Namibia’s premier seaside resort, Swakopmund, is a mecca for Namibians, offering a relief from the often-intense heat of the interior. Surrounded by the Namib Desert, it’s famed as a hot-spot for activities both on the coast and in the sand dunes: hot-air ballooning, sky diving, microlighting, sandboarding and quad-biking, to name a few. The town itself is charming, awash with pastel-coloured houses and colonial German architecture. Indeed, its old-world charm and laid-back atmosphere brings tourists flocking in - especially after Shiloh Jolie-Pitt was famously born here in 2006.
Stretching north from Swakopmund, the coast winds through the fishing village of Hentiesbaai, up into Cape Cross where there’s an enormous colony of seals, to the mouth of the Ugab River. This marks the start of the Skeleton Coast so-called because of the rusting hulks of sunken ships that lie along its coastline. Violent seas and heavy fog caused many a wreck during the 19th and 20th centuries, and today these remains and the desolate coastline are one of Namibia’s top tourist destinations.