Akwidaa Beach

Akwidaa Beach is the shoreline of Akwidaa, a small fishing village and town in Ahanta West District in Ghana's Western Region, on the Gulf of Guinea coast near Cape Three Points, one of the country's southernmost places. The settlement has two parts: Akwidaa Old Town, which sits on the coast beside a wetland and the mouth of the Ezile (Exile) River, and Akwidaa New Town, which lies inland. Old Town experiences flooding and erosion linked to climate change.

Fishing is the mainstay of the local economy, and boats line the shore; agriculture also supports the community. The town is known as a tourist spot for its beaches and is described as a hub for ecotourism, with community tourism and nature among its recognised categories. Turtles nest on the beach between September and March. Akwidaa was historically the site of Fort Dorothea, part of the Brandenburger Gold Coast, and its ruins were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1979 along with other regional forts.

The beach itself is a free, open public strand with no gate or operator, and no entrance fee is charged. Three beach lodges operate at Akwidaa: Safari Beach Lodge, Akwidaa Inn and Ezile Bay Ecolodge. Ezile Bay offers bungalows with bathrooms, rooms with shared bathrooms, a collective bungalow, a small dorm, tent camping, a French-Ghanaian restaurant, solar electricity and waste recycling, and welcomes campers and motorhomes. There are no hot showers, dining and shopping options are limited, and the nearest ATM is in Agona (Visa only), so visitors should bring cash. Activities reported in the area include surfing, bodyboarding, swimming, sunbathing, village life, mangrove canoe tours and mountain biking; surfers should bring their own boards. Guided turtle-nesting tours have been reported at about US$5 per person, benefiting an Akwidaa community fund.

Access is by road only: roughly 1.5 hours' drive from Takoradi and 45 minutes from Agona, by private taxi or tro-tro from the Agona tro-tro station, mostly on gravel or dirt road that can wash out in the rainy season. Ezile Bay describes itself as an hour and a half from Takoradi and 40 minutes from Busua, between the fishing villages of Akwidaa and Katakor.