Location & Facilities

Manda Bay is a small, intimate beach resort overlooking the Indian Ocean, offering guests all the rewards of what is undoubtedly one of the best locations on the Kenyan coast.  Manda Bay is privately owned and hosted and caters to personalized groups – from families and honeymooners alike.

Renowned for its relaxed and casual ambience, the lodge offers gourmet seafood, water sports and dhow cruises, all with a tasteful down to earth simplicity and style that epitomizes ‘barefoot luxury.’

Manda Bay is on a secluded peninsular of the island where guests enjoy total privacy and tranquility. The neighbouring island of Lamu is a twenty minute boat-drive and it's ancient town, now a world heritage site, is a popular place to visit.

Surrounded by magnificent coral gardens, empty beaches and indigenous woodland, Manda Bay is a glorious destination for both active and leisurely holiday makers.

Your hosts at Manda are two couples who own and manage the lodge. Caragh and Andy Roberts and Fuzz and Bimbi Dyer. Both families are third generation Kenyans and have been involved in the service industry for some time.

Modern communications allow e-mail and telephone access to the outside world if you choose to be available!

Accommodation & Rates

Manda Bay is a small private lodge on Manda Island in Northern Kenya’s Lamu / Kiwayu archipelago.

Sixteen spacious cottages line the beach overlooking the calm waters of Manda Bay. Formerly the Blue Safari Club, it has been renovated and reopened under new management.

Rates 
(Subject to change without notice)

High Season
15 July 09 – 31st July 09, 01 Aug 09 – 30 Sept 09, 21 Dec 09 to 02 Jan 2010
Adult USD605 per person sharing per night
Single Room per night USD715
Per child sharing aged 5 – 16 per night – USD430
Children under 5yrs old – Free of Charge

Mid Season
(4 Jan 09 to 14 April 2009, 01 Oct 09 to 20 Dec 09)
Adult USD540 per person sharing per night
Single Room per night USD605
Per child sharing aged 5 – 16 per night – USD420
Children under 5yrs old – Free of Charge

Manda Bay is CLOSED from 15th April to the 14th July

What is included

• Sundowner cruises on the dhow
• Kayaking
• Windsurfing
• Sailing
• Local airstrip transfers
• Bird walks / drives
• Full Board accommodation
• Laundry

What is not included

• Dhow Charters
• Deep sea fishing and creek fishing
• Motorised water sports
• Snorkelling
• Scuba diving
• Archaeological site visits
• Items of a personal nature
• Gratuities
• Boat Trips
• Spa Treatments
• Guide fees – Lamu, museum entrance fee & snorkeling conservation fee
• All Drinks
  

Children
Children are most welcome at Manda Bay

Water
Water is drawn from wells on the property and passed through a desalination and ultra-violet plant. There is also bottled water provided for guests. Hot water is available 24hrs a day.

Electicity/Power
A 240 volt generator supplies MANDA BAY’S electricity. The power is off at certain times of the day, but on for most of the night.

Credit cards
Mastercard and Visa are accepted.

Activities

Watersports
MANDA BAY is a water sports paradise. Its sheltered mangrove creek and the calm waters are ideal for water skiing. Guests can ski at high tide, yet just outside the creek there is generally enough breeze for sailing, wind-surfing and kite-surfing. They also offer windsurfing instruction to beginners.

Manda has four ski boats and a large selection of skis and other equipment, including a six-man ocean rider (Banana), an air chair, super-screamers (doughnuts) and knee and wake boards. Likewise instruction is available for beginner skiers.

For keen sailors they have a variety of wind-surfers, a Topper and two Lasers. The relative shelter of the bay lends itself to safe and easy sailing but hard-core sailors can challenge themselves further out under a watchful eye. For those that have never sailed before our staff are always ready to assist with a few easy lessons.

They also have a fleet of five motor-boats that take guests out on a variety of activities including sight-seeing in the ancient Takwa ruins (11th Century), bird watching down the creeks and snorkeling in the rich coral gardens on the reef about fifteen minutes from the lodge. Manda has fabulous snorkeling in safe calm water where guests can see a myriad of spectacular reef fish and newly generating coral.

