Having spent a few days in the area end of October, I wanted to share with you some of my top tips for the area. Overall this is a great location to relax, enjoy white sand beaches and explore the stunning aquatic life!
Diani Beach area is located about 30 km South of Mombasa and is known as one major beach resort on the Indian Ocean coast of Kenya. The beaches are absolutely gorgeous and the area is great for relaxing, snorkeling, scuba-diving and if you wish to extend or complete your stay with a safari in Kenya or Tanzania.
What are the pre-requisites to travel to Kenya?
> VISA - you can get your visa at the airport at arrival (cost is about 50 US dollars in cash - they seem to accept euros/pounds/US dollars) or facilitate and expedite the process doing your visa online before you trip.
> YELLOW FEVER - you need to travel with a yellow fever certificate. They did not ask for ours but this is a pre-requisite to travel to Kenya. Make sure you have this ready! Check the other recommended vaccinations before your trip with your GP!
> PLASTIC BAGS - leave all your plastic bags at home. In 2017, Kenya announced the world’s toughest ban on plastic bags. Kenya gets indeed very serious about this and is threatening up to four years’ imprisonment or fines of $40,000 (£31,000) for anyone producing, selling – or even just carrying – a plastic bag.
> CURRENCY - get some local currency at the airport / ATM / elsewhere as it will be better to pay with local currencies
How to go to Diani Beach?
> Fly directly to Ukunda airport (2 km away from Diani Beach) from Nairobi international airport (Jomo Kenyatta International airport). Jambojet is offering a few daily flight to Ukunda but is only making the flight available for purchase a few months before the date. Also make sure that you are getting charged when buying the tickets and ideally print the receipt when traveling. A few people in our group thought they had bought tickets but they actually never got charged for them and their tickets did not exist! Note that the airport is tiny.
> Fly to Mombasa (30 km North) from Nairobi or another international airports (e.g. Doha, Addis Abeba). Only few European airports will have direct flights to Mombasa so you are likely to get a stop over if you fly with Kenya Airways, Air France, Qatar Airways (one world) or Ethiopian Airlines. While Mombasa is located only 30 km away from Diani Beach which would in theory take no longer than 1h15-30.., the traffic around Mombasa and specifically around the ferry can be very hectic and massively delay the time it takes esp. during peak hours. Basically, until the works on the bridge are complete (and this is likely to take a few more years!), you need to take the ferry to go from Mombasa island side and the mainland suburb and the wait to board a ferry can be very long! This area of Mombasa is actually very overwhelming and probably the most chaotic moment of our trip to Kenya. We even had there a small accident when waiting in the line to go to our safari. Our safari van was not even moving, one military truck tried to force the way and literally went into the right back side of the van trying to force the way to the ferry. One window shattered into small pieces and we had to change vans! Luckily our safari agency was super organised and it was an easy one to deal with. On our way back, it was by night and very busy and we waited for oen hour just to access to a ferry! Also, note that they do not allow you to take any pictures around the ferry crossing. In conclusion, allow a good margin when going through the Mombasa ferry, especially if you have a plane to catch!
Where to stay?
Diani Beach is a beach resort so you will find plenty of different options and for all budgets!
We tried a few options with different standings (all available on Booking.com)
Diani Marine (http://www.dianimarine.com/village/).
This is a sort of bed & breakfast which we found very convenient as located next to the beach and next to Diani House where our friends were celebrating their wedding.
This is a good option if you do not want to spend a big budget in accommodation but still wants something reasonable in terms of comfort. For about 70-75 pounds per night for a double room, your have a good size room with fans and mosquito nets in the room and including breakfast. The staff was really nice. There is a small swimming pool and bar.
Also, if are into diving, Diani Marine has some diving boats and can provide the equipment.
Villas Luxury Suite Hotels (http://thevillakenya.com/)
We picked this hotel for the last two nights in Kenya to finish our stay after the safari and we loved it. This was more expensive than Diani Marine but a different standing and very relaxing. The hotel is beautiful and has a selection of suites/rooms you can select. There is also a nice restaurant in the hotel as well as a very nice and big swimming pool. We paid 105 pounds per night including breakfast for Suite Junior Deluxe.
Depending on the season, you can access by walk to the private beach or they would drive you to a private beach club area (they charge you 5 dollars per person for the entrance but you can redeem at the Nomad beach club - see below) so that you can enjoy the white sand beach.
