Things to do
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Dune 7
Beside the Kuiseb road on the edge of town, this dune rises steeply enough to be the standard climb for anyone with an hour to spare. Palms and a picnic area sit at the foot of it, and sandboards are hired at the bottom. The view from the crest takes in the salt works and the sea.
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Pelican Point
A sand spit curls north across the bay and ends at a lighthouse, with a Cape fur seal colony spread along its length and dolphins working the channel. Getting there means a boat from the waterfront or a 4x4 run along the beach at the right state of the tide. Boats leave the waterfront through the morning.
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Pelican Point Lodge
The old lighthouse keeper's quarters at the end of the spit have been converted into a small lodge, cut off from the town by an hour of beach driving and surrounded by seals on three sides. Transfers are arranged by the lodge. Nothing else stands out there, which is the entire proposition.
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Landmark
Sandwich Harbour
South of the town the dunes of the sand sea come down and stand directly in the Atlantic, with a lagoon and salt marsh behind them. Access is by guided 4x4 only, along a beach that the tide closes, and the operators time the run to the water. Permits come from the park office.
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Walvis Bay Lagoon
Shallow water and tidal mudflats behind the town hold one of southern Africa's most important wader sites, protected under the Ramsar convention. Greater and lesser flamingos feed here in tens of thousands, pelicans among them. A promenade runs the landward edge, and the birds are closest on a falling tide.
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Walvis Bay Salt Works
Seawater is drawn through a chain of evaporation pans south of the lagoon, turning pink where the algae concentrate, before the salt is harvested at the end of the run. The pans have become a feeding ground in their own right and the flamingo numbers on them are high. The C14 runs alongside the pans on the way south.