was little more than a fishing station. It grew into a resort in the twentieth century, and today it is a small and comparatively unspoiled seaside village, with a promenade, a sandy beach and a line of low houses behind the dunes. A short walk along the shore brings you to a wooded cliff on one side and a protected lagoon on the other, the Sehlendorfer Binnensee, an important place for waterbirds. The land between the sea and the lagoon is flat and open, with grazing cattle and reeds.
The roads to and from Hohwacht run through rolling farmland, with views of the sea appearing through gaps in the hedges. They are quiet in the morning and busy in the afternoon on fine summer days, and the surface is generally good. Wind off the Baltic is a constant, and a cool breeze can feel pleasant at midday and bitter by evening. If you are carrying a passenger, a spare layer is a kindness.
Facilities are mostly seasonal, with cafés, kiosks and a few restaurants open in summer and many closed in winter. Drinking water is easy to find in cafés if you buy something, and public taps are not widespread, so carry a bottle. For fuel and a proper supermarket, Lütjenburg, about six kilometres inland, is the nearest. A late afternoon here, with a coffee and a fish roll and a bench facing the sea, is a very good way to let the miles settle. The light turns golden around seven in midsummer, and the bay is at its best then.