If you’re a seasoned traveler in Kenya, you may feel that Mombasa, Malindi, and Lamu are “been there done that“, and that Diani has become too touristic as well. In that case, we do share some opinons, and I would guess Tiwi Beach is right up your alley.
Tiwi is essentially the coastline North of the Kongo River (no, not the one flowing between Kinshasa and Brazzaville).
South of that river is Diani Beach. Less crowded than those right north of Mombasa, it features a dozen tourist hotels. More are likely to come up. Take a five-minute stroll, and beach hustlers will inevitably approach you with souvenirs, coconuts, camel rides, glass boat trips, etc.
Tiwi – quiet and pristine
Cross the Kongo River, and find a different universe. The beach features the same white, powdery, almost silky sand as Diani. And hardly a tourist in sight.
Up until Amani Tiwi, there are still beach vendors, but already less aggressive, and friendlier.
Where that beach ends, there is a narrow, dusty path across a rock, over to the other side. Locals will warn you that bags have been snatched there. For my peace of mind (and that of my family), I paid a local gentleman 100 shillings to join us for the 5-minute walk. Not that I think there was much of a risk anyway, but better safe than sorry!
The northern part – the whole beach almost to yourself
The next part of Tiwi Beach is a 1.5-kilometer pristine and almost deserted stretch. You may encounter a few locals, and even fewer tourists. There is the Coconut Beach Lodge, a quiet boutique hotel at the southern end of the beach. Other than that, only villas and cottages for the next few kilometers.
The few people you meet along the beach are generally overwhelmingly friendly without much commercial hustle. Some ladies are ready to sell colorful fabrics and occasionally some local handicrafts to people who are interested. In a stark contrast to their neighbours in Diani, they mostly sit and wait for customers to approach them. You may run into some gentleman who is more than happy to climb up a palm tree to pick and open a coconut for you for KES 100 (USD 1) if you ask. Out in the water, a handful of fishermen are going about their businesses in their traditional wooden boats.
As you walk along the beach, you may encounter 10-12 people who are not locals. During the high season, that is.
The few tourists in Tiwi are generally a seasoned lot. Somewhere along the beach is also a campsite, where travelers drive in with modified landcruisers and range rovers, with mounted solar panels. Obviously, you don’t do that in Kenya unless you know exactly what you are doing, as most other beaches have at least some level of crime risk.
Tiwi so far remains nearly undiscovered by tourists and thugs alike. And that is really a big part of the charm here.
So far away, yet so close
The buzz of the Diani with its malls, bars, restaurants, and night clubs is only a short walk away (OK, maybe a taxi ride for some of the things). Tiwi remains blissfully outside the commercial tourist zone, for now. With international arrivals to Kenya growing in the high double digits every year, and the new Dongo Kundu Bypass road soon connecting the South Coast to Mombasa, this situation won’t last.
The time to enjoy Tiwi is now. Soon, it is likely to become the next hot destination for avant-garde tourists, and later on, a regular tourism machine. By then, you will find me in some other place, further off the beaten track.