Skippers Coliving,
A Home From Home.
We’re are a sustainable coliving on the coast of Kenya in a bustling beach town called Diani. For solo travellers, digital nomads and explorers.
A community with air conditioned rooms, workspace, meal plans, gym, plunge pool and some of the best pizza on the coast.
Join our community and join 761 nomads and adventurers.
Karibu Kenya
Located in Diani, Skippers was opened in 2023. We are two nomads who after living on a boat for six years were looking for a land based home.
With history in Kenya after coming back we decided to set-up a hub for solo travellers, nomads and entrepreneurs looking for a base in East Africa.
A great start and end point for adventures Diani sits nicely on the circuit of travel from Nairobi to Zanzibar. Kenya itself is an adventurers paradise – Kitesurfing, Diving, Hiking, MTB, Climbing, Off road motorbikes are all on our door step.
If you love the outdoors or just want a relaxing spot with a friendly community next to one of the worlds most beautiful beaches then you’ll enjoy Skippers.
Experiences In Kenya
Getting to Skippers Diani
Nearby Airports
- Diani/Ukunda airstrip – UKA (1km/5min) – Internal flights operated by JamboJet, Fly540, Skyward Express and Safarilink primarily from Nairobi with a few from Mombasa;
- Mombasa Intl – MBA (30km/1h30-2h) – Direct flights from Frankfurt, Germany and Addis, Ethiopia;
- Nairobi Kenyatta – NBO (520km/8h30) – Main international airport in Kenya;
From Nairobi
- Plane – There are regular flights from Nairobi Kenyatta and Nairobi Wilson. We usually use JamboJet flights are around $80-$100 each way and can usually be changed on the day before departure without additional fees – Not searchable on aggregators like Skyscanner;
- Train – The train departs 8am and 2pm from Nairobi and takes 6 hours to Mombasa. It takes a while but goes through safari parks. There’s a good opportunity to spot wildlife if you get a window seat. Tickets are around $7 standard, $21 first class – Booking using mPesa or a travel agent, tickets usually available on the day;
- Bus – We do not reccomend taking a bus. The Nairobi – Mombasa highway is busy and the buses are not reknowned for their safety;
From Europe
- Bansko: The best option from Bankso is to fly to Amsterdam, you’ll spend about 2h30 before the KLM flight to Nairobi;
- Germany:
- Frankfurt: There are direct flights from Frankfurt to Mombasa with Eurowings;
- Maastrict: Emirates have a weekly flight to Nairobi
- Netherlands: KLM operate a flight from Amsterdam to Nairobi with a connecting flight same evening to Mombasa;
- Paris: Air France operate a flight from CDG to Nairobi;
- London: British Airways operate from LHR to Nairobi;
- Belgium: Qatar operate an occasional flight from Zaventem;
- Athens: Connect to Doha with Qatar Airlines;
- Turkey: Turkish Airlines operate a daily flight to Nairobi from Istanbul
From the USA
- New York: The only direct connection is Kenya Airways from JFK to Nairobi. You might not like JFK but the direct flight is a good option;
Indirect options from US. There are indirect flights via Paris, London and Amsterdam.
We would strongly recommend against flying through Paris if you are planning to stop in Paris itself.
The inbound schengen passport control to enter Europe is regularly overwhelmed in the morning and it is not unusual to spend most of the day queuing to get into the country.
If you want to stop in Europe instead consider entering via Amsterdam and then connecting to Paris on an inter-Europe flight or train.
Frequently Asked Questions
We are an Estonian company with a subsidiary in Kenya. Over time we hope to expand to have more locations in Kenya and East Africa.
A common question is whether Kenya is a safe place to live or travel. In general yes it is. Normal safety rules of travel apply, during the day in Diani it’s safe to walk around anywhere.
Our solo travellers male and female at Skippers have all so far not had any issues in and around Diani and have felt safe.
During the evening we always reccomend taking a tuktuk or boda (motorbike taxi). However, occurrences of theft etc are generally low. Very low when compared to any European or US city.
Where to avoid
There are some areas to be avoided like anywhere approximately 100km from the Northern Somali border and regionally there are sometimes areas where it’s reccomended to have a guide.
However, it’s worth understanding that internal mobility in Kenya is much lower than South America and Europe so regional issues generally stay regional.
July 2024 Update – We have had a few people asking about the recent protests in Kenya. So far we have not had any significant issues on the coast. There were some protests up in the local town in the tourist areas it has been calm.
In Nairobi and Mombasa there have been regular protests but with the exception of the protests on the 25th June there has not been any significant disruption.
One of Duncan the founder’s biggest fears on Kenya was around internet speeds. However, he was very pleasently surprised.
The 4g+ network in Kenya is very good. You can get speeds of up to 200mbps often in quite remote areas. The network is significantly more developed than a number of European countries and is aided by the largely flat geography.
Fibre internet is commonplace in hotels and on the coast the fibre network is expanding quickly.
At Skippers we have multiple uplinks leveraging Starlink and Fibre load balanced on a managed network. We are also in the process of adding in room wired connections and access points for guests who want to connect VoIP equipment or other devices that need a wired connection.
Generally we look for guests to stay for four weeks minimum so as to maintain a good community vibe. If you are not able to stay for four weeks get in touch as we sometimes have gaps between bookings where we can accomodate shorter stays.
If you are a Kenyan resident then we have local rates please get in touch directly with Skippers Diani.