Kotu is one half of the Gambia’s main tourist centre, 17 km west of Banjul, with neighbouring Kololi making up the other half of the resort strip. The 2013 census counted 16,358 people in the settlement, part of the Kanifing local government area. What sets Kotu apart from the hotel blocks either side of it is the tidal Kotu Stream, bordered by rice paddies, mangrove wetlands and the Fajara Golf Course, which brings a working wetland right up against the beach hotels. The best window for a visit is the dry, cooler run from December through February; the weather guide has the rest of the year.
Getting oriented
Kotu’s hotels sit in a band between the coast road and the beach, with the stream and its wetlands forming the resort’s inland and southern edge before the built-up area picks up again towards Kololi and the Senegambia strip. North along the coast road, Kotu runs into Fajara and on to Bakau; there is no sharp break between the resort areas, just a change in which hotels line the beach.
Highlights
Kotu Beach
Kotu’s beach is coconut-palm-lined with good-quality sand, watched over by lifeguards who fly warning flags when the Atlantic swell picks up. It is set up for a full day on the sand, with sunbathing, horse riding and cycling on offer alongside the beachfront hotels and restaurants.
Kotu Stream and Kotu Bridge
The small bridge where the coast road crosses Kotu Stream is one of the best-known birdwatching spots in the Gambia, a gathering point for the trained local guides who lead walks into the surrounding mangroves, rice fields and scrubland. Kingfishers, herons, egrets, plovers and warblers all turn up in the stream’s wetlands, within easy walking distance of the hotel strip.
The Bendula craft market
Set out around an oval courtyard by the BB Hotel, the Bendula craft market has traded since 1975 and now holds around 42 stalls selling masks, batik clothing, jewellery, drums and other local crafts, one of the more established fixed markets on the resort strip.
Getting around
Kotu’s hotels and beach are walkable, and shared bush taxis and gelly-gellys run the coast road in both directions, north to Fajara, Bakau and Serekunda, south to Kololi and Senegambia; the transport guide has routes and fares. Banjul International Airport is a short drive away.
Where to stay by area
Kotu is itself one of the main places to stay on the coast, with a cluster of medium to large tourist-class hotels, mostly low-rise and close to the beach, built up around tour-operator package business. Staying by the stream end of the resort puts you closest to the birdwatching and the quieter northern beach; staying towards Kololi puts you nearer the busier Senegambia nightlife and restaurant strip. The where-to-stay guide covers the whole coast in full.
Day trips
Bakau and its crocodile pool are a short run up the coast road, while Serekunda, the country’s busiest market and commercial centre, sits just inland. Banjul, the small capital at the river mouth, makes an easy half-day out. The Gambia overview has the rest of the regions.