Wooden deck
Over the waves.
Daniel Kraft — CC BY-SA 3.0 · FrankBothe — CC BY-SA 4.0 · dconvertini — CC BY-SA 2.0 · FrankBothe — CC BY-SA 4.0
A long jetty reaching into the Atlantic from Swakopmund's seafront, first built in the early 20th century to unload ships and later restored as a promenade where people come to watch the waves and the sunset. The town sits on the edge of the Namib Desert with a strong old German character. Visitors walk the wooden deck above waves breaking on its piles to the far end, where the whole town shows on the shore, with its red-and-white lighthouse, colourful colonial buildings and palms along the beachfront. Swakopmund is known for its late 19th and early 20th-century buildings with towers and ornament, and for the cold sea fog that covers it in the mornings even in summer. It is the base for desert adventures: quad biking, sandboarding and trips to the Moon Landscape. The jetty is free and open. Bring a jacket, as the ocean is cold and the wind strong. The desert is very hot by day from October to March and cold at night, so start early and carry water and a hat.
Over the waves.
German style.
Red and white.
Swakopmund seafront
The cold Benguela current chills the air and makes thick morning fog, even when the desert inland is hot.