How to travel from Voi to Mombasa

There are 4 key ways in which you can travel from Voi to Mombasa: by boarding a bus, by boarding a matatu, by boarding the SGR train or by driving yourself.

If you wish to travel from Voi to Mombasa by bus, all you need to do is present yourself at the Voi bus station and wait for a bus that is headed to Mombasa. You can usually buy a ticket from a conductor right at the bus’ door, and proceed to board straightaway. Or the bus operators may allow you to board and then pay later as the journey progresses. Major companies like Coast Bus, Chania Genesis, Chania Cool, Chania Executive, Simba and Mombasa Raha have booking offices at the Voi bus station where you can buy a ticket and then wait for the bus to arrive. Personally, I prefer booking myself onto a bus that is already at the station and boarding straightaway, rather than booking myself onto a bus I can’t see and then ending up waiting for hours for the bus to arrive.

Instead of going to the Voi bus station, you can try to stop a bus that is headed to Mombasa at the Voi Caltex stage. You see, some of the buses don’t divert into Voi town – they go express, and the only way to get yourself onto such a bus would be by boarding at the Voi Caltex stage.

The procedure for boarding a matatu from Voi to Mombasa is the same: you go to the Voi bus station, board the matatu, and the pay the requisite fare for the journey. The problem with the matatus is the fact that they tend to stop at all (or almost all) towns along the way and you could therefore end up spending too much time on the way. Like if you have a matatu stopping at Ndara, at Maungu, at Msharinyi, at Manyatta, at Makina, at Meli Kubwa, at Taru, at Samburu, at Maji ya Chumvi, at Mariakani, at Uwanja wa Ndege, at Mazeras, at Bonje, at Miritini, at Jomvu, at Mikindani (Kibaoni), at Bangala, at Changamwe roundabout, at Shimanzi, at Makande, at Makupa, at Saba Saba and finally at Mwembe Tayari… that would surely take too much time. I personally only take the matatus if I am traveling a short distance from Voi: like say, when I am traveling from Voi to Maungu or Voi to Msharinyi, Voi to Makina… and so on. But if I am traveling straight from Voi to Mombasa, I prefer the buses.

You may also go to the Voi Caltex stage and try to stop a truck if you don’t mind such means. You may save money by traveling from Voi to Mombasa, but it is a rather inconvenient way to travel.In any event, most truck drivers are not very keen on taking passengers, and you could end up waiting for 2 hours before you can get a truck that is willing to take a passenger. And even then, the truck may not take you to Mombasa island itself, but end up dropping you at Miritini, Magongo... and so on.

To travel from Voi to Mombasa by SGR, you only need to book yourself on the SGR, then on the day of travel go to the Voi SGR station in good time, board the train and wait to be delivered to Voi. The only SGR train that can move you from Voi to Mombasa is the inter-county SGR train which passes through Voi at around 12 in the afternoon.

To drive yourself from Voi to Mombasa, a distance of about 120-130 kilometers, you only need to ensure that you are well rested, that your car is well serviced and that you have enough fuel.