Things to do in Winneba

Why Winneba?

While Winneba is an amazing place to stay and visit for a multitude of reasons, here are the four big ones we would like to draw your attention to.

History: Winneba boasts a deep-rooted history as a port town, tracing its origins back to colonial times and further, to when it was called ‘Simpa’. Local fishermen still use traditional fishing methods with colourful canoes and local songs to help with the haul of fish. The Effutu state website is a must read if you’re interested in Winneba’s early history.
Natural Beauty: Sir Charles beach is amazingly clean and further along you reach the Muni lagoon. The lagoon presents a unique ecosystem where mangrove trees thrive alongside diverse wildlife, making it an ideal spot for nature lovers and birdwatchers.
Location: situated between Accra, the capital, and Cape Coast, the capital of Central Region, Winneba is in the perfect position to explore nearby attractions.
Size: as a large town with one of the top universities in Ghana it has all the amenities of any big city. It has multiple hospitals, banks, restaurants, ATMs and more. Furthermore, being outside Accra, it offers cheaper rates on almost everything.

Fishermen hauling in nets from Sir Charles beach

The Big Events in Winneba

Masquerade Festival (1st of January and right before university begins). Fun and loud, there are lots of colourful costumes, big bands and marches.
Valentines Day
Independence day (6th March)
Easter Weekend
Aboaykir (deer hunt) Festival, 1st Weekend in May
Akomase (end of hunger) Festival, 2nd or 3rd week of August

Jah Mighty Loveland hosts big parties during all these events so if you fancy a boogie we’d love to have you stay.

Winneba during the University’s Term Time

The University of Education in Winneba is a huge university with three campuses. During this time the town is swarming with young students and their professors. The bars are teeming with life and the university offers talks and cultural lessons to tourists. As an ex-teacher at the university, your host Caroline has good connections to help you get lessons. If you want to sign up for drumming or dancing, Jah Mighty Loveland will sort you out.

Winneba throughout the Year

Winneba is a working town so has plenty to do outside of its main events and the university term time.

Wake up in the morning to the songs of fishermen as they haul in nets along the beaches or go down to the harbour during the day to see how they launch the traditional fishing canoes.
As you can imagine, fish can be found in all elements of the local cuisine. Around every corner there is a place to eat.
The Winneba Heritage Centre is open throughout the year. Here they offer tours and there’s lots of information on the Aboaykir festival: there are photos dating back to the late 19th Century!
Get some custom clothes made for you by the local tailor Fifi Laurent. He does exquisite work and can truly make anything you ask him to.
If you come to Jah Mighty Loveland we have deep roots in our local community and are very proud of it. We will introduce you to key figures about town and where you can hear stories from locals about the history of Winneba.

Traditional canoe's pitched up on Sir Charles beach

Fishermen hauling in nets on Sir Charles beach

Lifting up the catch on Sir Charles beach

Traditional fishing canoes bobbing in the harbour

Winneba’s natural beauty

The best thing about Winneba’s natural beauty is that it isn’t going anywhere soon.

You can chill out in the natural pool on Sir Charles beach and watch the amazingly turquoise sea year round, there are vendors selling kebabs just behind the beach if you get hungry and from November to February each year turtles come up onto the sand to lay their eggs.

Around a 20-30 minute walk further down the beach is the Akosua village. A small fishing village which contains the Muni Lagoon. All the houses here are made using traditional methods: woven palm leaves for the walls and thatching for the roofs. Many of the houses have small fenced in gardens where you can see a multitude of trees poking out the top.

The walk itself is especially serene as, moving further away from Winneba, you’re usually the only person on the beach. You can see a variety of birds such as the weaver birds shown in the photo below.

Sir Charles natural swimming pool

Views of the natural swimming pool at Sir Charles

Winneba’s location

One of the main pleasures of Winneba is that it is situated perfectly between Cape Coast and Accra. As well as the many activities that go on in this bustling town, you are in the perfect spot to explore Ghana.

Moving west, you’re a short trip from Cape Coast, the capital of Ghana’s central region. Cape Coast is an historic slaving port known for the infamous Cape Coast and Elmina castles.

A little further north is Kakum national park. Situated in a rainforest, you have the opportunity to walk on bridges 40m above the forest floor while spotting the rainforest flora and fauna.

Moving east, you are a short trip away from Kokrobite. The surfing holiday spot where those living in Accra often go to relax by the sea. This is a popular tourist destination.

Last but not least, you are also a short trip away from Accra: the capital of Ghana. This is a huge city and so it is difficult to cover the amount of things to do here. However, there have been multiple articles written on the variety of things to do there.