Things to do in Casamance
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Casamance
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Dry season, the season to go: passable roads, reliable pirogues, all properties open, December to February best.
Wet season, heavy rain June to October: flooded laterite roads, impassable tracks, highest mosquitoes and malaria, some closures.
Harmattan haze can soften light in December to February, and Abene Festival fills Abene around New Year.
What's on
- Abene Festival Late December to early January, often 26 December to 2 January
Drumming, dance workshops, concerts and beach parties in Abene around New Year; book rooms and transfers well ahead.
Best things to do in Casamance
Cap Skirring Beach
A long, wide, palm backed Atlantic beach running for kilometres, almost empty away from the hotel fronts.
Ile de Carabane
A car free island first capital of Casamance, reached by pirogue from Elinkine, with sandy lanes and birds.
Musee de la Culture Diola
Diola culture explained in a traditional impluvium house among giant kapok trees between Elinkine and Oussouye.
Ziguinchor Escale Quarter and River Port
Colonial warehouses, the port and pirogues on Rue de Commerce and Rue de France by the Casamance River.
Edioungou Pottery Village
A Diola village known for pottery passed down through generations, best paired with Mlomp and Elinkine.
Abene Beach and the Bantan Woro Sacred Tree
A drumming centred beach village with a huge sacred kapok, a long empty beach and a relaxed traveller scene.
Diembering
The large Diola village behind the Cap Skirring strip, with the Sangawatt heritage collection and kapok trees.
Where to stay in Casamance
Cap Skirring
beach, easiest logistics, families at Club Med
A low rise resort strip on a long Atlantic beach, with the region's only luxury stays and most restaurants.
Ziguinchor
river, transport, market and a real town
The regional capital on the Casamance River, with riverfront hotels, the port, pirogues and onward travel. No luxury tier.
Oussouye
Diola culture, village stays and bolong trips
A leafy Diola town and seat of the King of Oussouye, with only simple campements, all at the cheap tier.
Think twice about
- Rural tracks near the Guinea-Bissau border
Landmines and unexploded ordnance from prior conflicts persist in border and rural areas, often unmarked. Stay on main roads.
- Minor roads in Casamance after dark
Travel on main roads in daylight only, due to armed robbery risk and poor road quality.
Best restaurants in Casamance
Le Regal
The splurge dinner on the strip, French run, known for gambas, lobster on order and carefully cooked seafood.
La cabane sauvage
A beach cabane on Boucotte Bay with exceptionally fresh fish, a sea view and a swim before or after lunch.
Restaurant - Chez Platini
A feet in the water beachfront seafood restaurant serving the catch of the day from morning to late.
Le Petit Gourmet
A garden restaurant mixing Senegalese dishes with international cooking and a famously good pizza.
Casa Resto
Simple vegetarian friendly plates and local dishes at cheap prices, where budget travellers actually eat.
Le Perroquet
Dinner on the terrace over the Casamance River, fresh whole fish and honest prices in Ziguinchor.
La Griotte
A small highly rated local restaurant serving Senegalese home style dishes, a local lunch choice.
Chez Kathy
Fresh seafood by Kafountine fishing port, with monkfish brochettes singled out by local guides.
Outdoor things to do in Casamance
Pirogue Trip on the Casamance River from Ziguinchor
Motorised pirogues through mangrove bolongs past fishing villages and oyster collectors towards Carabane.
Mangrove Kayak and Pirogue from Elinkine to Carabane
The quiet bolong route from Elinkine to Carabane, with mangrove oysters, herons, egrets and kingfishers.
Kalissaye Avifaunal Reserve
A small estuary reserve created in 1978 for sea turtle and seabird colonies, best by boat early with a guide.
Kafountine Fish Market
Casamance's great working fishing port, with pirogues landing, smoking yards and boat trips to bird islands.
Cap Skirring to Kabrousse Beach Walk
A low tide walk north on firm sand from Cap Skirring to Kabrousse village and back, about an hour each way.
Pointe Saint-Georges
A quiet Diola fishing village known as a place to look for West African manatees from a lookout and by pirogue.
Casamance VTT
Guided bike routes from Oussouye between rice fields, mangroves and villages, from day rides to three days.
Best hotels in Casamance
Club Med Cap Skirring - Senegal
The only full international resort in Casamance, all inclusive in a palm grove with sailing, tennis and excursions.
Les Alizes Beach Resort
A small beach resort of villas, the independent luxury alternative to Club Med, quieter and more private.
La Paillote Village Hotel
A well established mid range beach hotel with bungalows, a pool and a restaurant in the heart of the strip.
Hotel Maya
A small personally run hotel on an almost empty beach north of Cap Skirring, praised for its half board food.
Campement Casa Impluvium
A budget impluvium style campement near Cap Skirring airport, for the beach without beach hotel prices.
Hotel Kadiandoumagne
A riverfront Ziguinchor hotel with spacious netted rooms, a pool and garden, and a well liked fish restaurant.
Le Flamboyant Hotel
The established river town hotel on Rue de France, with tidy rooms, a pool and a generous breakfast.
Hotel le Perroquet
The budget traveller institution by Ziguinchor port, simple rooms above the famous river terrace restaurant.
Is Casamance expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | F CFA 18,000 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | F CFA 40,000 a person |
| Splurge | F CFA 95,000 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Pirogue Trip on the Casamance River from Ziguinchor: a few days ahead
- Mangrove Kayak and Pirogue from Elinkine to Carabane: a few days ahead
- Kalissaye Avifaunal Reserve: a few days ahead
- Casamance VTT: a few days ahead
- Club Med Cap Skirring - Senegal: months ahead
- Les Alizes Beach Resort: weeks ahead
- La Paillote Village Hotel: weeks ahead
- Hotel Maya: weeks ahead
- Book Club Med, Les Alizes and dry season flights weeks to months ahead for Christmas to February.
- Agree pirogue route, duration, shade, life jackets and total price before boarding.
- Tell your Oussouye campement by mid morning if you want dinner that night.
Is Casamance safe?
- In Casamance exercise increased caution for crime and landmines: main roads only, in daylight, with no night driving.
- Do not walk cross country or on unused paths in rural border areas, and take local advice before village walks.
- Casamance is a malaria area all year; use nets, prophylaxis as advised, and insurance covering medical evacuation.
- Never photograph soldiers, checkpoints, sacred woods or ceremonies without explicit permission.
Casamance travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Cash only payment catches travellers out, even at established Ziguinchor hotels, so carry CFA or euros.
- Unaffiliated guides at ports and bus stations are the main hassle; quote a pre booked name.
- There is no luxury tier in Ziguinchor or Oussouye and no standalone restaurant scene in Oussouye.
Getting around Casamance: public transport and more
- Fly Dakar to Cap Skirring or Ziguinchor, about an hour, and book ahead in season as frequencies are thin.
- The Ziguinchor to Cap Skirring road via Oussouye is the spine, roughly 70 km and about 90 minutes to two hours.
- Road travel via The Gambia from Dakar is a long full day with border formalities.
- Travel between bases in daylight only, on main roads, with a driver hired through your hotel or campement.
Who Casamance suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Not ideal |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Not ideal |
Make Casamance your trip
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