Kenya’s Best Beach and Safari Destinations for the Ultimate Coastal Adventure

If You’re Planning A Beach And Safari Holiday

When talking about the Kenya coast, it’s not just a question of where to go. The Kenyan coastline is also an adventurous, highly active destination, one where you can go diving or snorkeling, travel along the coast in a dhow (traditional wooden sailboat), or simply relax on the beach. And just inland from the water’s edge, there are historic ruins, a sacred forest and a park where you can see elephants.

Diani beach       

It is known as the best beach for long walks and watersports with a long stretch of soft, powder – white sand and excellent and vast choice of hotels and serviced beach villas as well as countless restaurants and bars. It is located within 30 km south of Mombasa and popular for pretty beach activities including standup paddle boarding, kite surfing, kayaking and deep sea fishing. You can even go skydiving for views from above. Diani is a dream for divers and snorkelers with many dive sites less than an hour away by boat. Reef sharks are a big draw as is spotting endangered hawksbill and green turtles. From November to February, you might see whale sharks. For kids, glass-bottomed boat tours offer an easy glimpse of the underwater world. You can visit the rain forest park os Shimba Hills National Reserve, 16km inland and it is home to elephants, monkeys, mongooses, bird species and the endangered sable antelope. Inside the reserve is the Mwaluganje Elephant Sanctuary, created for elephants to freely roam around this area.

Galu Beach

Galu sometimes called Galu Kinondo is often seen as an extension of Diani beach and its another endless stretch of coastline south of Mombasa. This patch of sand is a little more secluded and less developed than Diani and there is more coastal scrub. Kaya Kinondo Sacred Forest is the remaining jungle on the Kenyan coast. It is home to vervet and colobus monkeys and it’s a sacred site for local communities.

While White sands are the big ticket, eco-tours run by Colobus Conservation are worth investigation. The organization was set up to protect these threatened primates and conserve their habit after locals voiced concerns over the increasing deaths of colobus monkeys on busy Diani Beach road. Galu Beach is popular for eco-tourism and kite surfers including paddle boarders and the Polish-run Kite Motion kite surfing school is a good first port of call if you want to join in. snorkelers and drivers can swim among scorpion fish and moray eels as well as rarer fish as sea horses and ghost pipe fish.

Nyali Beach

Its accessibility is easy to reach spilling along the northern fringes of Mombasa. When people talk about Mombasa’s beaches, they often mean the long stretches that lie north and south of the city such as Diani and Watamu but Nyali, part of a larger residential area just north of cental Mombasa has plenty going on to suit all ages and its one of the most accessible and convenient stretches of sand.

Nyali’s long, white – sand beach has a good selection of hotels and restaurants across all budgets and you can enjoy a variety of beach activities and water sports. It is not the most beautiful among Kenya’s beaches but with the New Nyali Bridge connecting Nyali to Mombasa Island, it’s easy to reach the old Town and sights such as ancient Fort Jesus.

A good base is Tamarind Village, a stylish complex of serviced apartments on Mombasa Harbor with gorgeous views over the water to Mombasa Island. Its white exterior and high arches are design homage to traditional Arab architecture on the Swahili coast. Its popular, open – sided Tamarind restaurant is excellent for seafood and you can also book a trip on a dhow for a crewed

sunset cruise around the harbor. You can request drinks and snacks, or even a full dinner, or bring your own supplies. There are also plenty of urban distractions here: Malls and supermarkets, butterfly and crocodile farms, Hindu temples and even a golf course.

Kikambala Beach

This is the best beach for local atmosphere located 33km north of Mombasa. It is not the most accessible spot, the road ends a few hundred meters away from the shore but if you like quiet sands and snorkeling, its worth the effort. The sand is blinding white and at low tide, you can stroll out to the coral reef. It’s a popular beach with the local community which makes it particularly atmospheric at the end of the day with children kicking soccer balls around and people relaxing with cold beers at small beach kiosks.

Watamu Beach

This is one of Kenya's best beach for snorkeling and marine life. About 108km north of Mombasa, the coral gardens of Watamu Marine National Park and Reserve are home to parrotfish, angelfish, three species of turtles and many more marine species making this an underwater paradise. If you are here between November and February, there is a good chance of spotting whale sharks and manta rays while July to October is the season for humpback whales. Tribe Watersports can arrange kite surfing and other water activities.

Watamu is made up of three bays that is, Watamu, Blue Lagoon and Turtle and they’re all white-sand, aquamarine, coconut palm-lined natural wonders. What makes this area particularly special are the nearby wetlands and mangrove forests – the Arabuko Sokoke Coastal Forest is one of the largest tracts of coastal forest in Africa and a thriving habitat for wildlife, including elusive elephants, various reptiles and amphibians and the adorable-looking Sokoke scops owl.

While Watamu is still a relatively sleepy beach town, a growing number of hotels have put it on the map, including the popular Hemingways, named in tribute to the US author who spent a vacation here deep-sea fishing. Others, such as Ocean Sports & Turtle Bay have raised Watamu’s profile for watersports; the hotel's activity center can arrange scuba dives, fishing trips, kayaking and windsurfing lessons.

Kilifi Beach

This beach is known for cool, creative vibes. Kilifi is around 35km (22 miles) south of Watamu at the mouth of Kilifi Creek, with a mostly local population of Giriama and Chonyi people from the Mijikenda tribe. Palm-lined Bofa Beach is a beautiful spot and home to the lively beach bar and kite surfing center. The south side of Kilifi Creek is home to the smaller Shauri Moyo Beach with more white sand.

The creek itself, an estuary of the Goshi River, is a haven for birdlife. Take a boat to the bird island in the middle of the creek to see fish eagles and flocks of southern carmine bee-eaters. Kilifi is also a good base for a trip to the Watamu Marine National Park and Reserve, one of Kenya’s oldest marine parks. Take a boat to snorkel and dive among groupers, lionfish and large rays and whale sharks in season.

On land, Kilifi is home to the Mnarani Ruins, the archeological remains of a centuries-old Swahili settlement on a bluff overlooking the creek. The site includes two 15th-century Mnarani mosques and a 900-year-old baobab tree.

Recently, Kilifi has come into its own as young professionals have made a base here, leading to an explosion of cool cafes and bars, co-working spaces and concept venues such as the Food Movement and FoMo where artist studios, an organic farm and market days come together in one creative space. Kilifi is also the setting for the annual three-day beneath the Baobabs Festival– Africa’s first carbon-neutral festival – mixing East African music and culture with a focus on sustainability.

Malindi Beach

With appealing beaches, relaxed resorts and great Italian food, Malindi is one of Kenya's most laid-back beach towns. Malindi is one of Kenya’s most intriguing beach towns. While it has a predominantly Muslim population, it’s also known as 'Little Italy' after the Italian-run Broglio Space Center opened in the late 1960s and a growing Italian community made a home here. While fewer Italian residents live here permanently today than in Malindi's heyday, the town is still home to an above-average number of Italian restaurants, gelaterias and grocery stores selling pasta and Parmesan cheese.

Malindi has a long and lovely stretch of beach, and while the town has a somewhat faded feel, that’s also part of the charm. Lodges and resorts line the beach road leading to Malindi town, including the unusual sculpture-park-meets-hotel, white elephants, owned by an Italian art collector. Two of the best Italian restaurants in the area are Osteria and Baby Marrow along this beach road.