A guide to Walvis Bay and Swakopmund in Namibia. History overview, getting to and main attractions. All the best tips in one place to help you plan your perfect trip through Namibia 🇳🇦
Located on the coast, Walvis bay is second largest city in Namibia and the largest on the coast. The city is the main port of the county because of it's natural deep water harbour, perfect for any vessels. The importance of the location was known as early as 14th century. It is on the route around Cape of Good Hope and very isolated by land. Although today it is part of Namibia, through the history it was governed by various nations which created a distinct character of the city.
The geography of the bay makes the waters very productive and attracts wildlife that you will be able to experience during your visit.
Getting to
Walvis Bay has it's own airport that you can reach mainly from Cape Town or Johannesburgh. However, most people begin their journey through Namibia at Windhoek airport.
Unfortunately, public transport is not well developed in Namibia. There are some buses but their schedules are unreliable, often wait until they are full, and take very long time.
Main way of getting around the coutry is by renting a car. You can pick it up directly at the airport and drop it off there at the end. You can choose between Polo and 4x4. If you are planning on visiting only Walvis and Swakopund polo will be perfect. However, if you want to extend the trip to locations such as Etosha or Sossusvlei you will need a 4x4. You can check out the 9 days itinerary through Namibia for more ideas
This is the activity I can't recommend enough in Namibia. And in my opinion this is the best company to do it with. Apart from offering great organisation from quality of equipment to information and snacks they also care about what they do. We been briefed how to interact with the seals so that we don't stress them out or disturb them (most of the time they are happy to approach you themselves). At our tour we spotted a seal entangled in fishing net. The tour guide and few of us spent over half an hour trying to catch the seal and release it and we were successful! Even more on the drive back we stopped for a beach clean to keep the seal area clean. Amazing experience!
Keep in mind that the tours start at 8am so you'll either need to drive from Swakopmund the evening before or early in the morning (drive takes about 40min).
If you didn't have enough of dunes yet you can check out dune 7, the highest in the area. It's nice but nowhere near s impressive as Sossusvlei area. Also entry fee around 10€
If you take the seal kayaking tour this is where you'll go. It's the end of peninsula where the seal colony is. On the drive there (accessible only with 4x4) you'll pass salt mine and flamingo bay and if you're lucky you can maybe spot the hyena pack. They are active at night so try dawn or dusk and are often spotted of the edge where 4x4 track starts. Just at the end of the flamingo promenade
From Walvis bay you can reach the Sandwich Harbour, where the ocean meets the desert.
Easiest way to reach it is by organised day or half-day tour with a shared car and a guide.
If you want to explore on your own keep in mind that you can only reach it with 4x4. There are no marked roads to the harbour, you need to find your way through dunes. You can ask the tour companies for guide assistance - so you either follow their car or the guide joins in yours. That is the most sensible option to not get lost and not destory the habitat
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Swakopmund
History
Swakopmund is a beach resort and characterized by German colonial architecture. The city was founded in 1892 as the main harbour for German South West Africa. German-style architecture gives the city an atmosphere similar to that of a traditional German town. Swakopmund has a milder climate than most of Namibia.
Getting to
If you have a rented car just go for it. Road is good and well maintained and it only takes 30 min from Walvis Bay.
If you don't have a car take a taxi! For 30 min it should be around 10 euros per car, no matter if you have 1 or 4 passengers. If you want to save some money find friends to share the ride with
General history museum of swakopmund which has a lot of artefacts from German colonisation. Quite interesting especially after visiting the genocide museum so that you can see the comparison
Did you hear of the genocide in Namibia? Many people didn't. Did you also know it was prototype of what happened to Jews during world war II?
I'd highly recommend reading more about Namibian history, especially the book Kaiser's Holocaust is very informative. And so is the swakop genocide museum. It's nothing more than little rooms in someone's house. You come over knock on the door and the owner opens up the museum, sets up a screen and explains you step by step the history. His own family was part of the holocaust so it's his life mission to educate people of the dark parts of history. Museum is completely free however donations are welcomed. As you might imagine the museum doesn't get much of local funding and there been attempts to shut it down multiple times.
If you want to go surfing drop by the hostel and book there. They can rent you all the equipent and have a local guide go with you and show you around the surfing spot
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