Tiwi Beach Kenya : Tiwi Beach is located southwards from Mombasa. This is a rather secluded place compared to the other resort beaches. The beach has white sand, and the beach line stretches for several kilometers. The bottom is sandy. Ebbs considerably affect the swimming possibilities for tourists, but small pools still remain on the beach, and you can bathe there while on Kenya Safaris. Flows bring algae and sea urchins, so it is not recommended to swim there without special shoes. You can hide in the shadow of the palm trees, which grow along the beach. There is no infrastructure on these beaches but you can rent a sling chair and an umbrella. The shore has a small café with fresh sea food dishes.
Tiwi Beach is a perfect place for snorkeling and diving. However, the coral reef with its unique inhabitants is located 50 meters away from the beach. Tiwi Beach is the lesser known sister to Diani Beach, it is mellow yellow, at Tiwi the reef comes close to the shore, a rock pooling playground a low tide, revealing unusually shaped pools large enough to snorkel in and filled with tropical fish. Sand bars stretch out to the reef filled with rainbow coloured star fish and naked sea urchins to be picked up. Tiwi, Kenya is a seaside dream, a tropical lndian ocean beach nearly untouched by tourism.
Tiwi Weather Kenya.
The weather in Tiwi Kenya is warm most of the year. Even in winter it can be very hot in the day time, but at night when the wind blows and the rain thrums on the rains thrums on the rooftops long trousers and even a sweater are advised. In the summer it can be punishingly hot, most Tiwi houses make us of the sea winds but air conditioning should be considered if you are not right up close to the ocean.
There is no bad time to visit Tiwi Beach. Tiwi weather in the cooler winter months of July and August is pleasant as the humidity drops, the winter picks up and you might just get to snuggle in a light sweater at night. During the rest of the year Tiwi is hot, hot, and hot. The rains fall in April-June and October-November but it rarely rains the whole day.
Things to do in Tiwi Kenya.
Visit the Africa Pool.
The Tiwi Africa Pool is miracle of nature, right here on a country that straddles the African part of the equator there is a pool shaped just like the African continent. Carved by the sea and the wind out of the coral reef, the large pool sits next to the cliffs at Tiwi. Shaped like Africa it is close enough to leap into from the nearby cliffs and perfect for snorkeling, there can be chances to spot octopus, starfish as well as the usual suspects: surgeon fish, sergeant fish, gobies and many more. There is even a cave you can swim through from East Africa to Madagascar. The pool is a 10 minute walk along reef so only accessible at low tide, here you go in large group or with a local guide as there have been some robberies along the way.
Hike to the starfish.
To the north of Maweni beach is a sandbar beloved by starfish. While the starfish can be found all over the coast they gather in large numbers in this particular spot to feast on sea urchins. There are two types of the larger fish and they come in all colours and sizes. If you go with a guide they will fill you in all the star fish facts like how they eat, how to tell male from female and lots of other starfish know how. The guides ask you to take them out of the water for photographs, it can be magical trip, trekking across the reef at low tide; finding a sandy cove filled with huge star fish memories to last a life time.
Visit Diani Beach.
Diani beach is a 20 minute drive down the coast and has tons of bars and restaurants if you fancy lunch, dinner or a trip out. The Diani beach guide gives you the low down on Diani and suggests plenty of places to stay you fancy a change. For restaurants, the favorite place for meals is Sands at Nomads, a beachfront restaurant and boutique hotel that sells killer cocktails with a view across the whitest beach ever. The Salty Squid at Kenya ways has a similar beachside location with a more chilled out vibe. Both Nomads and Kenya ways have water sports facilities so you can kite surf, dive, windsurf of just hire a Kayyak and spend the day above the ocean waves.
Visit Shimba Hills National Reserve.
Towards the interior of Kwale county, approximately half an hour from Tiwi is Shimba Hills National Reserve. Mountainous rainforest hides elephant families, buffalo, leopard, sable antelope, elephant shrew, bush tailed mongoose and other forest dwelling animals. The scenic Sheldrick Falls and the dense Mwaluganje Forest is located here. The place is incredibly beautiful, the dense coastal rainforest one of the largest coastal forest in Kenya. It is definitely worth a visit when you are in Tiwi.
Tiwi Beach Hotels and Cottages.
Tiwi beach is still virgin territory when it comes to big hotels and cottages. There is one large resort, Amani Tiwi Beach Resort and that’s it in terms of hotels and resorts. What Tiwi excels is large villas and smaller simple cottages. The coastal acres in Tiwi are owned by a small number of residents and land near the ocean is horrendously expensive and coveted. Most plots are large and include older fisherman style cottages, some faded resorts from Tiwi’s hey data which have fallen into disrepair and gorgeous modern villas built the local environment in mind. Rental properties line the coast, the interior of Tiwi is local village, small huts and shamba’s that are not available for rental.
Best time to visit Tiwi Beach.
In Kenya, you relax all year round, located near the equator, always greets travelers with warm weather and incredibly warm waters of the Indian Ocean.
The rainy season lasts from June to April. At that time, it becomes very humid, but the air temperature does not drop, but keeps at + 330 C. It rains after dinner and all night. The best time to visit the Tiwi beach is February. At that time, the heat subsides a little. The air temperature is at + 28 to +300C, the water warms up to + 27 to +290 C.
How to get to Tiwi Beach.
Tiwi, Kenya sits approximately 1.5 hours to the south of Mombasa Kenya’s second largest city and closet international airport. It is 20 minute drive from Diani beach, which has lots of shops, restaurants and places to stay as well as well serviced local airport. Tiwi Beach is about 3 hours from Watamu and Malindi, the next largest coastal town.
If you are travelling from Mombasa then transport from Mombasa to Tiwi beach is best taken by taxi, cost should be approx. 40 dollars one way.
For easier to take the local flight from Nairobi Wilson airport to Ukunda airport. Ukunda is 10 minutes away from Diani Beach. The flights are very frequent and they only take an hour. They are similar in cost to the flight to Mombasa.
It is entirely possible to drive to Tiwi Beach from Nairobi, and many people do. The journey takes between 8 to 10 hours on the well paved but very busy Mombasa highway.
Tiwi Beach is one of the best stretches of beach along Kenya’s coast. It has unspoiled white sands, shady coconut palms and casuarinas trees and a larger rock pool in which you can take a refreshing dip during your Kenya Safari Tour.
