Field note · Kenya · Lamu County

Lamu

There are no cars on Lamu Island, so every arrival ends in a boat: most visitors fly into Manda airstrip and cross the channel in five minutes, the overland alternative is a coach down the Garsen–Witu–Lamu road to Mokowe jetty and a public or hired speedboat from there, and once on the island you move by boat, boda-boda, donkey or on foot.

Researched: 21 September 2026
Reviewed: not yet
Ways of moving: 9, 27 sources
Not confirmed: 7
Fares seen: 2025–2026

The place

Lamu or Lamu Town is a small town on Lamu Island, which in turn is a part of the Lamu Archipelago in Kenya on the continent of Africa. Situated 341 kilometres (212 mi) by road northeast of Mombasa that ends at Mokowe Jetty, from where the sea channel has to be crossed to reach Lamu Island, it is the headquarter of Lamu County and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. The place page has what to see, do and eat, and every way there from the planner.

How transport works here

9 ways of moving, each with its rule

We confirmed nine ways of moving to, from or around Lamu: one by air, four by water, two by road, one hired or on demand and one under your own steam, from 27 sources. Four of them run only on demand or when the seats are full, so there is no timetable to show; the rule is written where the timetable would be.

The fares were seen in 2025 to 2026; a fare from an older year is a floor, not a price. We rate 5 of the 9 high confidence, our own judgement of the sources. The entry was checked on 21 September 2026, and ends with seven things we could not confirm.

One way

By air

scheduled flight

Scheduled flights to Manda Airport

Nairobi Wilson or Nairobi JKIA to Manda (LAU), Safarilink routing via Malindi and Skyward via Mombasa

Book direct with Safarilink, Skyward Airlines or Jambojet. Safarilink flights 51 and 52 run Wilson – Malindi – Lamu – Malindi – Wilson. Manda airstrip is on Manda Island, not Lamu Island, so the flight is only the first half of the journey.

When: Daily on all three carriers. Safarilink flight 51 leaves Wilson 14:00 and lands 16:15; flight 52 leaves Lamu 16:45 and lands at Wilson 19:15, or Malindi 17:15. Peponi lists Jambojet JKIA 09:00–10:20 and Skyward Wilson 10:00–12:10 via Mombasa.
Takes: About 2h 15m Wilson to Lamu including the Malindi stop; roughly 40 minutes Mombasa to Lamu and 25–30 minutes Malindi to Lamu
Fare 2026: Safarilink US$230 one way, US$390 return, low and high season, before taxes (2026 timetable). Skyward advertises Lamu from Ksh 11,000 (2026). Bookaway lists the Mombasa–Lamu flight at about US$54 and Malindi–Lamu at US$45–138.

SeasonYear-round daily service. Safarilink's low season is 1 April to 15 June and 1 November to 15 December; the Lamu fare is the same in both seasons. BookingOnline with each airline. Safarilink baggage on the Lamu route is limited to 20 kg per person including hand baggage, in soft bags; check-in closes 60 minutes before departure. Run bySafarilink Aviation, Skyward Airlines (Skyward Express), Jambojet.

4 ways

By water

boat

Manda airstrip jetty to Lamu Town or Shela

Manda Island jetty across the channel to Lamu Town seafront, or south-west to Shela

Walk from the airstrip to the jetty a few minutes away; boats meet every flight. Hotels in Shela send their own boat and staff meet guests at the airstrip, so say which hotel you are going to before you agree a price with a freelance boatman.

When: Boats run with the flights, morning and afternoon; no timetable
Takes: About five minutes to Lamu Town, longer to Shela
Fare 2026: Wikivoyage says the Lamu Town crossing should not cost more than Ksh 200, and Shela is Ksh 1,500, or Ksh 1,200 if you negotiate. Hotel transfers are usually included or billed by the hotel.

SeasonYear-round; short crossing sheltered inside the channel. BookingNone for the public boats, pay the boatman. Hotel boats are arranged with the room booking. Run byIndependent boatmen and hotel boats.

boat

Mokowe jetty boats to Lamu Town

Mokowe (Kikoni) landing site on the mainland to the Lamu Town seafront

The jetty is about 3.5 km past Mokowe town at the end of the Garsen–Witu–Lamu highway; cars are left parked there. Three kinds of boat wait side by side. You will be met by touts, each claiming his boat is the fastest, so choose by the price quoted rather than the promise: Ksh 100–200 means the slow public boat, Ksh 300 the shared speedboat, Ksh 1,000 a private one.

