288km (179 miles) SW of Copenhagen; 15km (9 2/3 miles) W of Skærbæk; 5km (3 miles) N of Sylt

We've never recovered from our first visit here, when we saw three Anita Ekberg-style blondes chasing a Danish man into the sand dunes. Germans, some sans clothing, flock to this North Frisian island for nude sunbathing like that practiced on their own island of Sylt to the immediate south.

In summer, it's a wild romp, straight, gay, or whatever, but it settles down for a long winter nap when the cold winds blow in from North Sea. Rømø is the largest Danish island in the North Sea, which borders its western shore. The east coast faces the Danish mainland and is bounded by tidal shallows, and the northwest corner of the island is a restricted military zone. In all, Rømø is 9km (5 2/3 miles) long and 6.5km (4 miles) wide.

Wild and almost constantly windswept, Rømø is separated from Germany by the Lister Dyb (Lister Deep) body of water. Midway between Ribe and Tønder, Rømø is connected to the mainland by a 10km (6 1/4-mile) causeway that passes over a panoramic marshland filled with wading seabirds and grazing sheep in summer. Exposed to the North Sea, the western edge of the island is the site of the best sandy beaches and is a magnet for windsurfers. The most popular beach area is at Lakolk on the central western coastal strip. Here the beach is under a kilometer (1/2 mile) wide. The main hamlets are on the eastern coast along a 6km (3 3/4-mile) stretch from the causeway south to the little port of Havneby.