Landmark Beach
Lagos's polished flagship beach resort — boardwalks, beach clubs, water sports and a skyline of restaurants right on the sand.
Landmark Beach is the poster-child of the new Lekki waterfront — a curated, family-friendly, security-tight stretch of Atlantic sand attached to the Landmark Village complex in Oniru. Where Elegushi is raucous, Landmark is manicured: raked sand, uniform blue umbrellas, a wooden boardwalk running the length of the beach, and glass-fronted restaurants stacked back from the shore. It is the closest thing Lagos has to a Miami or Dubai public beach, and it is where expats, Instagrammers and Sunday-brunch families gravitate. The whole thing is private, gated, ticketed and lifeguarded, developed by Landmark Africa alongside its event centre, hotel and office towers, and that ownership is the point: no touts working the sand, no negotiating for a chair, no motorbikes on the beach. If the reason you have avoided Lagos beaches is the hassle, this is the one to try first.
You enter through the Landmark Village gate and walk past the event centre and hotel to reach the boardwalk. Along it: Shiro Beach House for Asian small plates, Wombat for Continental brunch, Cafe Vergnano for coffee, and a run of beach clubs with day beds and cabanas. Down on the sand there is beach volleyball, jet-ski hire, banana-boat rides, camel and horse rides, and a kids' inflatable park. Toilets and changing rooms are clean and staffed. The federal government has flagged parts of the site for coastal-road demolition, but at time of writing the beach is fully operational. Layout runs in bands: restaurants and pool deck at the back, boardwalk and cabana rows in the middle, then open sand and the water-sports hut at the west end. Walk east past the last umbrella row if you want quiet — the crowd thins noticeably within two minutes.
Buy your ticket online via the Landmark Beach website or Nairabox to skip the walk-up queue. Weekend brunch (11:00-15:00) is the marquee experience — book Shiro or Wombat a week ahead. Weekday afternoons are almost empty and the best value for a quiet swim. Combine with a walk through Landmark Village's craft market or dinner at nearby Cafe Vergnano. Bring ID: security screens bags at the gate. Screening also means no outside food, no coolers and no alcohol carried in, so plan to buy everything inside. Take a screenshot of your e-ticket QR code before you leave the hotel; the mobile signal at the gate is patchy on busy Saturdays, and the staff scan from your screen rather than a printout. If you want a specific cabana number, phone ahead rather than booking online.
Getting there is a ride-share question, not a public-transport one. From the Lekki Phase 1 roundabout it is roughly 15-25 minutes by Uber or Bolt depending on Admiralty Way traffic, and about $3-6; from Ajah allow 45-70 minutes on a Friday evening. Drivers all know Landmark Village — the address is Water Corporation Drive, off Ozumba Mbadiwe Avenue in Oniru, reached from Lekki either straight through Victoria Island or over the Lekki-Ikoyi Link Bridge. Blue LBSL buses and yellow danfos running the Lekki-Epe Expressway towards CMS and Obalende cost around $1 and drop you on Ozumba Mbadiwe, leaving a 10-15 minute walk down Water Corporation Drive with no shade. If you drive, the on-site car park costs roughly $1-2 and fills by 13:00 at weekends, when cars back up on the approach road. Leave the car and take a ride-share to Gate 2.
Costs stack up fast once you are through the gate. Entry is $8 on weekdays and $10 at weekends, under-5s free with a paying adult; that buys sand, boardwalk, toilets, changing rooms and a plastic chair if one is going. A day bed starts around $15 and a cabana around $30, charged per unit for the day, not per person — split between four people the cabana is the better deal. Water sports are separate and cash-friendly: budget roughly $5-10 for a banana-boat run or a horse ride and $15-25 for a short jet-ski turn, agreed at the hut before you get on. Food is Victoria Island priced — expect $4-6 for coffee at Cafe Vergnano and $25-45 a head with drinks at Shiro or Wombat. A realistic half-day with lunch runs $35-50 per adult; skip the cabana midweek and it drops to $20.
Timing changes the place completely. Gates open at 10:00 on weekdays and 09:00 at weekends; the first two hours are the calmest and the sand is still freshly raked. Midday between 12:00 and 15:00 is punishing without an umbrella — this is equatorial sun with no cloud cover in dry season — and the best light and temperature arrive from 16:30, with sunset landing between roughly 18:45 and 19:15 all year. Saturday afternoon and Sunday brunch are the two busiest windows. Season matters more: November to March is dry and dependable, with harmattan haze softening the horizon in December and January. April to July brings heavy rain and rough, brown surf; August eases off; September and October deliver sharp afternoon showers. Christmas week, Boxing Day and New Year's Day are the most crowded days of the year. Come Tuesday to Thursday in February for the best version.
It suits families with young children better than almost any other Lagos beach — the inflatable park, the shallow supervised swimming zone, staffed changing rooms and the fact that nobody will hassle you make a four-hour visit with a five-year-old genuinely relaxing. The boardwalk is flat, wide and mostly step-free, which puts Landmark ahead of every other beach in the city for wheelchair users, though the sand itself is not crossable without help; ask staff at the gate and they will point you to the firmest access ramp. Teenagers get water sports and beach clubs. On a rainy afternoon the restaurants still work, but you are paying $8 to sit indoors — go straight to Shiro instead. Skip it entirely if you have a spare hour before an appointment, or if you came for real ocean swimming: the Atlantic undertow here is strong and lifeguards keep everyone waist-deep.