When: Through the day. The public boat leaves only when it is full, the shared speedboat once it fills, a private boat immediately.
Takes: About 15 minutes by speedboat; the slow public boat can take hours including the wait
Fare 2025: Public boat Ksh 100–200 per person, shared speedboat Ksh 300 per person, private speedboat Ksh 1,000 (Wikivoyage, prices as of 2025)

SeasonYear-round. Fares have risen sharply in recent years and were the subject of local complaint in 2024. BookingNone, pay at the jetty. You can usually negotiate to be dropped at Shela instead of Lamu Town. Run byIndependent boat owners.

water taxi

Lamu Town – Shela – Matondoni local boats

Lamu Town seafront to Shela in the south and Matondoni on the north-west coast

Boats wait along the Lamu Town waterfront by the main jetty, near the fort end of the seafront promenade; walk down and ask for Shela or Matondoni. Shela is 3.2 km south of Lamu Town and Matondoni 7.3 km west, and Matondoni has a modern jetty of its own. Boats are the only way to reach Matondoni other than walking.

When: Informal, all day; boats leave when they have enough passengers, and are far more frequent to Shela than to Matondoni
Takes: Roughly 15 minutes to Shela, longer around the north of the island to Matondoni
Fare 2026: Not published. Agree the price before boarding; expect to pay well under the Ksh 1,500 quoted for an airport transfer to Shela.

SeasonYear-round, but crossings to Matondoni and Kipungani depend on the tide. BookingNone, pay the boatman. Run byIndependent boatmen.

boat

Dhow and motorboat trips to Manda, Takwa, Pate and Kiwayu

Lamu Town or Shela out to Manda Island and Takwa, north to Pate Island and Faza, and on to Kiwayu in the Kiunga Marine National Reserve

Dhow captains find you on the Lamu Town seafront and at the Shela jetty; hotels will also put you with a captain they know. For the outer islands ask about the working boats rather than tourist dhows, and go early in the day. Takwa on Manda can only be reached at high tide.

When: Tourist dhow trips daily on demand. Boats to Pate and the far north run irregularly and follow the tide.
Takes: Two hours for a sunset dhow trip. Faza on Pate is about four hours by boat from Lamu. Kiwayu is seven hours by dhow or two hours by motorboat.
Fare 2026: Dhow trips start at Ksh 3,000 for a two-hour sunset sail with no food. A boat to the Takwa Ruins from Shela is about Ksh 5,000 for up to four people. Fares to Pate and Kiwayu are negotiated, not posted.

SeasonSailing dhows depend on the monsoon winds. Lamu is warmest December to April and coolest May to July; the long rains make the open crossings north rougher. BookingArranged the day before on the seafront or through a hotel. Run byIndependent dhow captains and motorboat owners.

2 ways

By road

bus

Mombasa and Malindi coaches to Mokowe

Mombasa via Malindi, Garsen and Witu to Mokowe, the mainland port opposite Lamu Island

Coaches leave from the Mombasa bus stages in the morning. Tawakal and Najaah are the two express operators named on Wikivoyage; Bookaway sells Tawakal Coach. Book a seat at the front of the bus in advance. The bus ends at Mokowe, about 3.5 km from the jetty, and you finish the trip by boat.

When: A handful of morning departures; Bookaway shows Mombasa departures between 10:00 and 11:00
Takes: 5–7 hours from Mombasa depending on road conditions. Peponi tells guests to allow a seven-hour drive from Mombasa and at least four hours from Malindi.
Fare 2026: Bookaway lists the Mombasa–Lamu bus from about US$27

SeasonYear-round, but the Lamu–Witu–Garsen road floods in the long rains and has been closed by water in the past. A night-movement ban has applied in Lamu County since 2017; the High Court suspended it on 23 May 2026 and police were still enforcing it days later, so assume daylight travel only and check locally. BookingAt the bus office in Mombasa or Malindi, or online through Bookaway. Run byTawakal, Najaah and other Kenyan coast operators.

matatu

Minjila – Mokowe matatus

Minjila junction on the Mombasa–Garissa road to Mokowe jetty

In Minjila the matatus park at the intersection with the road to Lamu. Useful if you are coming from Garissa or anywhere not served by a direct Lamu coach: take a Mombasa-bound bus as far as Minjila and change there.

