12–13 hours (05:00 start) · From USD 152 per person · Budget
A Tsavo East day trip from Mombasa is a 12–13 hour safari that leaves the coast at 05:00 for Kenya's largest national park, famous for its red-dust elephants, lions and the Aruba Dam waterhole. It is the easiest way to add a safari to a beach holiday.
05:00 hotel pickup, drive along the Mombasa–Nairobi highway to Bachuma or Buchuma gate, game drives with lunch at a park lodge, and back at your hotel around 18:00–19:00.
June–October and January–March (dry seasons).
The nearest gates are about 2–3 hours' drive from Mombasa along the Mombasa–Nairobi highway, so a day trip gives you around 5–6 hours in the park.
Tsavo East has elephant, buffalo, lion and leopard. Rhinos are protected in sanctuaries and rarely seen on a day trip, so plan on four of the Big Five at most.
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The 2-day Tsavo East safari from Mombasa adds an overnight in the park to the day trip, so you get a sunset drive, a sunrise drive and a night in a safari lodge, all with less rushing than doing it in one day.
The 3-day Tsavo East and Tsavo West safari from Mombasa covers both halves of the Tsavo ecosystem: Tsavo East's open plains and red elephants, then Tsavo West's Mzima Springs, Shetani lava flow and volcanic hills, with two nights in safari lodges.
The Wasini Island tour is a full-day dhow trip from Diani to Kisite-Mpunguti Marine Park, where you can often spot dolphins, snorkel on coral reefs and finish with a Swahili seafood lunch on Wasini Island.
