Squeezed between Cape Coast Castle and the rocky headland to the east, the fishing harbour is a chaotic and photogenic working scene — dozens of brightly painted wooden canoes drawn up on the sand, fishermen mending nets, women carrying baskets of fish up to the market, and the smell of fish and woodsmoke from the smoking sheds further inland.
The canoes go out at dawn and return mid-morning. The best time to visit is between 9 and 11am, when the boats land and the auction happens on the sand. Each canoe is hand-painted with proverbs, religious slogans and ship names — a tradition that runs the length of the Fante coast. Watch where you walk and ask before photographing people.