When: Leave when full through the day; no timetable
Takes: About 2 hours
Fare 2025: Ksh 500–1,000, depending on the driver and on whether you look like a foreigner (Wikivoyage, prices as of 2025)

SeasonYear-round; the same flooding and night-travel restrictions apply as on the coaches. BookingNone, pay the conductor. Run byPrivate matatu owners.

One way

Hired, booked and on demand

moto taxi

Shela – Lamu Town boda-boda

Along the shore between Lamu Town and Shela village

Riders wait at the end of the Lamu Town seafront and at the Shela jetty. This is the land alternative to the boat and saves a 45-minute walk in the heat; two passengers on one bike get a small discount.

When: On demand through the day
Takes: Around 10 minutes, longer at high tide when the bikes have to leave the beach
Fare 2025: Ksh 100–150 at low tide, Ksh 250–300 at high tide (Wikivoyage, prices as of 2025)

SeasonYear-round, but the price and the route both change with the tide. BookingNone, agree the fare first. Run byIndependent riders.

One way

On foot, by bike, or otherwise

mule

Donkeys and walking in Lamu Old Town

Inside Lamu Town and between the island's villages

You do not hire a donkey as a taxi. Donkeys are the island's lorries, carrying building material, water and luggage through lanes too narrow for vehicles, and hotels and porters will arrange one for bags. Private cars are banned, so for people the choice is walk, boda-boda or boat.

When: Constant; donkeys are everywhere in the old town
Takes: Lamu Town to Shela is about 45 minutes on foot along the shore
Fare 2026: Negotiated with the owner for luggage; there is no fare for walking

SeasonYear-round. The shore path between Lamu Town and Shela is easiest at low tide. Run byLocal donkey owners.

Not confirmed

What we could not find out

7 things the researcher looked for and did not find, in their own words, with where to ask instead. None of this goes into the planner; it stays here until someone confirms it.

01
No source found that gives a fare for the everyday public water taxi between Lamu Town and Shela or Matondoni. Wikivoyage prices the airport transfer and the Mokowe crossing but not the intra-island hops. Ask at the Lamu Town jetty and expect to negotiate.
02
There is no published timetable for boats to Pate Island, Faza, Kizingitini or Kiwayu. Durations here come from Wikipedia articles on Faza and Kiwayu, not from an operator. Ask at the Lamu Town jetty the evening before; departures follow the tide.
03
Safarilink's own site lists Manda–Kiwayu as a route on Wikipedia's airport page, but Kiwayu does not appear in Safarilink's 2026 timetable. Treat it as charter or seasonal until confirmed with the airline.
04
The brief described a police convoy on the Mombasa–Lamu road. What could be confirmed is a night-movement ban across Lamu County imposed in 2017 after Al-Shabaab attacks, covering 18:00 to 07:00. The High Court suspended it on 23 May 2026 pending a petition, and police were reported still enforcing it afterwards. No 2023-or-later source was found confirming that daytime escorted convoys still run, so do not assume either way – check with the bus office in Mombasa on the day.
05
Wikivoyage dates its Mokowe ferry, matatu and boda-boda prices to 2025 but not the Manda airport transfer figures; those are recorded here as seen in 2026 and may be older.
06
Local complaint about boat fare rises was reported in January 2024 by The Eastleigh Voice, but the article itself could not be opened, so no current official tariff for Lamu boat crossings could be cited.
07
No usable source was found for the kaskazi and kusi monsoon dates as they affect Lamu boat travel. Kaskazi is the Swahili north wind and kusi the south wind, but the sailing calendar could not be pinned to months from a citable source.

In the planner

What the planner can route today

The options above live on the place page, not in the departure board: a boat that comes when you phone has no time to show. What the board can do for Lamu is this.

N: Scheduled flightsnearest airport MBA is 243 km away
N: Trains and coachesno timetable feed known for this country
Y: Ferriesferry terminal, 3 km; sailings estimated
Y: Driving and taxiOpenStreetMap roads; cab fare from the country band
N: Bike and scooter shareno share feed known
N: Cruisesno open itinerary source anywhere

Y routable now · F found, not yet implemented · N no source known. Nearest place with more: Kaambooni, 104 km.