Fold the rest of Landmark Village into the same trip — the craft and fashion stalls along the boulevard take 20-30 minutes and sit a two-minute walk from the boardwalk, and the event centre often has a concert or trade fair worth a look on the way out. Five minutes' drive west is Eko Atlantic's seawall promenade, and the Eko Hotel and Federal Palace strip for a change of scene. Muri Okunola Park on Victoria Island is about 10 minutes by car for a quiet green sit-down, and Terra Kulture on Tiamiyu Savage runs plays and a Nigerian kitchen 10-15 minutes away. East, Nike Art Gallery in Lekki Phase 1 is 20-30 minutes and free to enter; the Lekki Conservation Centre canopy walkway is 30-45 minutes further out. Best pairing: gallery in the morning, beach from 16:00 for the sunset walk.
Now the honest part. The demolition threat over the coastal highway is real and the site has already lost ground on its eastern side, so check the Landmark Beach Instagram feed the day before you travel rather than trusting any guide, this one included. The $8 ticket buys entry only — people routinely arrive expecting a sunbed and find themselves standing. The ocean is scenery, not a swimming pool; after storms in May and June the waterline collects plastic that the rakes have not reached. Weekend afternoons turn into a sound clash between neighbouring beach clubs, which is fun at 17:00 and tiring at 13:00 with toddlers. And it is not a resort you can stay on: the accommodation is the hotel back in the complex, not cabins on the sand. If you want cheap, loud and local, Elegushi does that better for a fifth of the price.
Hours & entry
Mon-Fri 10:00-22:00 · Sat-Sun 9:00-23:00
What to see
{'what': 'Sunset walk along the wooden boardwalk', 'where': 'Boardwalk section between Shiro and Wombat'}
{'what': 'Weekend brunch at Shiro Beach House', 'where': 'First-floor terrace overlooking the sand'}
{'what': 'Jet-ski or banana-boat ride', 'where': 'Water-sports hut, west end of the beach'}
Tips from the ground
Book Shiro or Wombat brunch at least 5 days ahead — Sunday tables sell out
Enter through Gate 2 on weekends; Gate 1 has the longer car queue
Wednesday ladies-night deals cut cocktail prices in half at several beach bars
Questions, answered
How much does Landmark Beach cost?
$8 per person on weekdays, $10 on weekends. Cabanas from $30, day beds from $15. Those seating prices are per unit for the whole day, so a cabana split four ways beats four separate day beds. Everything else is extra: parking is roughly $1-2, a banana-boat or horse ride $5-10, a short jet-ski turn $15-25, and a full brunch with drinks $25-45 a head. Cards work in the restaurants; carry cash for the water-sports hut. Budget $35-50 per adult for a half day with lunch.
Are there free entry hours?
No free hours. Under-5s enter free with a paying adult. The gate price is the same all day, so arriving at 17:00 for a two-hour sunset walk costs exactly what a full afternoon costs — which is why short visits are poor value here. Holiday weekends and ticketed concerts on the sand can push entry above the standard $10, and on those days online purchase is effectively compulsory. If you want a genuinely free Lagos waterfront walk instead, the Eko Atlantic seawall is five minutes away by car.
How long should I plan?
Half a day — 4-5 hours covers a swim, brunch and a boardwalk stroll. A tighter three hours works if you skip the sit-down meal and just take coffee at Cafe Vergnano. Add an hour for water sports, since the hut queues at weekends and each ride runs only 10-15 minutes. Arriving at 15:00 and leaving after sunset around 19:00 is the most efficient single block. Anything under 90 minutes is not worth the gate fee, the bag screening and the walk in from the car park.
When is it closed?
Open every day. Closes 22:00 weekdays, 23:00 weekends. Water sports stop at sunset, which falls between roughly 18:45 and 19:15 year-round in Lagos, so ride the jet ski before 18:00. Restaurant kitchens wind down before the gates do — order by 21:00 on a weekday. The beach stays open through public holidays and is at its most crowded on Boxing Day, New Year's Day and Easter Monday. Heavy storm surf in June and July can close the swimming zone while the boardwalk and restaurants keep trading.
Do I need to book?
Buy entry online to skip queues. Restaurants require reservations on weekends. Use the Landmark Beach website or Nairabox, and screenshot the QR code before you set off — signal at the gate is unreliable on busy Saturdays. Shiro Beach House and Wombat both sell out their Sunday brunch service, so book at least five days ahead and a week ahead in December. Cabanas can be reserved by phone if you want a specific spot near the water. Midweek in the rainy season you can simply walk up and pay at Gate 2.
What is the nearest stop?
Oniru Estate, 1 km inland. Ride-share to Landmark Village main gate, Water Corporation Road. Blue LBSL buses and yellow danfos on the CMS and Obalende routes run along Ozumba Mbadiwe Avenue for about $1, leaving a 10-15 minute unshaded walk down Water Corporation Drive. From Lekki Phase 1 roundabout an Uber or Bolt takes 15-25 minutes and costs $3-6; from Ajah allow 45-70 minutes. On weekends aim for Gate 2, as the Gate 1 car queue can add 20 minutes on its own.
Doing good is the business: every booking through Stay Lekki funds one verified tonne of carbon removal — same room, same price, no markup.
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