A Saturday at Tarkwa Bay Beach, Lagos.

Last Saturday, a friend of mine decided to have a get-together for her fiancée at Tarkwa Bay Beach. As soon as the location was decided, the next step was letting those on the guest list know the details; Date, time, and venue. (some pictures below)

She had asked me for some details about Tarkwa Bay. But, I hadn’t been there in a while, so, the best I could do was give her a general idea of how to get there, how much the boat ride (using Fiki Marina) would cost, and what to kind of expect.

Except for the first two, it was interesting to learn that quite a bit had ‘changed’ since my last visit there. Thus, this particular story.

I don’t like to go to the public beaches in Lagos for a number of reasons. Such as, they don’t maintain the beach fronts, you can never be sure of the kind of crowd you’d meet there, and people still act culturally shocked when they see girls in bikinis in public and such, and I’m never in the mood for such criticism or objectification.

So, usually, my friends and I have to plan a fun beach day at places like La Campagne Tropicana, or settle for a fully clothed nice evening at a bar or restaurant with a waterfront and no serious waves. Hard Rock Cafe, Lagoon, Radisson Blu, Sailors, Moist come to mind (I actually have a blog to write about bars and clubs in Lagos, meanwhile)

However, I do like the beach. Before now, a friend of mine had access to a nice beach house in a secluded part of the city almost an hour out. After they moved, I usually wait until I travel to have a full beach experience. 

But, since I can’t always be waiting to go to the beach once/twice a year (when I’m lucky), sometimes, I’ve had to consider beaches like Tarkwa Bay which I feel still have an appeal to them.

And since our visit last weekend was met with some unexpected developments, in addition to the known boat fare, I thought I’d share some of the details and tips you may need if you’re also considering going to Tarkwa Bay Beach as well anytime soon.

• Firstly, you need to get a boat there. Now, I only know of ports in Victoria Island, such as Fiki Marina and the guys that carry you on their speedboats. But I hear you can access it from Apapa as well. If I get more details, I’ll update you.
• The boat ride with Fiki costs N4000 per adult. It may be a different price for kids, but you’d need to confirm. Their number is online. Otherwise, you can travel with them speed boat guys. Don’t know much about them though.
• Then, when you arrive at the beach, you no longer just walk in and then deal with the guys trying to rent you their tents. You pay a fee of N200 per head to enter.
• After this, it’s time to deal with the guys with the tents. They charge a 2000 naira (or more, depending) fee for the tent, N300 for each lounge chair within, and N500 for each table. Now, imagine our horror, seeing as there were 11 of us. This beach day was costing more than initially bargained for at each point!

Ordinarily, at this point, I would suggest just taking your own blankets, food, drinks, and sunscreen and set up on the sands if there are only a couple of you and you don’t mind.

But, if you would prefer a tent – and they may be the better choice – then make sure you have your haggle game on point. Like, we even had to go, “We don’t want seats, thanks.” But, we needed some, obviously.

• One of the guys at the beach said Sundays are a more fun day to go to Takwa Bay Beach. I don’t know. Just in case you needed that too.
• You can go horse riding and participate in some other activities on the beach.
• Also, consider the season in which you’re choosing to go to the beach. It’s mostly fun and sun out here, but it’s rainy season in September, for instance. We were lucky to not have that stop our day at the beach.

Lastly, of course, make sure you arrange your mode of transport back before you leave your takeoff point. Except you made plans to spend the night.  But, I guess, even then.

So, let me know if you go.

Signing off with these pictures of our beach time, meanwhile! More on Instagram.