From Wikitravel: “Diani Beach is a beach resort in Kenya, located 30 km (19 mi) south of Mombasa. Diani has a population of around 100,000 inhabitants and is famous for its white sand beaches, blue ocean and surfing. The beach is popular for relaxing resorts which are popular with honeymooners, backpackers and families on holiday. The white sand surrounded by abundant forest drives the attention of many nature lovers towards the resorts. Waves near the sea shore attract many adventure lovers towards the destination. The area near the beach is well known for coral reefs, black and white Colombus monkeys and nearly located wildlife reserve named as Shimba Hills National Reserve.”
If you follow my Instagram then you may already know that I spent the weekend of March 12, 2022 pretending I am wealthy at Leisure Lodge Resort, Diani Beach, Kenya (pronounce dee-A-ni). It was a leisurely paradise and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.
My flight was even paid for by work because the following week was filled with project and partner meetings, unfortunately not at the same venue. Budget hotels in resort towns are OK, but moving to one after a four-star resort is a little rude 😉
I flew in daylight and enjoyed watching the landscape from Entebbe to Mombassa. The flight included a fly-by of Mount Kilimanjaro, so I snagged a photo or two.
We arrived at the hotel after dark because of the long taxi ride from the Mombassa airport. It was a nice drive through Mombassa, the ferry crossing and then some countryside. Since our driver was recommended by the resort, the price was set and I felt safe and secure.
Leisure Lodge Resort was more than I expected from the moment we arrived. The front desk is situated such that you have to walk through some of the building, past shops and lovely scenery before even arriving at the desk. The luxury vacation mood was set before I even got to the desk!
While they finalized our check in we were seated and given fresh squeezed tropical juice. I am getting used to such hospitality as it is common even in more budget hotels I have stayed in while in Africa.
As I said above, I decided to pretend I was still making Oil & Gas industry money for the weekend. Of course that meant booking an ocean view room and it was worth every penny (about $30USD more per night) The sound of the waves, the ocean breeze and sea smell were ever present, soothing and refreshing.
As it was late evening, we were quite hungry and headed to the dining room after I changed and freshened up. I had the buffet for dinner both nights and it was amazing! Fish, beef, chicken, pork and vegetarian options. Pasta salads, vegetable salads, fruit, juice, Indian food, matoke, and desserts. The chocolate cake was especially decadent. I was fully stuffed that first night.
The second night, Saturday, the dinner buffet was set up outside as a barbeque. Again, I filled my boots completely, with no repeat dishes from the night before. It was like being on a cruise!
The breakfast buffet was also outstanding and included with the room rate. The woman in charge of the omelet station could not be better at her job. She moved us through with great efficiency but also created made-to-order egg masterpieces cooked perfectly. Breakfast offerings included sausage, bacon, pancakes, fresh waffles, potatoes, vegetables, mandazi, and more. And of course, an abundance of fresh fruits. The fresh Passion Juice ran low both days due to high demand, but we still managed to snag some.
I love colobus monkeys, which are shy in Uganda. They have beautiful colouring and never approach humans for food. This held somewhat true at the resort as well. We met some along the path as we left breakfast. They did not approach us at all, but they also did not run away, or even seem to care about us. This fella was enjoying his own brunch of flowers and did not mind us stopping to take his picture. I also posted a video of this on both my Instagram and Tiktok – @a_travelling_accountant
I didn’t do much for activities this weekend, as I was supposed to have the next weekend as well. That plan fell through, so I did not scuba or snorkel in Diani – yet!
We spent Saturday relaxing, took a lovely ocean swim and then enjoyed some beach cocktails on the beautiful stretch of beach belonging to the resort.
Here is a selection of photos from our balcony, and one looking up at it. The sunrise was taken at 6:30 am Sunday morning, just before I closed the black-out curtains.
Saturday evening after dinner they brought in some Maasai dancers. It was a fun show and afterwards we bought some jewelry. Likely overpriced, given the location, but beautiful. I didn’t take pictures through the performance but here are a couple of screenshots from a video I took when they visited our table.
As I mentioned, we had some sea-side cocktails before dinner. We continued to imbibe through dinner and eventually went for a midnight-ish beach stroll, hoping to crash a party at the resort next door that we spotted from our balcony. The bouncer would not let us in so we took a stroll up the beach, in the moonlight, walking in the sand while waves rolled over our feet. It was magical. Crabs skittered across the sand back to the water as we approached them. Silver in the moonlight, their side-hustle made me giggle.
We came across the bar of a neighbouring resort that still had a few staff in it. Somehow, we convinced them to bring a large beer order to us, and we shared the bounty with them. An enjoyable experience chatting with some local guys on the quiet mid-night shore. Then we headed home and crashed, rather inebriated but happy!
We checked out the next morning and I crossed the road to the hotel booked for my work week. Whenever I am back in Diani Beach, I will very likely return to Leisure Lodge Resort. At the end of the week I flew to Nairobi from Diani Beach instead of heading back to Mombassa. I learned that if you are flying from Mombassa you are going from the airport, but if you fly from Diani, you are going from the airstrip. That is semantics only though. The airstrip is still an airport, just a small local one.
A Travelling Accountant 