Messum Crater

Set in a stark, beautiful landscape near Cape Cross along Namibia’s Skeleton Coast, the Messum Crater is the remains of what used to be an active volcano. The crater is a wide, flat basin of 25 km in diameter and was named by William Messum, captain of a British merchant ship that visited Cape Cross in the 1850s. The captain named the dry river course, mountains, and crater after himself. The crater can be reached with a 4x4 vehicle, and visitors are advised to make sure that they have plenty of fuel and use a route map obtained from the Henties Bay tourism office. It is very easy to get lost in this area, and a compass or GPS is also recommended.