Seventeen kilometres of white sand under palms and casuarinas, with a reef-protected lagoon in front and the coast's best restaurants behind.
Diani runs for about 17 km down the south coast, a strip of fine white sand lined with palms and casuarinas, with a coral reef offshore.
It is roughly an hour south of the city, across the Likoni ferry and down the coast road.
The wind sets the rhythm. In the windy months, kitesurfers fill the sky; in the calmer kaskazi season, the lagoon inside the reef is flat and perfect for swimming.
The beach road is lined with the coast's best restaurants, from Swahili seafood to wood-fired pizza. Colobus monkeys swing through the roadside forest.
Easy as a day trip, better with a night or two.
Take the free ferry from the island's south side; go early to avoid queues.
Turn off at Ukunda for the beach road.
Swim inside the reef at mid to high tide.
A kitesurf lesson in the wind, or a dhow trip to the reef.
Fresh seafood at one of the beach restaurants.
Likoni ferry then matatu or taxi, about an hour; flights also land at Ukunda airstrip.
From backpacker cottages to big resorts along the beach road.
Agree prices for boat trips before setting off and use licensed operators.
Mombasa practical notes →Photographs from Wikimedia Commons and Pexels under their licences.
