In the not-too-distant past, initiation of girls took place during a rite called ‘Tchikumbi ', where initiates were taught myths relative to the creation of man. The Tchikumbi was an education in social living and marriage, passing on the local taboos which were to be respected to avoid angering the Bakissi (spirits). During the colonial era, Western missionaries took on the education of girls following their own principals. Tchikumbi all but disappeared, however, there has recently been an interest in reviving the tradition.

Mayumba today is characterized by a broad mix of faiths and beliefs, from Christianity and Islam, to traditional animist belief systems such as ‘Bwiti'. Bwiti is practiced throughout Gabon and involves dance, music, and communication with spirits, at times with the assistance of the hallucinogen ‘Iboga' which is harvested from the roots of a plant growing abundantly in the area.

Legends of forest and river ‘genies', stories of panthers in the night, and of the ubiquitous siren, Mamiwata, are alive and well in Mayumba. One local legend tells of an ocean siren who crept across the sandbar to steal the husband of another mermaid in the lagoon near the town of Mayumba, thereby incurring her wrath. Since that day, the ocean and the Banio lagoon have been separated by the Mayumba peninsula.