What's on in Swakopmund, Namibia through the year

Peak crowds — The coast fills up, Festive season on the coast

Nothing new starts in January.

Still on: The coast fills up (10 Dec – 15 Jan (usually)), Festive season on the coast (15 Dec – 10 Jan (usually))

Busy — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, one of its best months for weather

Nothing new starts in February.

Busy — school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it, one of its best months for weather

Nothing new starts in March.

Shoulder season — school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

• Season

  Coastal fog

  1 Apr – 30 Sep · usuallyFog seasonRisk

  The Benguela puts fog over this coast on something close to two hundred days a year, and it is thickest and slowest to lift in the cooler months. Twenty minutes inland the dunes are usually in sun.

Shoulder season — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

• Hazard

  The east wind

  1 May – 30 Sep · usuallyWind season

  A few times each winter the wind swings round off the interior and the coast goes from cold and grey to hot and full of sand inside an hour. Windows shut, the light goes brown, and it holds for a day or two. Source ↗

Still on: Coastal fog (1 Apr – 30 Sep (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

• Nature

  Whales off Walvis Bay

  1 Jun – 30 Nov · usuallyWhale season

  Southern rights and humpbacks pass Walvis Bay, half an hour down the coast, through winter and spring. The same boats run out to the pelicans and the seals on Pelican Point whatever the month.

Still on: Coastal fog (1 Apr – 30 Sep (usually)), The east wind (1 May – 30 Sep (usually))

Quiet — school holidays in 5 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

Nothing new starts in July.

Still on: Coastal fog (1 Apr – 30 Sep (usually)), The east wind (1 May – 30 Sep (usually)), Whales off Walvis Bay (1 Jun – 30 Nov (usually))

Quiet — school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: Coastal fog (1 Apr – 30 Sep (usually)), The east wind (1 May – 30 Sep (usually)), Whales off Walvis Bay (1 Jun – 30 Nov (usually))

Busy — Küska, the Swakopmund carnival, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Festival

  Küska, the Swakopmund carnival

  24 Sep – 3 OctCrowded

  The German-Namibian carnival: a princes' ball, comedy evenings held in German, and a street parade of decorated floats to close it. Close to forty years old and taken entirely seriously here. Source ↗

Still on: Coastal fog (1 Apr – 30 Sep (usually)), The east wind (1 May – 30 Sep (usually)), Whales off Walvis Bay (1 Jun – 30 Nov (usually))

Busy — Küska, the Swakopmund carnival, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in October.

Still on: Whales off Walvis Bay (1 Jun – 30 Nov (usually)), Küska, the Swakopmund carnival (24 Sep – 3 Oct)

Shoulder season — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

• Nature

  Seal pupping at Cape Cross

  15 Nov – 31 Dec · usuallyWildlife season

  The colony ninety minutes up the Skeleton Coast pups in November and December and swells to a couple of hundred thousand animals. You smell it from the car park before you see anything.

Still on: Whales off Walvis Bay (1 Jun – 30 Nov (usually))

Peak crowds — The coast fills up, Festive season on the coast

• Holiday

  The coast fills up

  10 Dec – 15 Jan · usuallySchool holidaysCrowdedBook early

  Half of inland Namibia drives to the sea in December and Swakopmund is where it stops. Every flat is let, restaurants need booking, and the fog keeps the place cool while Windhoek bakes. Source ↗

• Holiday

  Festive season on the coast

  15 Dec – 10 Jan · usuallyChristmas & New YearCrowdedBook early

  School and festive holidays send Namibian families from inland to the coast: from mid-December to early January accommodation fills early, rates rise and the beachfront and restaurants are at their busiest. Source ↗

Still on: Seal pupping at Cape Cross (15 Nov – 31 Dec (usually))