About This Journey
Safari is exhilarating and genuinely tiring. Early starts, long drives, and a level of concentration people do not expect. Which is why bush-and-beach is the most durable format in East African travel: earn it, then stop.
This trip gives the Masai Mara three full nights — enough to find the cats rather than hope — and then flies you to Diani, a long stretch of white sand on Kenya's south coast with a reef offshore. No two-day drive, no wasted days.
The beach half is deliberately unstructured. Diving, kitesurfing, a dhow to Wasini and the Kisite marine park, or a chair, are all available and none of them is compulsory.
Trip Highlights
- Three full nights in the Masai Mara — the cats get a fair chance
- A light aircraft between the reserve and the coast instead of two days of driving
- Four nights on Diani Beach, consistently rated among Africa's best
- Optional dhow trip to Wasini Island and the Kisite–Mpunguti marine park
- Reef diving and snorkelling straight off the beach
- Runs as a private trip or a scheduled small-group departure on the safari leg
Day by Day
Met on arrival and transferred to your hotel. If you land early there is time for the Sheldrick elephant orphanage or the Karen Blixen house.
- LuxuryHemingways Nairobi · Giraffe Manor
- Mid-rangeEka Hotel Nairobi · Ole Sereni
- BudgetBoma Inn Nairobi
- Meals
- Dinner
Fly or drive to the Mara — the flight takes forty-five minutes and we recommend it on a trip of this length.
Settle in and head out for a late-afternoon game drive.
- LuxuryGovernors' Camp · Sand River Masai Mara · Naboisho Camp
- Mid-rangeMara Intrepids Tented Camp · Mara Ngenche Safari Camp
- BudgetTalek Bush Camp · Oseki Maasai Mara Camp
- Meals
- Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Two full days worked properly — first light with a packed breakfast, a break through the flat midday hours, long afternoon drives.
Lion is close to certain here, cheetah likely on the open plains, leopard the genuine variable. From roughly July to October the migration herds are in the reserve and the Mara River crossings become a possibility.
An optional dawn balloon flight and a Maasai community visit can both be arranged.
- LuxuryGovernors' Camp · Sand River Masai Mara · Naboisho Camp
- Mid-rangeMara Intrepids Tented Camp · Mara Ngenche Safari Camp
- BudgetTalek Bush Camp · Oseki Maasai Mara Camp
- Meals
- Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
A morning game drive, then a light aircraft to the coast via Nairobi. You are on the beach by the afternoon.
Diani is a long stretch of white sand backed by palms, with a reef a few hundred metres offshore that keeps the water flat and clear.
- LuxuryAlfajiri Villas · Diani Reef Beach Resort & Spa
- Mid-rangeLeopard Beach Resort & Spa · Baobab Beach Resort
- BudgetDiani Sea Lodge
- Meals
- Breakfast, Dinner
Two entirely unstructured days. The reef is good for snorkelling and diving directly off the beach, the kitesurfing is excellent in season, and a dhow trip south to Wasini Island and the Kisite–Mpunguti marine park is the one excursion we would push — dolphins are common and the snorkelling is a step up.
Or a chair, a book and the shade. Nobody has ever complained.
- LuxuryAlfajiri Villas · Diani Reef Beach Resort & Spa
- Mid-rangeLeopard Beach Resort & Spa · Baobab Beach Resort
- BudgetDiani Sea Lodge
- Meals
- Breakfast, Dinner
A last morning on the beach, then the transfer to Mombasa for your flight home or back to Nairobi for an international connection.
- Meals
- Breakfast
What's Included
Included
- 7 nights' accommodation at your chosen tier
- All meals on safari; bed and breakfast plus dinner at the coast
- Light-aircraft flights Nairobi–Mara and Mara–Diani
- Private or small-group 4×4 with a pop-up roof on the safari leg
- All park and reserve entry fees
- Airport and beach transfers, and bottled drinking water in the vehicle
Not Included
- International airfares
- Kenya eTA
- Travel and medical insurance
- Diving, kitesurfing, dhow trips and other coastal activities
- Balloon safari and other optional safari activities
- Alcoholic drinks, tips and items of a personal nature
Accommodation
Hemingways Nairobi
Governors' Camp
Diani Reef Beach Resort & Spa
Ready to Plan This Safari?
Every trip we run is private and tailored around you — your dates, your pace, your budget. Tell us what you have in mind and one of our safari planners will craft it into a detailed, costed proposal.
Quoted per person sharing. Coastal rates move sharply with season — the July–August and Christmas peaks are materially more expensive than the shoulder months.
