Lamu.
A Swahili town with no cars, dhows instead of taxis, and the finest ending to a safari anywhere in Kenya.
Four nights after a safari, not instead of one. A Swahili town with no cars, a private house with a cook and a dhow, and exactly one evening arranged in four days.
- Give it
- 4 nights
- Best months
- Dec–Mar
- From
- $740 pp/night
- Come for
- Architecture, total quiet
Seven hundred years of continuous Swahili town
Lamu Old Town is the oldest continuously inhabited Swahili settlement in East Africa and a UNESCO World Heritage site, and its most remarkable feature is negative: there are no cars. Movement is on foot, by donkey or by boat, along streets built narrow deliberately, for shade. The effect after four days of open vehicles and dust is difficult to overstate.
The architecture is coral rag and lime plaster, with carved doors, interior courtyards and roof terraces built for the monsoon breeze. Fourteenth-century mosques are still in use. It is a living town rather than a preserved one, which means it is noisy, occasionally scruffy, and entirely real.
Shela, two miles down the beach, is where most of our guests stay — a quieter village of private houses behind twelve kilometres of empty sand and dunes. Manda and Pate islands are a short dhow ride away, with ruins at Takwa and Siyu that almost nobody visits.
700+
Years of continuous settlement
0
Cars on the island
12 km
Of empty beach at Shela
1,700
Registered donkeys
Private houses, not hotels
Lamu’s finest accommodation is almost entirely houses — two- to five-bedroom Swahili buildings in Shela and the old town, each with a cook, a housekeeper and often a dhow captain, taken on exclusive use. This is what we book for nearly every guest.
A house on Shela beach costs less than a suite at a comparable lodge, and gives you a roof terrace, a courtyard, meals whenever you want them and the strong sense of having borrowed somebody’s life rather than checked in. Bring your own preferences; the cook will shop that morning.
There are three hotels we would recommend, all small, for guests who would rather not have staff in the house. And for honeymooners there are two houses with one bedroom and a private pool, which is exactly the right amount of building.
Month by month
| Months | Weather | Sea & weather | Crowds | Our view |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec – Mar | Hot, still, clear; the kaskazi | Calm sea, excellent visibility | Moderate; high over New Year | The best months, without qualification |
| Apr – May | The long rains | Rough, murky; most houses close | None | Do not come |
| Jun | Cooling, windy | Choppy but improving | Low | Fine, and cheap |
| Jul – Sep | Cool, breezy; the kusi monsoon | Windy — good sailing, poorer snorkelling | Moderate in August | Good for dhow sailing, less so for swimming |
| Oct – Nov | Warming, still; short rains brief | Calming, clearing | Low | Underrated and empty |
| Dec 20 – Jan 5 | Hot, still | Perfect | Very high | Book eleven months ahead or avoid |
Access
A 90-minute flight from Nairobi’s Wilson, or 40 minutes from Malindi. Crucially, direct charters run from the Mara and Amboseli strips in about 90 minutes, so you never need a Nairobi night between the bush and the beach. From Manda airstrip it is a fifteen-minute boat ride — there is no road to Lamu.
What you pay to enter
No park or entry fees. Marine park fees of USD 20 per person per day apply if you snorkel or dive in the Kiunga reserve. Dhow charters run USD 120–260 for a half day depending on the boat, and are generally arranged through your house captain rather than booked ahead.
Before you go
This is a conservative Muslim community: cover shoulders and knees in the old town, and keep beachwear to the beach. Ramadan changes the town’s rhythm considerably and is worth knowing about before you book. Malaria prophylaxis is advised on the coast — the risk here is higher than inland.
Six places we use, and why
A three-bedroom house on Shela beach
Exclusive use · from $740 pp/night
Our standard. Cook, housekeeper, roof terrace, dhow captain, and twelve kilometres of empty sand at the door.
A one-bedroom honeymoon house
Private pool · from $960 pp/night
One bedroom, a plunge pool in the courtyard, a cook who appears twice a day and is otherwise invisible. Exactly the right amount of building.