We checked in relatively late after a long drive back from the safari and they were very accommodating to smoother the check in process and provide us with dinner despite the late hour.
Diani House (http://www.dianihouse.com/).
This is the location that our friends chose to get married at and they stayed there with their family and close friends before/during/after the wedding celebration and I believe they really enjoyed it. Diani House accommodates up to 12 guests in 5 ensuite rooms and this is a nice spacious villa in the traditional Swahili style next to the beach and with a big swimming pool. Could be a good option if you are a big group. Also we really enjoyed the wedding food, a good mix of grilled seafood and meat!
How to move around the area?
Use the local tuk-tuk! However make sure you have an idea of the fair prices before using them and always negotiate the price before starting the journey. Ask your hotel staff, they should be able to give you an idea of how much it costs. Generally it was around 100-200 Kenyan shillings for a local ride (5-10 min). Each tuk-tuk can take up to three people so depending the journey, the nb of people and the time of the day (always more expensive by night!), the price may slightly vary also!
Where to eat & drinks?
Surprisingly you may want to book a table for dinners. You do not need to book long in advance, but booking a few hours before the dinner is always a good idea!
Ali Barbour's cave restaurant (https://www.alibarbours.com/)
The restaurant is set in a coral cave that's at least 120,000 years old, which makes the atmosphere unique and spectacular. It was founded by George and Jackie Barbour in the 1980s and named as a play on “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. Perfect for a romantic or quirky date night. Many options available but we noted a clear focus on beef meat and seafood. We went for the Tagliatelle Seafood Barbour's style and the Madagascar steak and it was really good. Unfortunately, a couple of people in our group got sick after eating 'Surf and Turf' but it seems they have been quite unlucky on that day as this is not what the numerous reviews suggest! Note that prices are more expensive than elsewhere in the area (almost comparable with European prices). Highly recommended to book a table. This is really worth a visit!
Tiki Bar
This was a great finding combining a relaxing and festive tikki-African atmosphere with nice and affordable varied food. Generous portions. Nice music. We really enjoyed the seafood/shrimp skewers as well as the chicken curry. Highly recommended to book a table as it gets busy very quickly!
Nomad beach bar restaurant (https://www.nomadbeachbar.com/)
Nice spot for a lunch or sunset from which you can enjoy the beautiful white Diani Beach. You can eat there international cuisine, fresh seafood and Italian pizza. Note that this is also a watersports center (diving, etc.)
Note that most hotels/lodges also have their own restaurants (Diani Blue, Diani House - if not privatised-, Villas Luxury Suite Hotels, etc.)
What to do in Diani Beach area?
- Enjoy the white sand beach and relax!
- Do some snorkeling, scuba-diving, or explore the ocean from a glass boat! For all of these activities, you can find plenty of options in your hotel or on tripadvisor
- Do a day trip to Kisite-Mpunguti Marine National Park and Reserve
Given we were not a small group (c. 30 people!), our friends had arranged the trip with Nico from Chacal Expeditions (see in the post Safari in Tsavo; http://chacalexpeditions.com/). In any cases, you would want to get this away-day arranged!
After about an hour drive South of Diani Beach, we reached the embarkation point from which we all boarded onto a small wooden boat. On our way to Wasani island, we got very lucky and saw a large number of dolphins, from babies to bigger ones! Then, we stopped at two different spots to do some snorkeling. The second spot was a tiny white sand beach stripe that was absolutely stunning! On that day, the ocean was not as clear as it could be so while we could see nice corals, starfish and multi-colour fishes, the water was not always super clear. I suppose we could not get lucky for both dolphins and clear water!
We stopped for lunch in Wasani island and had a nice local buffet. Then, after a quick walk in the village, we came back on the boat and made our way back to the initial embarkation point. I can't say if I enjoyed or not visiting the village. While it looks relatively traditional (very very basic village), you can also see that the locals are expecting the tourists to come over that way..so it was not super natural. Btw people will try to sell you all sorts of items at the embarkation point, claiming kids need pens in the village etc. do NOT buy anything from these people, this is obviously a well-organized tourist trap. Better to bring your own candies/sweets or even pens!
I was not sure what to expect and I had no regret, it was a great day! Beautiful nature!
Comments