What to do in Thiès Region?

The Petite Côte: lagoons, safari and fishing villages

The Petite Côte is worth more than its hotels: its sheltered beaches are pleasant, but its real interest lies in the places tucked in between the resorts.

First, the Somone lagoon. It is a community nature reserve created in 1999, on the initiative of local women who replanted the degraded mangrove; since 2017 it has been a Ramsar Site, on the list of wetlands of international importance. By pirogue, among the mangrove trees, you can watch herons, egrets, pelicans and, depending on the season, waders from Europe. Best done at the end of the day. To find out more, see the Somone lagoon page and the Somone page.

Next, the Bandia Reserve, inland between Sindia and Nguékhokh. It is a private reserve of around 3,500 hectares, where you set off by vehicle to see giraffes, rhinos, zebras, buffaloes, elands and patas monkeys, plus a crocodile pond, among sometimes enormous baobabs. No lions or elephants: this is not Niokolo-Koba, it is a half-day safari, perfect for families. Details on the Bandia page and the Bandia Reserve page.

Popenguine, at the northern end of the coast, offers ochre cliffs, a lovely sheltered beach and a nature reserve whose protection closely involves a women’s collective from the neighbouring villages, an often-cited example of community management. Every year at Pentecost, its Marian shrine draws thousands of pilgrims from all over Senegal. See the Popenguine Nature Reserve and Popenguine, or its neighbour Ndayane.

Saly is the best-equipped resort: this is where jet skiing, boat trips, sport fishing, quad biking and nightlife are concentrated. Ngaparou, right next door, is more residential and family-oriented. Mbour, for its part, is a real fishing town: its landing quay when the pirogues come in is one of the liveliest sights on the coast. Further south, Warang, Nianing, Nguéniène and Pointe Sarène form a calmer, more Serer stretch of coast, where people come to take their time. Finally Joal-Fadiouth, birthplace of Léopold Sédar Senghor, and its island built on shells, linked to the mainland by a wooden bridge, with its cemetery shared by Christians and Muslims.

Thiès and the interior: rail, wool and the Niayes

The city of Thiès was born of the railway. The Dakar–Saint-Louis line, opened in 1885, then the line towards Kayes and the Niger, made it a crossroads and a railway workers’ town, with its workshops, its working-class districts and a strong trade-union heritage, the story Ousmane Sembène told in God’s Bits of Wood (Les Bouts de bois de Dieu). The city’s other treasure is the Manufactures sénégalaises des arts décoratifs, founded in 1966 on Senghor’s initiative: high-warp tapestries are woven by hand here, and they hang in presidential palaces and major international institutions. The establishment celebrates its 60th anniversary in 2026. To find out more, see the Thiès page.

Further north, on the ocean side, Kayar is one of the country’s great centres of small-scale fishing. During the main season, roughly from November to June, hundreds of pirogues from other Senegalese ports line up on the beach, and the return from fishing at the end of the day is a striking scene. Just inland, Lake Tanma is a vast depression in the Niayes, whose level varies greatly from one year to the next and which largely dried up during the droughts of the 1970s. When it holds water, after the rainy season, birdwatchers come early in the morning for the waterbirds and migrants. Finally Tivaouane, a stronghold of the Tijaniyya brotherhood, comes alive every year for the Gamou, the celebration of the Prophet’s birth, whose date follows the lunar calendar.

When to go

Getting there and getting around

From Dakar, the toll motorway serves both Thiès and the Petite Côte; allow one to two and a half hours depending on the destination and your departure time, with Sunday-evening returns the slowest. From Blaise Diagne airport, Saly and the Somone can generally be reached in under an hour. Once there, a vehicle with a driver remains the simplest way to link Bandia, the lagoon and Joal: see our intercity transfers and vehicle hire with driver.

Practical tips

Set off early for Bandia and the lagoons: the light is better, the heat bearable and the animals more active. Keep cash in small notes for entry fees, tips and markets. On the water, a hat, sunscreen and a life jacket for children, every time. Fadiouth, like Popenguine or Tivaouane, is a lived-in, religious place: modest clothing and asking before photographing people will open many doors.

Nearby

To the north, Dakar Region begins at Toubab Dialaw, with Lac Rose and the Tortoise Village within easy reach: it is all on the Dakar Region page. South of Joal, the coastline tips into the Sine-Saloum Delta, its bolongs (tidal creeks) and its islands, in Fatick Region: Palmarin is under an hour’s drive away. North of Tivaouane, the Grande Côte leads towards the Lompoul desert, in Louga Region.

Book an activity in Thiès Region with QFS

The simplest approach is to start from the Petite Côte, where most of the offer is concentrated, then narrow it down by place: Saly, the Somone, Ngaparou, Mbour, Warang, Nianing, Nguéniène, Pointe Sarène, Popenguine, Bandia Reserve or Joal-Fadiouth. By interest, explore pirogue trips, birdwatching, wildlife reserves & parks, safari, quad & buggy, surf lessons & camps, jet ski, sport fishing, beach & relaxation days, island excursions or crafts & traditional skills. Every activity is run by an independent local professional. You pay 20% to secure your booking (the booking fee), and the balance is paid on site, on the day, to the local provider. Any official fees, such as reserve entry, are not included in the price: they are paid on site and specified on each listing. If you live in Senegal, you get the resident rate: up to 30% off.

Frequently asked questions