Mnarani Beach
Hosted by KlicKenya
Joined Klickenya
Best Sailing Water in Kilifi
Flat sheltered creek, dinghies, catamarans and kayaks
Sunset Dhow Trips
The classic Kilifi evening leaves from this stretch
Mnarani Ruins Above
Ancient mosques and tombs on the clifftop
Calm and Warm
Sheltered from the swell, around 25ยฐC most of the year
Good for Children
Gentle water and a safe place to learn on the water
Kilifi Bridge Views
The creek, the cliffs and the bridge all in one frame
About this experience
โฆ At a Glance
Mnarani Beach
Mnarani Beach is not an ocean beach, and that is the point. It sits inside Kilifi Creek on the southern bank, a strip of sand below the cliffs where the water is flat, warm and completely sheltered from the swell. If Bofa is where you go to walk, Mnarani is where you go to get on the water.
This is the working, social side of the creek. Boats sit on their moorings just off the sand, dinghies come and go from the club, dhows drift past in the evening, and the whole scene is framed by the green cliffs of the north bank with the Kilifi bridge upstream.
On the water
The creek is one of the best natural sailing and paddling grounds on the Kenyan coast. Mnarani Beach Club runs sailing dinghies, catamarans, windsurfing and kayaks from its beach, with proper courses if you want to learn rather than just mess about. Kilifi Boatyard and the fishing club sit a little further up the creek. Sunset dhow trips leave from this stretch of water and are the single most photographed thing in Kilifi, deservedly.
Water temperature sits around twenty five degrees for most of the year and the creek is protected on all sides, so conditions are far gentler than the open coast. That makes it a genuinely good place for children to learn to sail or paddle.
The tide matters more here
Inside the creek the tide changes everything. At low water large parts of the bank dry out into mud and rock and the swimming disappears entirely. Come on a rising or high tide and you get clear water right up to the sand. Check a Kilifi tide table before you commit an afternoon to it.
The ruins above the beach
On the clifftop directly above sits the Mnarani National Monument, the remains of two mosques and a group of pillar tombs from the Swahili settlement that once controlled this creek, alongside a huge baobab and a deep well cut into the coral rag. There is a small entrance fee and the view down over the creek from the top is the best in Kilifi. Half an hour up there pairs perfectly with an afternoon on the water.
Getting there
Mnarani is on the south side of Kilifi bridge. Coming from Mombasa you reach it just before you cross, and coming from Kilifi town you cross the bridge and turn right. It is five minutes from the town centre and about fifteen to twenty from Bofa. Tuk-tuks run across the bridge constantly and it is a cheap hop.
๐ Open Mnarani Beach in Google Maps
Eating and drinking
Mnarani Beach Club has the beach and the pools. Kilifi Boatyard sits right on the water further along the creek and is a Kilifi institution. Salty's on the Creek and The Twisted Fig are the other options on this side. All of them are on Klickenya.
๐ฏ Perfect for...
