Guesthouses with a Pool for Rent in Gorée
No guesthouses listed in Gorée yet
The page exists, the properties are on their way. In the meantime, here are other options for your stay — and if you own a property in the area, now's the time to list it.
A pool on Gorée Island is almost an anomaly. Eighteen hectares, World Heritage-listed buildings where nothing new is built, old houses packed tightly together, and every square meter of ground accounted for over two centuries. In this setting, having a pool requires an inner courtyard of exceptional size.
That is precisely what this filter selects: not one more amenity, but the few largest houses on the island. This page gathers them.
We are a Senegalese company and we put you in direct contact with the properties. The resident rate is shown on each property.
What a pool reveals on a listed island
Let us start with the constraint, because it explains the scarcity. Gorée's historic center is protected: buildings are restored, not extended, and footprints have been fixed since the days when the island was a trading post. Houses are built around inner courtyards, but these courtyards are usually light wells a few meters across, just big enough for a table and a bougainvillea. Digging and running a pool there requires an out-of-the-ordinary plot — and technical management in a place where everything, including water and equipment, arrives by ferry.
So when you filter on this criterion, you are not only looking for a swim. You are selecting houses with space, light and outdoor space worthy of the name — three things that cannot be taken for granted on Gorée and that completely change a stay of several nights.
Then comes actual use, and it is unusual here. Gorée has a beach, small and sheltered, right in the village. It is pleasant, but it is also the heart of island life during the day: between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m., when the ferries unload their visitors, it is busy and noisy. A courtyard pool lets you swim during those hours, out of sight, without making your way through the crowds. It is exactly the complement you need on an island that runs at two speeds.
And then there is the evening, which is the real reason to stay overnight. After the last ferry leaves, the island goes back to being a village of fewer than two thousand people. Slipping into the water at that moment, in a silent courtyard, with the ocher facades catching the last light and Dakar lighting up across the bay — that is something the daytime offers no one, and that very few places in the world can give you.
What "with pool" means here
- Inner-courtyard pool — practically the only format on the island: enclosed by the walls of the house, sheltered from view and noise, often with a tree and bougainvillea.
- Small plunge pool — a few meters, designed for cooling off rather than swimming laps. Check the dimensions if that matters to you.
- Pool shared between the rooms — this is a guesthouse, and on Gorée the scale is small: four to six rooms around a courtyard, where shared living comes naturally.
- Rooftop terrace — often part of the package, with a view over the rooftops, the fort and the bay. The natural complement to the courtyard pool, which is enclosed by definition.
Two useful checks: size and depth, which vary widely in cramped courtyards, and access hours — in an old house where the rooms open onto the courtyard, pool use is often restricted in the evening so as not to disturb anyone.
Where you will be
Gorée is about twenty minutes by ferry from the Plateau ferry terminal in Dakar. The island has been a World Heritage Site since 1978 and has no cars or bikes: everything is done on foot, along sandy streets and stairways.
The main page for guesthouses on Gorée covers the memorial site, the Castel, the history museum and the artists' village. Here, keep in mind what affects daily life: guided tours are best done early in the morning, artisan workshops are explored on foot, and the island's pace changes completely once the visitors have gone.
When the pool is most useful
From April to October, when the heat settles over the bay and humidity rises in the rainy season (hivernage). On an island without widespread air conditioning, in old houses with thick, heat-retaining walls, a courtyard pool becomes real relief in the middle of the day.
From November to March, the trade wind cools the island and the pool is more of a pleasure than a necessity — used mostly by families and at sunset. This is also high season, when the island fills up during the day: the pool then really comes into its own as a refuge during the busiest hours. Either way, book well ahead: Gorée has very few rooms, and those with a pool can be counted on one hand.
Good to know & booking
Everything revolves around the ferry, which leaves at fixed times from the Plateau terminal. Check the day's schedule; it varies with the season and the day of the week. On the island there are no cars or bikes: you carry your luggage from the quay, over a few hundred meters of sandy streets and stairways. Bring a bag you can carry.
The 20% booking deposit is paid online; the balance is paid at the house, in cash — the ATMs are all on the mainland. Use the direct contact with your hosts, available as soon as you book, to tell them which ferry you are taking: someone will meet you at the quay rather than leave you hunting for a door in unnumbered alleys.
Cancellation is free up to 7 days before arrival in low season (June 1 – October 31) and 14 days in high season (November 1 – May 31). If the house has to cancel on its side, we offer an equivalent option or fully refund the booking fee — which matters all the more here since alternatives on the island are few. The resident rate is shown on each property, on an account verified after a phone call. The tourist tax — 1,000 FCFA per person per night — is not included in the rates shown: it is collected on site by the owner, not by Senegal Rent. The amount is given as a guide.
Who is it for?
Stays of two nights or more: with one night, you enjoy neither the house nor the pool, and the point of the filter disappears. Families, because an enclosed courtyard with water on a car-free island is about the ideal setup with children. Travelers coming between April and October, when heat and humidity weigh on the old houses. Those who want space: on Gorée it is the rarest commodity, and this filter selects for it better than any other criterion. And Dakar residents, for whom a night on the island is the shortest possible getaway — twenty minutes by boat, and a courtyard of your own.
If you are coming for the island's history, for a single night, in January, the pool will not change anything about your stay — and the guesthouses on Gorée without a pool offer the same essential privilege: being there when the last ferry leaves.
The moment is like nothing else. It is 7 p.m., the island emptied out an hour ago, you can hear a ball being kicked in the square and the sea against the quay. You are in a three-hundred-year-old courtyard, between ocher walls, in warm water, and the only sound that reaches you is a village having dinner. Twenty minutes from Dakar.
FAQ
Are there really pools on Gorée?
Only a few. The buildings are World Heritage-listed, footprints are fixed and inner courtyards are usually tiny. A pool requires an exceptional plot: this filter selects the largest houses on the island.
Can't you just swim at the beach?
You can: the island's beach is small and sheltered. But it is also the center of activity between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m., when the ferries unload visitors. The pool lets you swim during those hours, in peace, without making your way through the crowds.
Are the pools large?
No: they are courtyard pools, limited by the footprint of the house. You get in to cool off; you do not swim laps. The dimensions are listed on the property page.
Is the pool private?
No, it is shared between the rooms of the house. On an island where the scale is small — four to six rooms around a courtyard — shared living comes naturally. Access hours are sometimes restricted in the evening.
Is it suitable for families?
It is probably the best setup on the island with children: an enclosed courtyard with water, in a village with no cars or bikes. Still, check the depth of the pool.
Do you need cash?
Yes, for the balance of your stay and for day-to-day spending: the ATMs are all on the mainland and the island's shops close early, once the visitors have left.
How do you book?
20% online secures the room, and the balance is paid at the house on site, in cash. Tell your hosts which ferry you are taking as soon as you book: someone will meet you at the quay, which saves you hunting for a door in unnumbered alleys.