Budget Getaway Lamu
Affordable Tours
Kenya Flying Safaris
Amu House or Similar
Affordable Romantic Getaways in Kenya
Four days on an island with no cars, no schedule and almost nothing booked. That is the entire point.
Most trips fail at the same place. You go somewhere to rest, then fill the days so completely that you come home needing another break. A budget getaway in Lamu is built to avoid that, and the way it avoids it is by leaving the diary almost empty. There are two scheduled things across four days. Everything else is yours.
The island does the rest without any help. Lamu has no cars, no matatus and no roads wide enough for either. You walk the coral stone lanes, take a boat when you need to cross water, and step aside for donkeys carrying everything from cement to luggage. After about half a day of that, the part of you that keeps checking the time gives up. Lamu Old Town has been continuously lived in since the fourteenth century and it is not going to hurry for either of you.
Your base is a restored sixteenth century Swahili family house inside the Old Town, two hundred metres from Lamu Fort, with seven rooms opening onto an inner courtyard and a roof terrace with day beds and a swinging bed. Realistically that roof is where most of this trip will happen. Downstairs, breakfast is served in the historic part of the house. Three minutes away is the waterfront, where the boats leave from and where you can sit with coffee and watch a working port that has not changed much in centuries.
The two things we do book are a private sunset dhow sail with your own crew, and your boat down to Shela Beach, twelve kilometres of open sand that is usually close to empty. This is the lowest priced package we run to Lamu, and the saving comes from that empty diary rather than from a worse bed or a longer walk to the water. If you decide on day two that you do want structure, the Old Town guided walk, the Manda Toto snorkelling day and the Takwa Ruins trip are all there as add-ons at clear prices.
Details
Summary information about this package
Amu House or Similar
Lamu
Couples
Available
Flying
For Adults only (18+)
Bed and breakfast
Included
All year round
Costs
Kenyan Citizen
Ksh. 46500 per person sharing
Non-resident
$ 500 per person sharing
Transport
Options: Flying
Duration and Timing
No
More than >3 Days+
About Package
More information about this package
Only two things are scheduled in four days. A sunset dhow sail and your boat down to Shela. Everything else is left open on purpose, and the price reflects that rather than hiding it.
The cheapest way to reach Lamu with everything handled. This is the lowest priced package we run to the island. Flights, all boat transfers and three nights are included, and the savings come from an empty diary, not a worse bed.
An island with no cars at all. You move on foot through the coral stone lanes, by boat across the channel, or behind a donkey. It is difficult to stay wound up here past the first afternoon.
A rooftop with day beds and a swinging bed. Amu House is a restored 16th century Swahili family house with seven rooms around an inner courtyard. Most of this trip happens on its roof.
Shela Beach, five minutes away by water. Twelve kilometres of open sand with dunes behind it, and on most days almost nobody on it.
Add structure only if you want it. The guided Old Town walk, the Manda Toto snorkelling day and the Takwa Ruins trip are all available as add-ons, priced clearly, none of them assumed.
Package Itinerary
The package itinerary is as follows
4-Day Budget Getaway Itinerary to Lamu with Baecation Adventures from Nairobi
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Day 1: Nairobi to Lamu Old Town
Pickup from your Nairobi address at 7:30 am for the drive to the airport. The flight to Manda Airport takes a little under two hours, and the descent over the archipelago is worth staying awake for. Your Baecation host meets you at the airstrip and walks you to a private boat for the short crossing to Lamu Town, with bags following on by donkey. Check in, and then nothing. There is no arrival briefing, no orientation walk and no first evening activity, because you have just spent a morning travelling and the point of this trip is to stop. Eat in the lanes when you are hungry, or on the waterfront, and go to bed whenever you like.
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Day 2: Shela Beach and the sunset dhow
Breakfast at the guesthouse whenever you come downstairs for it. The morning is open. Most people wander into the Old Town, find coffee, and end up at the market when the fishing boats come in. In the afternoon a boat takes you south to Shela Beach, where the town gives way to dunes and twelve kilometres of open sand. Swim, walk, lie down, stay as long as you want. In the late afternoon you join your private dhow at the jetty for a two hour sunset sail, sail up and engine off, ending with the sun going down behind the Old Town skyline and the minarets in silhouette.
