Hi - I would appreciate any advice or opinions from anyone who has visited Lamu in the last few years, especially if you can compare to Zanzibar. Of course if anyone has any left-field alternative suggestions, I would also welcome those.

Currently planning a family trip for August: current plan is Kenya for Safari - and then a 'beach' type holiday. Yes we are late in getting organised ...

• 2 Adults with 2 teenage boys (12 and 14).
• Probably 6 nights in Kenya (2 locations - see separate post) and then at least a week on an island.
• We have flexiblity to add up to another week - budget will be the limiting factor overall.

I don't want this to be like 'any other beach' holiday which we could take closer to home, but would like the family to experience something of Swahili culture, food etc. and to see places that have great memories for me.

Some background:
in my mid 20s ( a long time ago .. ) whilst trekking around Africa I spent time in both Lamu (and Kiwayu) as well as Zanzibar.
Back when i had a lot less money and a lot more time !

My memories of Zanzibar are of a more 'touristed' island with lots of organised activities. I remember going to see fruit plantations ( I still remember the Jackfruit) , fabulous beaches, snorkelling, dolphin watching (I think?) , wandering round stonetown, somehow avoiding typhoid, and staying in the north of the island in a beach hut.

My memories of Lamu are way different - very few tourists (due to security 'concerns' that obviously didn't bother me too much) - little enough to do, and all day to do it. Some Local houses offered a cooked meal and an evening spent getting to know the owner. I was also there for Ramadan, incredible Iftar food markets in the evening (Kiwayu was 'nothing to do' X 1,000!)

If you have visited Lamu (or ideally both islands) in the last few years - can you comment particularly on Lamu - is there much to 'do' that would compete with a teenager's smartphone, (beyond swimming, snorkelling and fishing trips) ?!

Note - I realise that flying Nairobi to Zanzibar will entail PCR tests, more expensive and longer flights vs. NAI to Lamu/Manda.

Who are you using to plan and book your safari? I really good safari planner ought to be able to help you with all this as well as the logistics for wherever you pick. There isn't a lot of traffic here on this forum lately so you may be better served either on Trip Advisor or reaching out to a safari planner for help. I don't travel with kids or do beach vacations in Africa so can't help there, but didn't want you to lose time waiting for a reply here.

If you need a safari planner, I've used Wild Source, Gamewatchers, Expert Africa and Africa Travel Resource and can happily recommend any of them.

Thanks amyb for the suggestion
I have all those planners on my list (in fact those ones are 75% of my list!) so I will get into this with them, once finalised on the safari
I have also posted questions on safaritalk, on the safari element as well as the island trip, but will try tripadvisor also

Hi. After our second safari we went to Malindi with our teens. We rented Himaya house which comes fully staffed with an amazing chef too! You just supply the food. It's a lovely oceanfront house with a private pool. The owner, Lissa, lives inside the compound too. She is most helpful. She had kayaks and paddleboards delivered to her house for the week. She set us up for a private snorkeling trip. WE also wanted the cultural experience and we sure got it. We took some of the guys that worked at the house on our kayaks and paddleboards as they had never experienced this