Skeleton Coast National Park · the end of the public road
Skeleton Coast, Namibia
Twenty beachfront rooms and two self-catering beach chalets at the northern end of the road through the Skeleton Coast National Park. Surf fishing straight off the sand, the Uniab River delta on the doorstep, and room for no more than fifty guests in all.
The stay
Terrace Bay is as far north as you can drive yourself on the Skeleton Coast. Beyond it the park is closed to vehicles, so the camp sits at a genuine end of the road — a small cluster of rooms between the northern Namib dunes and the cold Atlantic, around 360 km up the coast from Swakopmund.
It is run by Namibia Wildlife Resorts and was built with anglers in mind. The cold Benguela Current offshore feeds a huge variety of fish, and here you cast from the beach rather than head out in a boat. Evenings in the bar are spent comparing the day’s catch.
You don’t need to fish to enjoy it. Families come for the isolation, and travellers exploring the coast use it as a base for the Uniab River delta and the empty shoreline. With a cap of fifty guests, it stays quiet and light on the land.
Keep your expectations simple: this is a clean, friendly, practical camp rather than a luxury lodge. The location is the reason to come.
Where you will sleep
Twenty en-suite rooms in ten beachfront chalets, plus two large self-catering beach chalets — with parking right beside your door.
Ten chalets strung along the beachfront, each divided into two separate rooms — twenty rooms in all, each sleeping two in a double or twin beds.
Every room has its own bathroom, a fridge for drinks (or bait), a kettle and a desk.
Out front is a veranda for watching the sun drop into the Atlantic, and your vehicle parks right beside the room.
Two large chalets for groups, families and fishing parties — one sleeps eight and the other sleeps ten.
Both have a big lounge, their own kitchen and an outside braai area, so you can cook up the day’s catch yourselves.
With only two in the camp, they are the first to go over school holidays and the fishing season — book early.
What to do
For the fishing, first of all. This is some of the best shore angling in southern Africa, with plenty of spots up and down the coast — the staff and the other guests will tell you where the fish were biting yesterday. Bring your own rod and get your fishing licence from the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources before you enter the park.
It is also the only way to spend a night this far up the Skeleton Coast without flying in. A transit permit only lets you drive between the gates; an overnight booking here is what lets you stop, explore the coast road north of Torra Bay and walk into the Uniab River delta, where there is hiking, birding and the chance of desert-adapted game — or just a sundowner up on the dunes.
Meals are straightforward and freshly cooked. Breakfast is a buffet with eggs, bacon and sausage done to order. Dinner is from a set menu from 7pm in the restaurant and bar looking out over the ocean, and lunch is available if you arrange it in advance.
For other places to stay along this coast, see our Skeleton Coast accommodation page.
Video
Our guide to visiting the Skeleton Coast — the gates, the road north and what to expect on the way to Terrace Bay.
Photos
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You pay the lodge's own rate. Our service costs you nothing on top.
You pay the lodge's own rate — nothing on top.
A person who knows the Skeleton Coast road reads every enquiry.
We have been booking Namibia for decades.