DIANI BEACH ought to fulfil most dreams about the archetypal palm-fringed beach. The sand is soft and brilliantly white, the sea is crystal-clear turquoise, the reef is a safe thirty-minute swim or ten-minute boat ride away and, arching overhead, the coconut palms keep up a perpetual slow sway as the breeze rustles through the fronds. Competition for space, however, has begun to seriously mar Diani's paradisiacal qualities, but the main drawback is the droves of hustlers - the "beach boys" - who had become such a threatening presence a few years back that the vast majority of hotel guests virtually never ventured across the boundary from their guarded hotel gardens onto the public sands. Now that the hotels have posted security guards ( askaris ), the beach boys have become more astute and formed themselves into cartels (some worryingly connected to local politicians), and tourists do, once again, dig sandcastles and walk along the strand. Another (minor) drawback is that the beach tends to get covered at high tide, or leaves only a narrow strip of sand. As elsewhere in Kenya, all the beach is open to the public; it's only the access routes that are restricted by some hotels.

 

If you're coming by public transport from Mombasa , first catch a matatu from Abdel Nasser Road, Jomo Kenyatta Avenue, or outside the GPO on Digo Road, to Likoni ferry (Ksh5) to make the crossing (free for foot passengers; Ksh35 for small cars). Once in Likoni, walk up with the crowd to the well-marked matatu stages on the left side, and catch one for "Diani" or "Beach" (Ksh30). If there are no direct ones, get one to Ukunda (Ksh30), and then make a connection down to the beach road (Ksh20) - you'll find plenty of transport both day and night. Don't walk, especially if you're burdened with luggage or valuables: the three-kilometre link road has a bad reputation - hard to tell how well founded - for muggings. Taxis from Mombasa cost around Ksh2000-2500. You can in theory fly from Mombasa to Ukunda airstrip, a couple of kilometres west of Diani post office, though it would be quicker and cheaper to take a taxi. Coming direct from Nairobi, however, you might consider the plane trip worthwhile - Airkenya flies three times a week (Ksh6500 each way).

There's an increasingly heavy scattering of proper shops along the strip, as well as a new post office. The main shopping areas on the north side are the Bazaar Complex Shopping Centre (1.6km north of the junction) and Diani Complex Shopping Centre (1.4km). On the south side, the commerce kicks off with the Agip petrol station (900m) and Diani Beach Shopping Centre (1km), where vervet monkeys scamper across the designer makuti . There are more shops and businesses outside Diani Sea Resort and opposite Diani Sea Lodge .