I recently had the pleasure of 3 days on my own at the hotel the Sands at Nomad on the idyllic Kenyan Coast. I was with a dear friend and it was my first solo holiday since having kids nearly 9 years ago I wanted it to be special… was it? Yes it really was.
Hotel the Sands at Nomad
At Diani we chose to spend our downtime the hotel the Sands at Nomad. A few reasons prompted the decision, but the most important were the endless excellent reviews we read online and got in person here in Nairobi. in fact no one had a bad thing to say about the Sands at Nomad and once there we saw why.
Sands at Nomads is one of the largest and most well-known resorts on the idyllic Diani beach. Originally a collection of Bandas that were bought up and converted to a resort it still retains that old world beach feel, with thatched huts dotted about under shady palms, most of them facing what surely is one of the worlds most beautiful beaches in Kenya.
The main building at this luxury hotel in Diani, is built banda style and has a bar, coffee shop and restaurant which over-look the crystalline pool. The pool itself deserves a special mention, gently sloping at first and great for kids it plunges into a vertiginous 5 metres drop, built specially for scuba diving training it’s actually quite thrilling just to swim in.
Nomad restaurant – Diani Beach
A five-minute walk from the main pool/bar complex is another collection of buildings built on the beach. The divine Nomad restaurant Diani is one of those high ceilinged, breezy, barefoot places that you dream of for a holiday. Shipwrecked high on the powder soft, white sand beach its vantage point overlooking the azure ocean, it was our Hotel California; once we were there we were never able to leave.
Many happy hours were spent with glasses of wine or plates of fresh seafood looking at fishing boats, dhows and even camels traversing the coastline. The service at the hotel Sands at Nomad was impeccable, the food more so, from the expansive breakfast with its huge buffet to its magnificent day menu. Heavily featuring the locally caught fish, the restaurant caters for all tastes with enormous Italian pizzas, fresh salads, Japanese sushi and authentic Kenyan dishes.
Things to do in Diani Beach
If the 3 restaurants and bars at this boutique hotel in Diani aren’t enough you can treat yourself to homemade ice cream from the ice cream parlour, buy gifts or the ubiquitous kikoy pants from the reasonably priced shop. The Diani beach hotel has a fitness centre with daily yoga & Zumba classes, an onsite spa. Diani beach is one of the best places on the Kenyan coast for diving, the sealife beyond the reef is exceptional including shark, whal, manta ray and a dazzling array of tropical marine life. The Sands hotel, Diani has an excellent dive centre & beach sports facility. .
Shop at Diani Beach
Sands at Nomad has a great onsite shop. Ostensibly a gift shop, if you spend any length of time in Kenya you realise that shops like this are a rarity. Bikinis (already impossible to find), the standard Kikoy and Kanga clothing, towel and good quality Kenyan crafts and trinkets.
Hotel at Diani Beach
Accommodation ranges from smaller Forest View rooms which are just 100 yards or so from the beach to banda’s that can take a family. We were lucky enough to be upgraded to a suite. The tranquil, air-conditioned and ensuite space was complete with a large sea view balcony. A Lamu day bed for lounging on, flowers in the bathroom, fully stocked bar fridge and large soft beds it was the restful space and sanctuary that you need after a day on the beach and my friend and I both slept better than we have in years.
If I’m raving about Sands it’s because it deserves it. Two tired frazzled mums walked into the resort and two serene, tanned and considerably calmer women walked out. This is a Diani beach resort that would be great for a couples weekend or time with friends. Although they do cater for kids, it felt very quiet and I certainly wouldn’t want to inflict my screaming trio on the other residents, so personally I wouldn’t take my children there. In conclusion for an upper end Diani experience, a 45-minute flight from home, with fantastic food and service, on one of the best beaches in the world you couldn’t ask for more.
Booking hotels in Diani
Hotels in Diani range from luxury boutique hotels like Sands at Nomad to stand alone villas and smaller backpacker hotels. The best one size fits all booking engine is booking.com for hotels, villas and resorts and Airbnb for the smaller and cheaper accommodation in Diani. You often get better deals through the booking engines although you can always call the hotel directly and try to negotiate.
How to get to Diani Beach
Diani Beach is 2 hours south of Mombasa. For full details on how to reach Diani beach from Nairobi or elsewhere in Kenya please refer to the Diani page on this blog which is packed full of great information about Diani.
Flights from Nairobi to Diani
We decided to go Diani from Nairobi as the flight, (SAX from Wilson) was super cheap and the flying time so short. I’d highly recommend Wilson over JKIA as you can literally drop in an hour before, whizz through security and spend the remaining 50 minutes reading a book.
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