Permit number BPH01034/ACT01054/TSO01231
Empty Lineups. Quality Waves. Untamed Nature. Adventure. This is surfing in Namibia.
Venture into the wilderness to find wild animals, spectacular landscapes, our many indigenous cultures and an unforgettable adventure.
Namibia is sometimes referred to as “Africa for beginners”. Especially in the cities it feels more western than one might have imagined. Good infrastructure, low crime, easy communication in English and German, food & drinks with European influence, supermarkets with familiar items and most other comforts and necessities like good coffee, yummy bakeries, fast internet, pharmacies and modern hospitals.
We recommend combining our surf camp in Swakopmund with a “typical” trip to Namibia, which is usually a 2- 3 week guided tour or self-drive safari to see our vast, beautiful country, its people and the spectacular wildlife - Deadvlei, Etosha National Park and the Fish River Canyon are just a few of the highlights.
And no - Namibia is not sharky and is not very cold. A good 4/3mm wetsuit is all you need.
Surf camps are hosted at the Salty Jackal house which is an eco-friendly, laid back hostel sleeping 14 guests and is all about cooking good food & "cooking good surf"! Your hosts Olli & Iris speak English, German, Italian, Afrikaans (Dutch) and even Albanian.
To get a feel for our Namibian surf camp watch our YouTube video "ONE SALTY DAY | Salty Jackal Backpackers & Surf Camp".
Features
Our surf camp is located in Swakopmund, a picturesque town in the Namib Desert between sand dunes and the Atlantic Ocean. Nature is on its doorstep - a walk along the beach or into the dunes is literally around the corner. The town is small and safe, so it’s possible to get around on foot or bicycle very easily, even at night. Various supermarkets are 5-15 minutes walk away.
Self-Catering Kitchen & BBQ
Breakfast included each morning
Fully Stocked Honesty Bar with Beer, Wine, Soft Drinks and Snacks
Activities for all tastes and budgets: quad-biking, sandboarding, skydiving, cultural tours, dolphin cruises, fishing and many more!
Safe neighborhood with restaurants, beer gardens, bars and supermarkets few minutes away. Nature on our doorstep: dunes, beaches, desert.
Yoga, rock climbing, paragliding and kitesurfing nearby.
Dec-Feb:
Small to medium sized swell perfect for surf lessons and intermediate level surfers. It's our summer with water temperatures of 14-17 deg C and in January and February as high as 25 deg C. Of course for advanced surfers, there are options too and there can always be an unexpected big swell or two.
March-April:
An exciting mix of conditions for beginners, intermediates and advanced surfers with usually mid-sized swell and the odd big one. A bonus is some of the mildest and warmest weather of the year with favourable winds. Water temperatures drop to 12-20 deg C.
May-Aug:
Swell season a.k.a Donkey Season is May-August. This is our winter, when frequent far away storms in the South Atlantic send big, clean ground swells towards Southern Arica's coast. These first hit the Western Cape in South Africa and then make their way up the West Coast of Africa to Namibia together with Saffas heading north on the N7 highway towards the barrel of all barrels.
As for the weather, May-July usually have the lowest wind and are surprisingly warm, while in August is starts to get colder and windier. Water temperatures are usually 12-15 deg C, hardly ever colder. Best for intermediate to advanced surfers, as we surf a variety of break types not suitable to beginner lessons. Of course there are exceptions, so lessons are not impossible, just unlikely.
Sep-Nov:
Certain spots come alive during these colder and more windy months, which are best suited to ambitious beginners, intermediates and advanced surfers. Water temperatures are typically 12-17 deg C and there is a mixture of small, medium to large swells.
Crowd factor and local people
The crowds are generally very low. Namibia has a population of only 2.4 million, of which only about 5-7% live at the coast. Of these only a tiny percentage surf, as for some the water is too cold or they are simply not aware of the fact that there are surfable waves in Namibia. On a day with excellent swell conditions, good weather and when people have time to surf, namely weekends and evenings, there may be 20-25 surfers at one spot. More than this is very uncommon and one can always just move to another spot - there are many options. In most of our surf sessions we are alone in our group or with a handful of other locals. One exception is Skeleton Bay, which on a perfect and huge swell easily attracts 100+ expert surfers from around the globe. However here the strong current which can send you 500m down the point in a few minutes makes it impossible to stay in position by paddling - hence the crowd naturally gets thinned out by this conveyor belt style setup.
Ways to get to the camp
Namibia has two international airports:
1. Windhoek Hosea Kutako (+-410 km from Swakopmund) - daily shuttle buses operate door to door from Windhoek to Swakopmund.
2. Walvis Bay International ( +-45 km from Swakopmund) - airport shuttle to Swakopmund available.
JOURNEY - FLIGHTS TO NAMIBIA
It's easy. There are direct flights from Frankfurt to Windhoek with Lufthansa group as well as flights via Ethiopia, Qatar and South Africa.
You have the choice to fly either to Namibia's capital Windhoek and catch a daily door-to-door transfer bus (4 hour trip costing +-NAD 300 / ca. 18€) to our town Swakopmund at the coast or you can fly to Walvis Bay, which is only 40 km from the surf camp and get an airport shuttle to our doorstep.
Our surf camps are run over 7 nights and 7 days. During your stay, you'll get at least 5 surf days with 1 or 2 sessions in our area on each surf day or full day trips to spots further away from Swakopmund. And if the conditions allow we'll surf even more! Usually, we surf in the mornings due to the best wind conditions, which leaves the afternoon for chilling, activities, exploring the town & nature and nightlife.
Day 0: Arrival, town tour & welcome dinner.
Day 1-6: Surf 1 or 2 times per day, rest is free time.
Day 7: Surf in the morning, departure.
Prices per person until December 2023 Room sharing pp Single Room
7-day Surf Camp
Surf'n'Dream 6-bed Dorm (shared bathroom) 575 € -
Secret Cave Twin Rroom (shared bathroom) 630 € 720 €
Driftwood Cabin Twin Room (shared bathroom) 630 € 720 €
Sun Room Double Room (shared bathroom) 640 € 745 €
Space Room Double/Twin Room (private bathroom) 660 € 785 €
Extras
Surf photography & video analysis - charged per group per session.
3 day Skeleton Coast Surfari (surf trip to add on after the surf camp finishes) -ask for quotation.
Surf Photography
Half day session 45 € per group
Full day 115 € per group
Please enter the message you'd like to send to Salty Jackal Backpakers & Surf Camp (Swakopmund, Namibia)
Surfing:Namibia is just the most magical place - everything - the surf, the animals, the nature, the landscape - and I met the nicest people. Special times.
Other (e.g. Surroundings, Nightlife, etc.):-
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Surfing:Hatte eine geniale Zeit...Einsame Breaks und eine endlos schnelle Linke...Mit dem Guide Oliver war ich immer zur richtigen Zeit am richtigen Ort...einfach top!
Other (e.g. Surroundings, Nightlife, etc.):-
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