-3.6305, 39.8499 · Kilifi County, Kenya
A creek,
a bridge,
a town.
Where you are
North bank,
high side.
Kilifi is what the Kenyan coast looked like before the resorts — a working creek with boats on it and a town that never bothered to become a destination.
The creek cuts eight kilometres inland and the tide fills it twice a day. On the north bank, above the water, sits Kiwandani Green Estate: coconut palms, baobabs, a handful of houses and a coral track down to the shore. We are four minutes from the water and ten from the market.
Nothing here is arranged for visitors, which is the point. The boatyard builds dhows because people buy dhows. The market is loud on Tuesday because that is when the produce arrives. You are welcome in all of it, and nobody will perform for you.
Six things
Worth
leaving for.
- The creek at slack tideForty minutes of glass. Walk down at first light and the whole thing is a mirror with fish eagles on it.
- The dhow yard at MnaraniBoats built by eye, no drawings, in mango and mahogany. Wander in; they are used to it.
- Bofa beachTwelve minutes by tuk-tuk. White, wide, and almost always empty on a weekday.
- Mnarani ruinsA 14th-century Swahili settlement on the south bank, above the water, with a baobab you can walk inside.
- Kilifi marketTuesday and Friday. Go early for mangoes, tamarind, chillies and the fish that came in at four.
- Kite surfingJune to September the kaskazi turns and the creek mouth fills with kites. Lessons at the club, boards from us.
Getting here
Practical
matters.
How do I get to Kilifi?+
Fly to Mombasa (MBA) and drive 1 hour 45 minutes north on the B8, or fly to Malindi (MYD) and drive 55 minutes south. Both airports have daily connections from Nairobi. We arrange a private return car for KSh 6,500 from Malindi and KSh 12,000 from Mombasa, per car and not per person.
Is Kilifi safe?+
Yes, and it is one of the more relaxed places on the Kenyan coast. Kiwandani Green Estate is gated with a night guard, the town is walkable in daylight and a tuk-tuk home after dark costs about KSh 200. Normal coastal common sense is enough.
Can I swim in the creek?+
People do, at the sheltered beaches on the north bank and around Bofa. The tide runs hard through the narrows under the bridge, so swim on the slack rather than mid-tide, and ask us which day is which — we watch it from the roof.
What is there to eat?+
Grilled fish and coconut rice everywhere, the best of it at the shacks by the boatyard. In town there is a good Italian, a decent Ethiopian and a bakery that starts mahamri at five in the morning. Distillery Kilifi does gin from local cane and is worth an afternoon.
What is the weather like?+
Hot and dry from December to March, around 31 °C. Cooler and breezy in July and August, around 27 °C, which is when the kite surfers come. April to June is the long rains — heavy, short downpours, brilliant green, sea at 29 °C and the lowest prices of the year.