Kololi
The oldest beach resort on The Gambia's Atlantic coast, a stretch of sand and gardens with a forest full of monkeys at its southern end.
- Arrival
- Banjul International · BJL
- To the resort
- About 15 km from the airport in a straight line
- Private jets
- Banjul International, open day and night
- Best time
- November to May
The city
Sand, gardens and the Senegambia strip.
Kololi was the first of the Gambian beach resorts, and its low hotels sit behind a beach that has largely been rebuilt by hand, since the tides keep carrying it away. At its heart is Senegambia, where the restaurants and the evening crowd gather and, in high season, the road fills with traders and taxi drivers. Kololi Village, a little inland, is leafier and calmer, with a gallery of West African art on a sandy back street.
Come in the dry season, from November to May. Birdwatchers aim for November to March and head for the wetlands at Kotu. Day trips run to the painted fishing canoes at Tanji, to the mangroves near Lamin, to Makasutu and to James Island.
- Bijilo Forest Park Some 51 hectares of palm forest south of Senegambia, with a 4.5 km trail, four kinds of monkey and more than 133 species of bird.
- Kotu Wetlands and palm groves close to the hotels, where the birdwatching is excellent.
- Tanji A fishing beach down the coast, where the crews haul brightly painted canoes up the sand.
Arriving
Fifteen kilometres from the runway.
Banjul International at Yundum is the only commercial airport in the country, inland from the coast, about 15 km from Kololi as the crow flies.
- Dakar 35 min
- Abidjan 2 h 30
- Milan 5 h 55
- Palm Beach 9 h 00 long-range jet
- Riyadh 9 h 00 long-range jet
When to go
November to May.
Measured at Banjul, a few kilometres east. For seven months the sky stays dry and afternoons run from 32 to 35 °C. The wet season peaks in August with 380 mm, when the Atlantic is at 28 °C; in February and March it cools to 21 °C.
- 32° J 1 21°
- 34° F 1 21°
- 35° M 0 21°
- 35° A 0 22°
- 34° M 5 24°
- 33° J 71 26°
- 32° J 232 28°
- 31° A 380 28°
- 31° S 276 28°
- 32° O 88 29°
- 33° N 5 27°
- 32° D 1 24°
Where to stay
Three five-star addresses on the coast.
Shown for information. We have no arrangement with any of these hotels.
-
Coco Ocean Resort & Spa Suites, beach houses and presidential villas on Bijilo beach, some with their own pools, and a Thai kitchen among the restaurants.
- Kairaba Beach Hotel Rooms look over the ocean or the pools, and vervet monkeys and monitor lizards share its forty acres of garden.
-
Ngala Lodge An adults-only lodge of suites on the Atlantic, taking guests from the age of eighteen.
Where to dine
Two tables near the strip.
No MICHELIN Guide covers The Gambia. Saffran is the fine-dining room of Coco Ocean; Ngala Lodge’s clifftop restaurant is the best rated of the country’s top-priced tables on Tripadvisor.
- Saffran Signature restaurant, Coco Ocean Resort & Spa Moroccan, international Coco Ocean, Bijilo, about 2.5 km from Kololi
- Ngala Lodge Restaurant Rated 4.5 on Tripadvisor International, seafood $$$$ Ngala Lodge, Fajara, about 4 km from Kololi
Flying to Kololi?
Choose how you arrive.
A Business or First Class seat on a scheduled airline, or an aircraft of your own. Tell us the date and how many are travelling, and we reply with one final price, our margin included.