Again, we had bad news in Mombasa: Our cargo was still with customs and would not be cleared in the coming days. So we decided to go to the famous Diani Beach. With a flawless, long stretch of white sand beach hugged by lush forest and kissed by surfable waves, it’s no wonder Diani Beach is so popular. This resort town scores points with a diverse crowd: party people, families, honeymooners, backpackers, and water sports enthusiasts.
But we think it’s a bit overrated and just for tourists staying in resorts on some package holidays. Also, everything is overpriced, like beer at the famous Nomad Beach, which cost us 600 KES, and a small portion of beef ribs was for 3000 KES. Even a good club in Mombasa will serve beer for 400 KES, like the well-known Diani Backpackers, where it gets lively after 22:00.
We liked the far northern end of the beach road, where the 16th-century Kongo Mosque is located—Diani’s last surviving relic of the ancient Swahili civilizations that once controlled the coast and one of a tiny handful of coral mosques still in use in Kenya. The baobab-studded Kongo Beach is a beautiful picnic spot and a great place to enjoy the ocean without crowds. You can also go a bit further to Tiwi Beach.
