Swakopmund and the coast

The coast is the counterpoint to the rest of the country. Offshore runs the cold Benguela Current, and it brings fog: to Swakopmund on more than 180 days a year, to Walvis Bay on around 140. Rain, on the other hand, hardly falls, less than 20 millimetres a year. Average temperatures stay between 15 and 25 degrees, and in the dry season days rarely get above 20. That is why Namibians come here to escape the summer heat. For you it is the break between the Namib and Damaraland.

of tar from Windhoek to Swakopmund

360 km

foggy days a year in Swakopmund

180+

between Swakopmund and Walvis Bay

34 km

sea temperature through the year

13 to 18 °C

Three towns share the coast. Swakopmund sits in the middle, with half-timbered houses, a seafront promenade and coffee houses, and is the base for almost everyone. 34 kilometres to the south lies Walvis Bay, the country's only natural deep-water port. With 102,704 people the port town is bigger than Swakopmund, yet for visitors it is all about the lagoon and the bay. Heading north you take the C34, tarred since 2019, to Henties Bay. Wikipedia gives 72 kilometres, the route planner 76. Beyond that the road turns to salt.

From Windhoek you reach the coast on the B2, 360 kilometres of tar in four to four and a half hours. From Sesriem it is 350 kilometres via Solitaire and the Kuiseb Pass, more than 300 of them on gravel, and you meet the sea at Walvis Bay. And if you are heading on to Damaraland, you leave the coast at Henties Bay on the C35 to Uis.

Two nights, sometimes three

Plan two nights in Swakopmund, one of them for an excursion. Walvis Bay takes half a day from Swakopmund. Add a boat trip to the seals at Pelican Point and it becomes a full one. Since 2025 a four-lane freeway behind Dune 7 has also linked the two towns, about 42 kilometres long. Sandwich Harbour lies south of Walvis Bay, about 45 kilometres as the crow flies (English Wikipedia says 80, which is too high). There you pay a concession fee instead of the higher park fee.

A night in Henties Bay is worth it if you head north the next morning. From there it is 46 kilometres to Cape Cross, just over 120 from Swakopmund. How many seals lie on the cape depends on the month and on whom you ask. Older figures speak of 80,000 to 100,000 animals, a fact sheet from the Namibian embassy gives up to 210,000 in November and December. Since April 2026 Cape Cross has been a premium park with a higher daily fee.

Fill up before you leave

Stock up here for the next leg. In Walvis Bay the state sets the fuel price, and inland you pay more. Right behind the town the C14 begins, about 230 kilometres of gravel to Solitaire. Heading north, Henties Bay is the last fuel stop before Cape Cross and the Skeleton Coast Park. There is no fuel inside the park.

Our tipGet the permit for the Welwitschia Drive on your first day in Swakopmund, at the environment ministry office on the corner of Bismarck Street and Sam Nujoma Avenue. Without it you may not drive the track into the Moon Landscape.

Places in the region

• CoastSwakopmund

  The cool coastal town of German-era buildings where everyone takes a break after the desert.

• CoastWalvis Bay

  Harbour town with a bird lagoon, 34 kilometres south of Swakopmund at the start of the gravel road to Sossusvlei.

• CoastHenties Bay and Cape Cross

  The anglers' holiday town on the coast, last stop before Cape Cross and the Skeleton Coast.

Worth seeing: Cape Cross, Skeleton Coast, Sandwich Harbour, Moon Landscape and Welwitschia Drive

Stages in and through the region