Skeleton Coast
Five hundred kilometres of fog, dunes and surf between the Ugab and the Kunene, where whale bones gave the coast its name and the northern half can be reached only by air.
- Arrival
- Walvis Bay · WVB
- To the coast
- Light aircraft to Möwe Bay from Windhoek or Swakopmund
- Private jets
- Into WVB, then light aircraft
- Best time
- October to June
The city
Fog on the shore, no road north.
The name probably comes from the whales once stranded along this shore, their bones bleaching on the sand, though ships have foundered here too, in fog and heavy seas. Since 1971 a national park of 16,845 square kilometres has run in a narrow band, some forty kilometres deep, from the Ugab River towards the Angolan border. The south, as far as Torra Bay, is open to drivers with a permit; the north belongs to a single concession and is closed to all vehicles but its own.
Rain barely counts, a few millimetres a year, and the plants live on the fog that rolls in from the Atlantic most mornings. Even so, desert lion and elephant, brown hyena and Cape fur seals all live along it. Afternoons stay close to twenty degrees in every month; the water is cold all year.
- Möwe Bay The end of the road for private cars and the landing point for light aircraft heading into the concession.
- Torra Bay The dividing line between the open south of the park and the closed north.
- Welwitschia and lichen With the !nara melon, plants that draw their water from the morning fog.
Arriving
By air, or not at all.
The nearest airport of entry is Walvis Bay, about 360 kilometres down the coast in a straight line. Beyond Möwe Bay the park is closed to private cars, so the usual way in is a light aircraft from Windhoek or Swakopmund, then a 45-kilometre transfer.
- Luanda 1 h 55
- Cape Town 2 h 30
- Kigali 3 h 50
- Accra 4 h 30
- Singapore 13 h 20 long-range jet
When to go
October to June.
A cold-water coast: the Benguela Current holds afternoons between 18 and 23 °C, and only February and March see more than a trace of rain. From October to June the days are a shade milder; July to September are the coolest and greyest months, and the sea stays between 14 and 19 °C.
- 23° J 1 18°
- 23° F 7 19°
- 22° M 13 18°
- 21° A 2 17°
- 21° M 0 16°
- 20° J 0 15°
- 19° J 0 14°
- 18° A 0 14°
- 18° S 0 14°
- 20° O 0 14°
- 21° N 0 15°
- 22° D 0 17°
Where to stay
Among the dunes, facing the Atlantic.
Shown for information. We have no arrangement with any of these hotels.
Elsewhere in Namibia
More reasons to come.
- Windhoek A small highland capital where most journeys into the desert begin.
- Sossusvlei Red dunes among the highest in the world, and the dead trees of Deadvlei.
- Swakopmund German façades on the Atlantic, beside the desert.
- Damaraland Ancient rock engravings, and elephants that live in the desert.
- Etosha A salt pan where the animals gather at the waterholes.
Flying to Skeleton Coast?
Choose how you arrive.
A Business or First Class seat on a scheduled airline, or an aircraft of your own. Tell us the date and how many are travelling, and we reply with one final price, our margin included.