Cameroon's beaches: Kribi, Limbe, Ebodjé and Campo

Kribi: the main beach resort

Kribi, capital of the Océan division, is the country's busiest beach destination; according to Wikipedia, tourism took off after the road was improved in 1990. White-sand beaches stretch out on either side of town. People come to swim, to eat grilled fish and prawns, and to see the Lobé Falls, 7 kilometres to the south, where the river drops straight into the sea.

Ebodjé and the sea turtles

Ebodjé is a Yassa fishing village in the Campo district, with 729 inhabitants in 2005. Since 1998 a project started by a Dutch foundation and now run by the local NGO Tube Awù has protected sea turtles here: leatherbacks, olive ridleys and green turtles all use these beaches. Families rent out rooms to visitors and small restaurants have opened, according to notre-planete.info. Fishermen who catch a turtle by accident hand it over to the project so that it can be released.

Information on the nesting season is contradictory. A report from a monitoring programme funded by the Rufford Foundation records the first nest of the 2015–16 season on 21 October 2015 and hatchings in February 2016, which places nesting in the dry season, from October into the early months of the following year. A press article, by contrast, gives the season as March to September. It is best to check with the association before you go.

Limbe and its black sand

About 70 kilometres west of Douala, Limbe spreads around Ambas Bay at the foot of Mount Cameroon. The sand on its beaches is black, from volcanic rock. Down Beach, the fish market, is more a fishermen's beach than a place to swim, but it is one of the best spots in the country for grilled fish. The beaches along the road heading west are named after their distance in miles: Mile 6, Batoke (Mile 8), where lava flows from a recent eruption are still visible, and Mile 11. Seme beach is nearby, and Idenau, further on, also has black-sand beaches.

As of 2026 the UK lists Limbe under “all but essential travel”, as it does the N3 road linking it to the Littoral region. The rest of the South-West region beyond Limbe is under “all travel” advice, and that includes Idenau. The beaches in between are not named individually, so check before you go. France Diplomatie (zones of 5 March 2026) puts the South-West in orange, except for red zones at Bakassi, Korup and west of Kumba and Mamfe, and Kribi, in the South region, under heightened vigilance (yellow).

When to go

Kribi's climate is hot and humid all year round, averaging about 25.7°C with nearly 3,000 millimetres of rain a year. December is the driest month and September the wettest, according to Wikipedia. The beaches are busiest during the Christmas and Easter school holidays, which are also the periods when most drownings occur. Seasons are covered in detail on the when-to-go page.

Currents and drownings: take care

Kribi's beaches see repeated drownings. According to camer.be, more than 30 people drowned there between December 2017 and July 2018, mostly students from the big cities on holiday, on the Wamié, Elabé and Ngoye beaches. On 1 June 2026 a coconut seller died at Ngoye-Wamié trying to rescue a young swimmer caught in a whirlpool, who was never found. The maritime authorities warn that currents on this coast can be extremely dangerous, with underwater whirlpools that are hard to spot from the shore, and the press has pointed to a lack of warning signs and lifeguards.

• Do not go more than three metres into the water (advice from Kribi city council's 2018 campaign).
• Never swim alone.
• Heed signs marking dangerous areas.
• Do not swim at high tide.
• Only swim when a lifeguard is nearby, and listen to fishermen and locals when they say the sea is rough.

Frequently asked questions