Sirai Beach stands on a clifftop above Kilifi Creek, at the point where the Goshi River runs into the Indian Ocean. It is the coastal half of the Sirai estate, built as a counterpart to Sirai House in the Laikipia highlands, so that a single trip can move from big-game country down to the water. Six suites, twelve guests, one house, taken on exclusive use.
The coast finishes it, and the days here belong to no one but you
The two houses were conceived as a pair, and the logic shows in how guests arrive. A charter flight from Borana lands at Kilifi airstrip in a little over an hour, five minutes from the door, the estate’s own Pilatus aircraft or a helicopter making the transfer. The bush comes first. The coast finishes it, and the days here belong to no one but you.
Baobab trees anchor the tropical gardens, which run from the main house to the cliff edge. Nicholas Plewman Architects worked in a contemporary Swahili idiom, using coral stone, Lamu plaster and carved timber, with makuti thatch shading the private terraces. Fox Browne Creative dressed the interiors, gathering pieces from Kenya, Morocco, India and South Africa.
Nicholas Plewman Architects worked in a contemporary Swahili idiom
A double-height atrium opens the main house, its high ceilings and wide verandas built to draw the sea breeze through the rooms. Below the lawn, a spiral staircase cut into the coral rock leads down to rock pools that fill and empty with the tide. The 25-metre infinity pool sits above it all, reading flat against the ocean horizon.
Meals appear wherever they are wanted, in the formal dining room, on the open veranda, poolside, or out under the stars, brought by a private chef, a butler and a full team. The kitchen leans Mediterranean and Swahili, built around line-caught fish. Dishes such as lobster ravioli with saffron butter and tuna carpaccio recur among the regulars, and the cellar holds a working collection of fine bottles and Champagnes for the culinary team to pair against whatever a guest asks for that evening.
The reef off Kilifi holds tropical fish, reached with masks and fins straight from the house. Paddleboards and kayaks go out on the creek at first light, while sailing runs from a nearby beach alongside kite-surfing, wakeboarding, water-skiing, jet-skiing and windsurfing. When the deep water calls, the estate’s own 38-foot boat, Sirai Sea, takes guests out after billfish. A dhow cruise on the creek, sundowners aboard, closes most days.
Dishes such as lobster ravioli with saffron butter and tuna carpaccio recur among the regulars
Not everything happens at the water’s edge. A 25-metre lap pool and a floodlit AstroTurf tennis court sit in the grounds, with a gym and spa alongside. The PGA Baobab course at Vipingo Ridge lies about thirty minutes away, and horse-riding runs from the same estate. Closer to home, the markets of Kilifi town make an easy morning out, an hour among the stalls before the heat builds.
The master suite takes the whole upper floor of the main house, with a study, two covered patios linked by a veranda, and a rooftop terrace above. The five garden suites sit in cottages to either side, each with sea views, its own veranda and rooftop space. This is the stretch of a Kenyan trip that comes after the game drives end, when nobody sets an alarm, the waves working below the cliff and the dhows crossing the mouth of the creek.
01
accommodation
Six suites for up to twelve guests on exclusive use. The master suite fills the main house's upper floor, with a study, two covered patios, a veranda and a rooftop terrace. Five garden suites in flanking cottages each have sea views, indoor and outdoor showers, verandas and rooftop terraces. All are air-conditioned with silent ceiling fans.
02
activities
Snorkelling on the Kilifi reef, paddleboarding and kayaking on the creek, and deep-sea fishing from the estate's own boat. Sailing and motorised watersports run from a nearby beach. On land: the 25-metre pool, floodlit tennis, gym and spa, plus golf and riding at Vipingo Ridge, thirty minutes away.
03
conservation
The estate's conservation weight sits with sister property Sirai House in Borana Conservancy, whose shareholders fund anti-poaching work and the Borana-Lewa rhino corridor; its trust has given over $400,000 to local education, health and habitat projects in five years. At the coast, Sirai Beach sources line-caught fish from local fishermen and employs local staff.
Get in touch and let’s start the conversation. An initial consultation helps us understand what you’re looking for, whether that’s specific experiences, luxury touches, or marking a special occasion, and from there we’ll guide you through what’s possible so you can decide if we’re the right fit.
Most guests come by air. Kilifi's airstrip sits five minutes from the gate and takes private charters, and we typically arrange a Cessna Caravan or Pilatus PC-12 for the leg, from Nairobi's Wilson airport or straight off a safari airstrip. Scheduled light aircraft from Wilson also land at Vipingo Ridge on certain days of the week, about thirty minutes away by road, and the house has its own helipad for anyone moving by helicopter.
By road, the house is around two hours from Mombasa's international airport and about an hour from Malindi's, and we build in the transfer whichever way the flights fall. Light aircraft take soft bags only, so pack duffels rather than hard cases.
Yes, normally. The Kenyan coast is a year-round malaria area: the UK's official travel health advice puts Kenya at high risk everywhere below 2,500 metres apart from the city of Nairobi, and the CDC recommends preventive tablets for all areas under that altitude, so a house at the coast sits inside the risk zone however private it is.
Confirm the right course for the whole itinerary with a travel clinic or your doctor before departure, since most guests here are combining highlands and coast in one trip, and keep repellent and long sleeves in the evening routine.
A warm coast in every month, with the ocean breeze taking the edge off the heat. The kaskazi monsoon from the north-east brings the hottest, driest months from around December to March, the south-easterly kusi cools things from May to October, and the long rains fall from late April into June with a shorter wet spell in November, mostly as hard showers that clear quickly.
Pack light natural fabrics, swimwear and strong sun protection, plus a long-sleeved layer for evenings on the cliff, where the kusi months can turn genuinely breezy. Nothing formal is needed, whatever the house's scale suggests.
Between July and September the humpback whales migrate along this coast, and with the house set high on the cliff and its own boat in the water, that season has an obvious pull. Dolphins are in the Kilifi waters the year round, seen most reliably from November to April. For swimming and snorkelling in the clearest water, choose the kaskazi season between October and March, and take December to March for the most heat and the least rain.
The long rains from late April into June are the quietest stretch, still warm, with rain in short bursts and the coast at its emptiest.
Yes. The house publishes no minimum age, and because it is only ever taken whole, the day runs entirely to the family's timetable, with the pool, the tennis court and the rock pools that appear at low tide doing most of the entertaining. Six suites spread between the main house and the garden cottages take three generations comfortably.
The honest caveats are the ones the setting imposes: a clifftop lawn, a tidal staircase to the shore and an unfenced pool all ask for adult eyes on younger children. Tell us the ages and we will plan the rooms and the days around them.
Three or four nights is the natural close to a safari, enough for the pace to fully unwind after the highlands and for the creek, the reef and the pool to each have their day. A week rewards the house properly, with time for the boat to go out after billfish, a round on the golf course down the coast, and the dhow evenings that shape a stay here.
Because the flight in from the bush takes little over an hour, none of the stay is spent travelling, which is exactly why this pairing of highlands and coast works so well.
rated five stars by our clients
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
our approach
Every journey starts with a conversation. We take the time to understand your vision before we start planning.
Whether by phone or in person, we work with you directly to shape something that is considered, personal, and expertly delivered.