For the more relaxed guest, we have two and one man kayaks, to paddle up the creek on a high tide. This is particularly popular with families and offers a quiet, safe and light form of exercise.

Beach and Bush
Manda bay is a lodge of exceptional good fortune, not only does it have secluded open beaches that stretch for fourteen kilometers, along with the rich marine life in the sea, Manda also offers an extra bonus of pristine costal bush behind the lodge. The large area is full of wildlife and thick vegetation where game drives reveal a surprising number of animals and bird-life. These include Buffalo, Bushbuck, Bushpig, the tiny Dikdik and a host of smaller predators like Civets and Mongooses. Birds include Carmine bee-eaters, Fisheagles, Northern Niccaters, Wimbrills and many others.

Manda offers scenic flights in a light aircraft which fly low over areas on the main land across the bay. These areas are stunningly beautiful stretches of uninhabited land where large herds of Buffalo, Hartebeast, Zebra and Eland exist undisturbed. The bush country here is spotted with an occasional natural sweet water lake full of Hippopotomus and attracts other rarer species like the Lesser Kudu and Hirola Hartebeast.

Deep Sea Fishing
The fishing – both reef and deep sea – in the Lamu / Kiwayu waters is famous worldwide both for its variety and for the quantity of sport fish caught.

Striped, Black and Blue Marlin, Sailfish and many other game fish migrate through these waters in abundance. The sailfish season starts in October through to April. The marlin season is February and March. Tuna,  Dorado, Wahoo, Giant Trevally and Kingfish are abundant all year round.

The fishing boat Cheza – Kiswahili for play - is a fibreglass 33 foot British built Lochin sport-fishing boat, built to withstand the North Sea elements. She is the ideal platform for all serious sport fishermen.

Cheza is extremely well equipped, with all the latest navigation, communication and safety equipment. Powered by twin 180Hp turbo diesel engines, she has a range of 1,000 miles and can take you to the fishing areas in comfort and safety.

She has an excellent and well-trained three-man crew and a wide variety of fishing tackle to suit all anglers. Her tackle ranges from 130 pound rods to 10 weight fly rods and everything in between.

Although they do have two fighting chairs, they favour stand up equipment. Cheza fully supports the tag and release system for all billfish in our waters.

We do offer Broadbill fishing which entails an all night session for those real billfish enthusiasts. Broadbill can be fished from August to May.

North Kenya’s fishing season runs from September through to the end of April and is at its best from November to mid March when billfish are most prevalent here.

Charters can be arranged for half day, full day, over night trips.

All guests are welcome to take a rod and try their luck with some creek fishing. Trevally, King fish and Barracuda are all plentiful in the creek as are Rock Cod, Garfish and Red and White Snapper.

Dhow Safari
One of the best ways to explore this incredible archipelago is under sail on Utamaduni, our beautiful 62 foot sailing dhow. Utamaduni is a Kiswahili word meaning tradition or culture. They operate the boat from November through to April.

Utamaduni was built by Lamu’s master-boat builders in the time-honoured style of the East African coast. She is one of the two biggest dhows now operating on the Kenyan coast and has the largest sail of any dhow in Kenya.

She has three spacious guest cabins below deck, a traditional outdoor toilet and fresh water shower. Guests sleep under the stars on the deck at night in comfortable bedrooms.

Utamaduni carries a full compliment of eight experienced crew who operate the ship under sail through waters which were opened to world trade by the invention of the dhow and its unique lateen rig.

The dhow often motors for lunch excursions to the snorkeling site or set sail in the evening taking guests in-time for dinner at the lodge.

Utamaduni is fully-equipped with navigation and communication equipment including a satellite telephone and all the necessary safety measures. She has a large diesel engine, a generator, deep freeze, fridge and all the comforts of a modern day cruiser but no air conditioning.

 

 

How to get there

International flights go to Nairobi.  There are two daily scheduled flights into Lamu from Nairobi and two from Nairobi via Malindi.  They also have their own airstrip which allows for guests to arrange private charters into the lodge.