10 days · 9 nights
Ten days: safari and the Indian Ocean
The trip most honeymooners and most second-time visitors end up building. Safari first, beach second — never the other way round.
- Length
- 10 days, 9 nights
- Indicative range
- US$4,200 – 11,000 pp
- Places
- Masai Mara · Diani Beach
- Turnaround
- Costed quote within 24 hours
The range is what this shape of trip typically costs per person sharing, land only, from simple camps at the bottom to owner-run camps and private guiding at the top. It excludes international flights and it is not a quote — your quote will be itemised and exact.
Is this your trip?
Who this itinerary suits
Who it does not suit
- Travellers set on covering four or five parks; this deliberately does two things well
- Anyone coming in the coastal long rains around April and May
- Honeymoons and anniversaries
- Anyone who finds a pure safari itinerary relentless — it is early mornings for a week
- Travellers who want the trip to end relaxed rather than exhausted
Day by day
How the days actually run
Written the way we would plan it, including the travel days nobody puts in a brochure.
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Day 1
Arrive Nairobi
Overnight in Nairobi to absorb the long-haul flight before the light aircraft.
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Days 2–5
Masai Mara — four nights
Four nights rather than three, because this is the only park on the itinerary. It is enough to spend a whole morning with a single sighting without feeling you are missing something elsewhere.
In a conservancy you get night drives, walking and off-road access. During the migration months a reserve camp puts you nearer the crossings.
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Day 6
Mara to the coast
Fly Mara to Diani via Nairobi. It is a travel day, but you land in time for a swim before dinner and the change of pace is immediate — from dawn starts to none at all.
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Days 7–9
Diani Beach — three nights
White sand, a reef a short boat ride offshore, and tides that shift the beach dramatically between morning and afternoon. Diving and snorkelling in Kisite-Mpunguti to the south, dhow trips, kitesurfing when the wind is up, or nothing at all.
Four nights is better than three if your flights allow it. Nobody has ever come back and said the beach leg was too long.
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Day 10
Diani to Nairobi and home
A morning on the beach, an afternoon flight to Nairobi, and the international connection that evening. Leave a sensible gap — allow three hours between the domestic arrival and the long-haul departure.
Make it yours
Common variations
Nothing here is a package. These are the changes people most often ask for, and all of them are straightforward.
Tsavo instead of a second flight
Drive or take the SGR train from Nairobi through Tsavo to the coast, adding two nights of wilderness and cutting one internal flight.
Lamu instead of Diani
Older, quieter, more atmospheric, with a dhow culture Diani does not have. Fewer flights and a shorter beach.
Add Amboseli
Two extra nights between the Mara and the coast makes it a twelve-day trip and adds the elephants.
Next step
Have this priced for your dates
Send us the dates you are considering and we will cost this itinerary exactly — with named camps, real availability and an itemised price — rather than leaving you to guess from a range.
Our Kenya specialist replies within 24 hours.
- Named camps, checked for availability on your dates
- An itemised price, so you can see what each night costs
- An honest note on anything about your dates that will not work
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