Southern Palms Beach Resort

You stay at Southern Palms Beach Resort for the stretch of Diani Beach it sits on — white sand and turquoise water, with camel rides passing by in the mornings. The resort has three hundred rooms and two suites across ten acres of tropical gardens, built in 1992 and renovated in 2019. Rooms have Swahili and Arabic decor, air conditioning, and balconies; the oceanfront ones face the water directly.

Two freeform swimming pools run the length of the property, with one close enough to the beach that you can hear the waves from the sun loungers. The dive centre organises trips to the reef, and the fitness centre looks out over the gardens. Four restaurants serve buffet breakfasts, grilled seafood, and Italian dinners under makuti roofs; the main one has live cooking stations for African and Indian dishes.

The resort is thirty-five kilometres south of Mombasa, close enough for day trips but far enough that the beach stays quiet. Diani Chale Marine National Reserve is a short drive away for snorkelling and boat trips.