Diaz Point is a rocky peninsula 20 km south of Lüderitz (accessible by car on a dirt road), where a replica of the stone padrao planted by Bartolomeu Dias in 1488 marks the European discovery of this coast. The headland is worth visiting for the rockhopper penguins — a colony lives on the rocks below the lighthouse — and for the views back toward Lüderitz across the bay, with the cold green Benguela swells breaking on the granite.
The penguins at Diaz Point are African penguins (jackass penguins, named for their braying call), present year-round. They are completely unbothered by visitors and can be approached quite closely on the rocky ledges. The lighthouse above is operational. The drive from Lüderitz on the gravel road takes about 30 minutes and crosses typical Namib coastal desert — sparse, rocky, windswept, and occasionally spectacular when the afternoon light turns the rocks orange.