Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.

Surfers know it. Sailors know it. And a handful of open water swimmers know it.

The Skeleton Coast along Namibia in the southwest of the African continent is another example of a relatively untouched and unexplored part of the open water swimming world.

As the cool Benguela Current flows along the African continent from the Cape of Good Hope, it meets the desert heat and creates a dense fog and a steady flow of fast-moving air uninterrupted by any terrain or man-made structures.

Called ‘The Land God Made In Anger‘ by the Bushmen of the Namibian interior and ‘The Gates of Hell‘ by Portuguese sailors, it can be a wildly beautiful and difficult place to swim.

Copyright © 2014 by World Open Water Swimming Association