A five-bedroom house in the old town
Family · from $620 pp/night
In the town itself, among the noise and the donkeys, with a roof terrace above the rooftops. For guests who want Lamu rather than the beach.
A small hotel on Shela
Twelve rooms · from $580 pp/night
For guests who would rather not have staff in the house. Well run, good food, and a pool.
A house on Manda island
Six guests · from $890 pp/night
Across the channel, quieter still, reached only by boat, and with the ruins at Takwa a walk away.
A traditional dhow, liveaboard
2–4 guests · from $1,120 pp/night
Two to four nights sailing the archipelago, sleeping on deck under a sail. Not comfortable, and the best thing on this page.
Dhows, ruins, and a great deal of nothing
Sailing. A dhow at sunset with nobody else aboard is the one evening we arrange here, and most guests then charter again the following day. Longer trips run to Manda Toto for snorkelling, up the channel to Matondoni where the boats are built, or two to four nights liveaboard, sleeping on deck.
The town. Worth a proper half day with a guide who knows the families rather than the dates — the Swahili House museum, the fort, the carved doors, and a kitchen in a private home if you would like to learn to cook a coconut curry properly.
Ruins. Takwa on Manda, abandoned in the seventeenth century, and Siyu and Pate further out for anyone genuinely interested. Almost nobody goes, and there is rarely another visitor.
And otherwise nothing. Twelve kilometres of beach, a roof terrace, and the reason we schedule exactly one evening in four days.
Four nights, as we would build it
Fly in from the bush
A direct 90-minute charter from the Mara or Amboseli, then a fifteen-minute boat from Manda airstrip. The house is yours; the cook introduces herself; nothing else is scheduled.
The dhow
A morning swimming or sleeping, and in the late afternoon a dhow off Shela with nobody else aboard. The one arranged evening of the four.
The town, or not
A half day in the old town with a guide who knows the families — carved doors, the fort, and a Swahili kitchen if you want one. Or the roof terrace. Both are correct.
Nothing
Deliberately empty. Guests who ask us to fill this day are politely refused, and thank us later.
Homeward
A late-morning flight to Nairobi, day rooms at a private club near the airport, and our concierge with you until you are through security.
What pairs with Lamu
Select a region
Masai Mara
Amboseli
Samburu
Laikipia
Ol Pejeta
Lewa
Aberdare
Naivasha
Nakuru
Nairobi
Meru
Loita
Tsavo
Watamu
Diani
The Masai Mara, 90 minutes by air. The classic ending: four to six nights on a conservancy, then four here. A direct charter means no Nairobi night in between.
Amboseli, 90 minutes. Elephant and the mountain, then the archipelago. Efficient, and less commonly done than it should be.
Watamu, 40 minutes. Better reef and calmer water in the southern-monsoon months, if you are travelling between July and September.
Laikipia, two hours. Riding and walking country before the water — our own favourite shape for a fortnight with no crowds in it at all.
On Lamu
Is Lamu right for us?
If you want a Swahili town with no cars, extraordinary architecture, a house rather than a hotel and near-total privacy, yes. If you want a resort with a spa menu, water sports and a buffet, no — go to Diani, and we will say so on the telephone rather than let you discover it.
Is it safe?
Yes, and it has been throughout our trading. The archipelago is stable, policed and dependent on tourism; the security advisories that occasionally cover Lamu County concern the mainland border area far to the north, not the islands. We monitor daily and will tell you plainly if that changes.
How conservative should we dress?
Shoulders and knees covered in the old town and in Shela village, and beachwear on the beach only. It costs nothing and it matters. Ramadan changes the town’s rhythm and is worth knowing about before you choose your dates.
When should we not come?
April, May and early June. The long rains close most houses, the sea is rough and murky, and there is nothing to be gained by the low rates. July to September is windy — excellent for sailing, less good for swimming.
Can we go straight there from the safari?
Yes, and it is the detail that makes this leg work. Direct charters run from the Mara and Amboseli strips in about ninety minutes. Routing through Nairobi costs the best part of a day.