Nouadhibou is a working port city, not a tourist destination, but a few sights and a couple of remarkable peninsula trips make a stop worthwhile. The ship graveyard, the fishing port at sunrise, the Mediterranean monk seal colony at Cap Blanc, and the long ride to or from the iron ore train are the main reasons people come.
Bring tolerance for dust and bureaucracy, and a guide or local contact for anything outside the town centre — the peninsula is sparsely populated and crisscrossed by military zones.