The combination
Bush first. Always bush first.
It is the single most useful rule in honeymoon planning and it is routinely got backwards.
Why the order is not a detail
A safari costs you sleep and gives you adrenaline. A beach gives sleep back. Put them in that order and the second week repairs the first; put them the other way round and you arrive at the safari rested and fly home shattered.
There is a secondary reason, which is that the transition works better. Going from a beach to a 6am game drive is a shock. Going from a game drive to a hammock is the best afternoon of the trip.
Which coast goes with which safari
| Safari | Coast | The journey |
|---|---|---|
| Masai Mara, Kenya | Diani, Lamu or Watamu | One internal flight, usually via Nairobi. Two to three hours door to door. |
| Laikipia or Samburu, Kenya | Lamu or Diani | One flight; Lamu is the more unusual choice and the more memorable one. |
| Serengeti, Tanzania | Zanzibar | Forty minutes by light aircraft from the Serengeti airstrips. The easiest join here. |
| Rwanda | Zanzibar, or Lake Kivu | Kivu is an hour by road and is not a beach; Zanzibar means a flight via Kigali or Nairobi. |
| Botswana | No coast nearby | Pair with Victoria Falls or Cape Town instead. It is a different kind of second week. |
How many nights on the coast
Four is right. Three feels like you just arrived; five starts to feel long unless you actively want to do nothing, which some people genuinely do.
If you are choosing between a fifth beach night and a third night at a second safari camp, take the safari night.
What to check about the coast
- The tide. On parts of the Zanzibar east coast, low tide walks the sea out several hundred metres.
- Seaweed season, which varies by coast and month and is not mentioned in most brochures.
- Whether the hotel is on a swimmable stretch or a reef flat
- How far it is from the airport — some transfers are ninety minutes
- Whether you want a hotel or a villa with its own staff, which at this level costs less than people expect
More from our Africa guides
Specialist guides across our Africa network
Each of these is a focused guide we publish. Same Africa specialist behind every enquiry.
Ready to turn this into a real itinerary?
Send us your dates, who is travelling and roughly what you want to spend per person per night. Our Africa specialist comes back within 24 hours with a plan built around them and a costed quote.