Travel to Lamu Island

long-time favourite of a Bohemian in-crowd

Set 140 km north of Malindi, Lamu is the most important island in an archipelago which stretches along the last 100 km of the Kenyan Coast, up to the border with Somalia.

Although the island has a significant population, it remains a relatively sleepy backwater, which retains a good deal of that magical old Swahili Coast atmosphere.

Lamu Island has long since been the place to visit if you want to avoid the more conventional beach locations to the south. It remains a rather cool and quirky backwater, an old favourite amongst more experienced travellers.

Activities in the area include sailing, kayaking, kite-surfing, water-skiing, town and village visits. However the diving is limited, since the reefs of this coastline do not generally extend this far north.

Accommodation on the island can very much be divided into four separate areas, each offering a different type of experience …

Lamu Town

Lamu Town is the busy commercial hub of the region, a traditional Swahili port with the usual maze of alleyways and hives of relaxed activity.

Most visitors spend time exploring the town, but relatively few actually stay here, hence the lack of higher quality accommodation options.

Shela Village

The village of Shela is a good deal more laid back and the place most people choose to stay.

Shela Village is a substantial but much quieter traditional settlement just three kilometres to the south of the main town. It’s very much a favourite amongst wealthy Kenyan residents and the international aristocracy.

The bulk of the accommodation here is in a range of rather cool and stylish private house rentals, although there’s also a handful of small hotels, notably including the historic Peponi Hotel.

Manda Island

Manda Island is separated from Lamu by a narrow channel, which is easily crossed in a couple of minutes by dhow or motorboat.

Unlike its neighbour, Manda does not have a large resident population, being largely made up of sand dunes and mangrove swamps, with little land suitable for agriculture and virtually no fresh groundwater. It’s the site of the modest ruins of the Swahili city of Takwa.

The stretch of beach across from Lamu Island includes a number of accommodation options, notably a relatively small and upmarket hotel called The Majlis.

On the distant north shore of the island lies the long-established Manda Bay Lodge.

Lamu Southeast

The southeast corner of Lamu has a very different feel, being removed from the settlements and fronting onto the broad beaches of this part of the island.

Accommodation here is in a couple of small lodges and several rather upmarket private house rentals.

Lamu is almost always accessed by scheduled flights from Nairobi or locations further south on the Kenya Coast, into the adjacent Manda Island, from where it is a short ferry ride to the main island.

Where to stay

The majority of visitors to Lamu choose to stay in just one property, although it’s perfectly feasible to mix two locations, with Shela Village and Lamu Southeast being perhaps the most obvious combination.

The usual stay duration in the area is 4-8 nights.

accessed by air to the adjacent Manda Island