Obock

Obock on the northern coast was where France established itself in this part of the Horn in the 1860s before moving the administration south to Djibouti City, and it has been quiet ever since: a small town of low buildings on a hot flat shore with a lighthouse, a few colonial-era remains and fishing boats. The Bab-el-Mandeb strait and the Yemeni coast lie a short way north.

What you actually see

• The old port - the first French base on this coast, now very quiet.
• The colonial remains - what is left of the nineteenth-century settlement.
• The lighthouse - the light standing on the shore.
• The fishing boats - the working craft on the beach.

When to go

November to March is the cool season. Summer heat here is extreme, among the hottest inhabited places anywhere. Boats from Djibouti City run irregularly.

Honest expectations

There is very little in the town and facilities are minimal. Summer heat is genuinely dangerous. The road round from Tadjoura is long and rough in stretches.

Nearby

Ras Bir is nearby, and Khor Angar is north.