Things to do
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Hoanib River
One of the west flowing rivers that run underground for most of the year, with a floodplain that supports desert adapted elephants, giraffe and lions moving between the catchment and the sea. Ana trees line the bed. The lower reaches sit inside a concession and are worked by lodges rather than day visitors.
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Möwe Bay
A research station, a small museum of salvaged wreck timber and a handful of buildings stand where the road north gives out, inside the concession where public driving stops. Seals haul out along the shore below. Access is by air or with an operator, and the museum keeps no fixed hours.
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Shipwreck Lodge
Cabins built to the shape of wrecked hulls stand among the dunes north of the Hoanib mouth, inside the concession beyond the public barrier. Guests arrive by charter flight or guided transfer. Drives run out to the seal colony at Cape Frio and along the roaring dunes behind the camp.
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Park
Skeleton Coast National Park
Black gravel plains, bone coloured dunes and a fogbound shore run north from the Ugab gate for hundreds of kilometres. The southern section is open to self drive as far as the barrier, and everything past it is concession ground reached by light aircraft. Permits are checked at both gates and they close early.
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Torra Bay
A campsite opens on this bay for a few weeks over the December and January holidays and shuts for the rest of the year, which is unusual even by the standards of this coast. Anglers are the reason it exists at all. Dunes come down to the beach on either side of it.
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Uniab River
South of the camp the river reaches the sea through a delta of reed beds and braided channels, which is enough water in a desert to hold springbok, gemsbok and jackal. A short walk leads to a waterfall and a gorge set back from the beach. Lions have been recorded here, though sightings are rare.
