Bakau Holidays

The town of Bakau is one of The Gambia’s top beach-break spots. It totals up more than two miles of shortbread-coloured sand for you to spread out on. You’ll find most of these strips strung around the town’s northernmost tip, in an area called Cape Point. A lot of the hotels in this part of Bakau are planted right by the coast, too. So you can look forward to walking from your room to the cool waters of the Atlantic Ocean in a matter of minutes.

Bakau’s been on the map since the early 1800s, but the neighbouring swamps and waterways have been around for even longer. Take a 10-minute drive east and you’ll see the sandy streets of the town centre gradually disappear, as the scenery becomes filled with mangrove-covered canals and streams. The best way to see this side of The Gambia is during a guided boat trip. While you’re out on the water, you could spot some of the native wildlife, like Nile crocodiles and hooded vultures.

Holidays to Bakau also put you within reach of The Gambia’s capital city, Banjul. The main tourist area’s a 20-minute drive away, and is stocked with the kinds of sights you’d expect from a capital, like a buzzing market, a 100-year-old cathedral and a handful of museums. However, since the holidaymaker masses haven’t discovered this place yet – and the population barely tips the scale over 31,000 – it’s likely you’ll have some of them all to yourself, depending on what time of the year you visit. March is the ideal time to stop by, as a lot of the tourists schedule their trips during the UK's colder months, between October and February.