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Day 3: Deliberately empty
Nothing is booked today and that is intentional. Your host will offer suggestions the night before and will not mind at all if you ignore every one of them. The options worth knowing about: the seafront walk from Lamu Town towards Shela takes about forty minutes along the water and passes most of what is worth seeing on that side of the island. The dunes behind Shela village give you the whole archipelago from the top. The Lamu Museum, the Swahili House Museum and Lamu Fort are all within a few hundred metres of the guesthouse. Or you can spend the entire day on the roof, which is what a reasonable number of guests do and have no regrets about.
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Day 4: Market, then home
Breakfast on the roof with the channel in front of you, then a last walk through the market for cardamom, halwa, a kikoi or a carved piece to take back. Check out, and a private boat carries you across to Manda. Your host sees you through the airstrip and you fly to Nairobi, with the transfer to your Nairobi address included.
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Guided Lamu Old Town walking tour with a licensed local guide — From KES 3,000 ($30) per group
Lamu Fort and Lamu Museum entry — From KES 1,000 ($10) per person
Manda Toto snorkelling and sandbank day, with gear — From KES 5,000 ($50) per couple
Manda Island and Takwa Ruins day trip — From KES 10,000 ($100) per person
Matondoni dhow building village boat trip — From KES 5,000 ($50) per couple
Extra half day dhow sail with lunch — From KES 8,000 ($80) per couple
Food and comfort
Packed lunch for a beach or dhow day — From KES 2,000 ($20) per meal
Private beach or rooftop dinner for two — From KES 9,000 ($90) per couple
Massage and wellness treatment — From KES 3,000 ($30) per session
Accommodation upgrade — From KES 8,000 ($80) per person sharing per night
Transfers and extras
Additional private boat transfer — From KES 8,000 ($80) per couple per transfer
Photographer — From KES 4,000 ($40) per session
Snorkelling gear hire — From KES 1,000 ($10) per person per day
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+ Inclusions
Return economy flights, Nairobi to Manda Airport (Lamu)
Return road transfers between your Nairobi address and the departure airport
Private boat transfer, Manda Airport to Lamu Town on arrival and back on departure
3 nights at Amu House or similar, Lamu Old Town, on bed and breakfast
Return boat transfer to Shela Beach
Private two hour sunset dhow sail for two, with crew
Local suggestions and directions from your host, offered rather than scheduled
All government taxes and levies
Baecation Adventures airstrip meet and greet
- Exclusions
Lunches and dinners throughout
Drinks, including bottled water outside breakfast
Guided Old Town walking tour and museum entry fees, available as add-ons below
Travel insurance
Tips and gratuities for crew and guesthouse staff
Personal shopping at the market and galleries
Manda Toto snorkelling day and Takwa Ruins trip
Photographer, spa treatments and all other add-ons listed below
Excess baggage charges on the flight
Anything not listed under Inclusions
What To Carry
Loose cotton clothing covering shoulders and knees for town. Lamu is a conservative Muslim community and modest dress is good manners
A kikoi, which works as a beach wrap, a shoulder cover and a towel
Sandals or flip flops. You will barely wear anything else for four days
Swimwear for Shela, not for walking through the Old Town
Reef safe sunscreen, a hat and sunglasses. There is no shade on a dhow
Insect repellent for evenings on the roof
Cash in Kenyan shillings drawn before you fly. Island ATMs are few and often empty, though M-Pesa is widely accepted
A torch for the lanes after dark
A power bank
Two books each, since Day 3 is genuinely empty and you will get further through them than you expect
Motion sickness tablets if either of you is unsure on water
ID or passport for the domestic flight
Book This Package
Reach out:
For enquiries or bookings, write to [email protected]. We’ll revert within 20 minutes during business hours.