Diani Beach

Currency

Bring dollars or euros in clean, recent notes and change them at a forex bureau in Diani or Mombasa — bureau rates beat the banks and beat the airport by a wide margin. Old or torn dollar bills are refused outright. Almost everything else runs on M-Pesa, the phone money system: a visitor can get a tourist SIM at the airport and load it, and it works at fruit stalls and tuk-tuks alike.

ATMs & cards

Use KCB, Equity, Absa or Standard Chartered machines along Diani Beach Road. Kenyan ATMs charge their own withdrawal fee on top of your bank’s, so take out larger amounts less often, and decline the machine’s conversion offer. Carry small notes: nobody at a beach stall has change for a 1,000-shilling note.

Kenyan banks charge their own withdrawal fee on top of yours, so take out more, less often — and put the rest on M-Pesa, which is accepted almost everywhere.

Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.

Safety

The resort strip is calm and well used, and violent crime against visitors is rare. What you will meet is persistent beach traders — a firm, friendly "hapana, asante" is normal and effective. Do not walk the beach or the unlit side roads alone after dark, keep valuables off the sand, and use a taxi at night rather than walking the coast road.

Our own assessment, not a sourced index.

Entry & visa

Health & emergencies

Required to enter

• Yellow fever certificate if arriving from a country where yellow fever is present — including via a long layover in one

Worth having

• Hepatitis A
• Typhoid
• Tetanus up to date
• Malaria prophylaxis — the Mara is a malaria area, though Nairobi itself is not
• Rabies for longer stays
• Cholera for extended rural stays

Getting treated

Nairobi has the best hospitals in East Africa and they are genuinely good. In the Mara you are hours from any of them by road, so camps rely on the AMREF Flying Doctors air ambulance — check whether your camp holds cover, and whether your insurance does.

Malaria prophylaxis is strongly advised for the Mara. Do not drink the tap water. Altitude in Nairobi (1,795m) is mild but noticeable on the first day.

Orientation, not medical advice. Entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history and where you have been — check with a travel clinic or your national health service four to six weeks before you go.

Food tip

Swahili coast food is coconut, tamarind and fish: try samaki wa kupaka, biryani, and mahamri for breakfast. Eat at the local places along Ukunda road rather than the resorts, and buy fish where the boats land at Diani beach in the morning.

Getting around

• Tuk-tuk — the local taxi, a few hundred shillings along the strip; agree the fare first
• Matatu — shared minibuses run the coast road constantly, and cost almost nothing
• Bolt and Uber — both work in Diani and Mombasa and remove the haggling
• Bicycle or walking — the beach itself is the promenade, and it runs for 17km
• Airport: Ukunda airstrip is ten minutes away with flights from Nairobi; from Mombasa the Dongo Kundu bypass now avoids the Likoni ferry queue

Internet speed

Broadband here runs at 20% of the global median of 128 Mbps.

Source: Ookla Speedtest Global Index · measured May 2026

Must-see

Things to do

• Swim out to the reef at low tide
• Take a dhow to Kisite-Mpunguti and Wasini island
• Watch the colobus monkeys cross on the rope bridges over the road
• Kitesurf between January and March, when the wind is steady
• Walk into Shimba Hills for the elephants and Sheldrick Falls
• Eat dinner in a natural coral cave at Ali Barbour’s

Nearby day trips

Say a few words

Swahili

• HelloHabariha-BA-ree
• PleaseTafadhalita-fa-DHA-lee
• Thank youAsantea-SAN-teh
• Yes / NoNdiyo / Hapanan-DEE-yo / ha-PA-na
• Excuse meSamahanisa-ma-HA-nee
• How much is it?Bei gani?bay GA-nee
• The bill, pleaseBili tafadhaliBEE-lee
• No problemHakuna matataha-KOO-na ma-TA-ta

Jambo is the tourist greeting; habari is what locals actually say to each other. Using it changes how you are received.

Religion

Christian majority

Around 85% Christian with a Muslim minority concentrated on the coast, and traditional belief practised alongside. Sunday services are long and central.

Do's and don'ts

Do

• Greet before anything else, and shake hands — asking a question without greeting first is rude
• Use the right hand for giving and receiving
• Ask, and expect to pay, before photographing Maasai people or their homes
• Learn jambo and asante; a little Swahili is warmly received

Don't

• Do not photograph government buildings, police or military installations
• Do not display cash or expensive equipment in Nairobi streets
• Do not haggle aggressively at a Maasai market — the margins are the community income
• Do not leave the vehicle on safari unless the guide says it is safe