Moanda, often written Muanda, is the Democratic Republic of the Congo's only real beach town. It sits on the country's tiny Atlantic frontage in Kongo Central, close to the mouth of the Congo River and the Angolan exclave of Cabinda. This is not a polished resort coast. It is a working oil town with sand roads, sea air, fishing villages, and a strange sense of being at the end of a very large country.
The appeal is the coast itself. The Atlantic beaches are broad and breezy, though currents can be rough and facilities are basic. South and east of town the Mangrove Marine Park protects the river-mouth wetlands where the Congo meets the sea. The small port of Banana is nearby, historically important and still one of the few places where the DRC touches maritime trade directly.
Moanda works best as a side trip from Kinshasa for travellers already committed to western DRC. Come for the odd geography, the Atlantic light, and a look at a part of Congo very different from the forests, volcanoes, and river cities inland.