Namibia · NA

Elizabeth Bay

Elizabeth Bay—known locally as E-Bay—is a diamond-mining ghost town on Namibia's windswept southern coast, 25 km south of Lüderitz. Once the beating heart of the Sperrgebiet, the vast restricted diamond zone, it produced over a million carats before the Great Depression emptied its streets. Today its crumbling casino, corroded separation plant, and eroded worker housing stand frozen in time against a backdrop of fog, Atlantic swells, and rocky desert. Visiting requires a guided half-day excursion from Lüderitz, with advance permits to enter the Sperrgebiet. The ruins here feel rawer and more industrial than the better-known Kolmanskop nearby, with a stark coastal beauty that has drawn filmmakers and photographers alike.