Port-Gentil
Gabon · Ogooué-Maritime · 5 m
Description
Port-Gentil stands on an island in the Ogooué delta and is the oil capital of Gabon, reachable only by plane or by the boat that crosses from the mainland. The money shows in the restaurants and the expatriate bars, and the town is the usual staging point for Loango further down the coast. Cap Lopez marks the northern tip with a long beach and the terminal where tankers load. Sport fishermen come for tarpon and barracuda where the river meets the Atlantic. The Ogooué delta behind the town is a maze of channels, sandbanks and fishing villages best seen by pirogue.
Length of stay
Recommended length of stay: 1 to 3 days (optimal 2 days)
Travel season
Best time to visit: June – September
- Jan
- Feb
- Mar
- Apr
- May
- Jun
- Jul
- Aug
- Sep
- Oct
- Nov
- Dec
Highlights
- Cap Lopez beach
- Pirogue trips through the Ogooué delta
- Sport fishing for tarpon and barracuda
- Seafood restaurants and the expatriate quarter
- Marché Grand Village
- Boat crossing to the mainland
- Delta fishing villages
- Humpback whales offshore (July - September)
- Sunset on the ocean side of the island
- Église Saint-Louis
- Beach bars along the Cap Lopez road
- Birdlife on the delta sandbanks
- Flight over the delta to Loango
Getting there
- Airports:
- POG
- Seaport:
- Reachable by ship or ferry