Getting from Nairobi to Diani Beach
You should visit Diani Beach! Read about our family’s top activities in Diani Beach here. However, unlike us, you should be prepared for how to get to Diani Beach. Our trip to Kenya started in Uganda, and so we flew into the Mombasa airport. If you want the best way to get to Diani Beach from outside Kenya, this is not a bad option. However, read up on the 4 options that you have so that you can make the best choice for your budget and time.
1. Fly into Mombasa International Airport
If you are already flying into JKIA (Jomo Kenyatta International Airport), this is the most straightforward way to Mombasa. This is what we did on the way to Diani Beach. However, it’s important to understand the steps. First, you must process your immigration entry into Kenya upon arriving at JKIA. Do not follow the “Connecting Flights” line (oops, we had to backtrack). “Connecting flights” or “Flight transfers” ONLY means international flights. There is no notice for this, and we showed our boarding passes for the flight to Mombasa and were ushered into the line taking us to the international connections’ terminal.
Even if your flight from outside Kenya to Mombasa is booked as a single itinerary, you must clear immigration and customs, and you will leave the airport, going outside. Once outside, walk across the parking lot towards the domestic terminal. The domestic terminal requires you to check in again, even if you already have boarding passes.
Upon arriving in Mombasa, we would strongly encourage having a trusted driver already set up to take you from Mombasa Airport directly to your lodging in Diani Beach. This should cost roughly 4,000 KSH ($37). The one problem: driving from Mombasa requires ferrying the car across the channel, as there is no bridge. For us, arriving on a Friday night at 6 p.m., and with one of the ferries not working, led to the worst traffic jam we have ever seen. It took us 3 full hours to arrive at our lodging in Diani Beach.
Therefore, if you are going to be flying to Mombasa Airport, you may want to consider flights that do not arrive during peak “rush hour” traffic at the Likoni Ferry. On our return to Nairobi, we drove from Diani Beach to Mombasa in under 1 hour in the early morning.
Cost for 4 from Nairobi to Diani Beach: $340-ish (average $75 extra flight and $40 taxi)
2. Fly from Nairobi Wilson to Ukunda Airstrip
If you are already starting in Nairobi and want the fastest and easiest method for how to get to Diani Beach, this is the easy winner. This is not only the easiest option but also the only one to skip the Likoni Ferry. Depending on the day of travel, we saw the flights ranged between $100-$200 per person. However, there is advertising that it can go much cheaper than that. We never saw cheaper than $100, but December is the busiest month for domestic vacations to Diani Beach. If you travel in January through April, it should be cheaper.
The Ukunda Airstrip is just a short tuk-tuk or UBER to the main beach resorts along Diani. We saw that the flight was the cheapest from the Nairobi Wilson airport, which is easily accessible. If you are pressed on time, do this.
Cost for 4 from Nairobi to Diani Beach: $615 (average of $150 flight and a $10 UBER)
3. Take the Madaraka Express (SGR) Train from Nairobi to Mombasa
This is how we returned to Nairobi from Diani Beach. We arranged for a driver to take us from Diani to the Mombasa SGR Terminus. From there, we took the economy class from Mombasa Terminus to Nairobi Terminus. Both SGR Terminus stations are close to the airports.
There are daily trains going in each direction. At the time of our writing, the slower inter-country train took a little over 6 hours (6 stops along the way) and left Mombasa in the morning. We wanted to arrive in Nairobi in the afternoon. The express train is only 5 hours but leaves Mombasa in the afternoon, so we would have arrived in Nairobi after dark, which we preferred to avoid.
The schedule is the opposite of Nairobi: you can grab the express in the morning or the slower train in the afternoon.
Ticket costs:
- First Class: spacious seats, charging ports, only 2 seats together.
- 3,000 KSH for adults and kids are ½ price.
- Economy Class: not great seats, really close to people you don’t know, the tickets are given assigned seats simply in order of purchase, so your 4 tickets may have an awkward seating arrangement. This was worth it to us for the money saved and really wasn’t that bad, but know your travel comfort level.
- 1,000 KSH for adults and kids are ½ price.
- Thus, for our family of 4, the total cost was 3,000 KSH ($27) for 4 economy tickets!
We also saw animals along the entire journey. During the trip, we saw multiple elephants, zebras, buffaloes, and more!
Pro-tips: bring your own snacks and drinks and arrive at least 1 hour ahead of time at the station. The security to enter SGR rivaled airport security. Jon did have a security guard ask for “money for Christmas” to get his bag out of the x-ray machine. Just be aware, smile, and firmly say, “No”; grab your bag and go.
One challenge for tourists is that you can only buy tickets online by using MPESA. Read about how to accomplish this here. We did hear from locals that the express train sells out all the time, and if you are planning on using the SGR at all, we would recommend purchasing tickets ahead of time.
Cost for 4 from Nairobi to Diani Beach: $63
4. Take a bus from Nairobi to Mombasa
We don’t know any tourists that use this option. From viewing many, many buses in and throughout Nairobi, we would not choose this bus as an option. Many of the buses are extremely crowded, and the journey takes 10 hours from Nairobi to Mombasa. Then, you still need to navigate to Diani Beach, so depending on the Likino Ferry, it could easily surpass a 12-hour trip. The tickets are $10 each.
Cost for 4 from Nairobi to Diani Beach: $77
Conclusion
If you have the time, using the SGR is a wonderful option. It is the cheapest way to get to Diani Beach, allows you to see Kenya and wildlife along the way, and is a pleasant overall experience. Don’t be afraid to book economy class, but decide the best option for your trip!
See our other articles for traveling to Kenya here: safari on the Masai Mara with kids, travel to Kenya during Covid, how expensive in Diani Beach, top 5 activities in Diani Beach with kids, visiting a Masai Village, and how tourists can use MPESA.
To see all our travel adventures during a year-long trip around the world, head over to our Instagram page.
If you have questions or thoughts on activities in Diani Beach with kids, let us know! Happy Travels!
