Olkaria Geothermal Spa

The Olkaria Geothermal Spa is a large open air hot pool at the western end of Hell’s Gate National Park, run by KenGen, the power company. It is worth being plain about what it is: this is not a natural hot spring. It is the outflow of a working power station, brine piped from geothermal wells, cooled through a series of ponds until the last one is warm enough to swim in.

Where the Water Comes From

The Olkaria field is one of the most developed geothermal resources in Africa and the stations built there since the first units were commissioned in the early 1980s account for the bulk of KenGen’s geothermal generation. Wells bring up a mixture of steam and hot saline water. The steam drives the turbines. The hot brine has to go somewhere.

The spa is where some of it goes. KenGen describes a set of cascading lagoons fed by lagged pipes from wells across the Olkaria field. The first pond receives the brine at a temperature well above anything a person could enter, around 90 degrees Celsius on the company’s own account, and it is a receiving pond rather than a bathing one. The water cools as it moves through the second pond and into the third and largest, which is the one visitors use and which KenGen describes as holding several hundred people.

The water is mineral rich because of where it has been, carrying silica and other dissolved solids picked up underground, and it has the faint sulphurous smell that goes with that. Whether a mineral soak does anything for the skin is a claim the operator makes and this page does not assess. What is not in doubt is that a large warm pool at the end of a dusty day on a bicycle is a very good idea.

This is an industrial water supply, managed by engineers rather than emerging from a rock. The pool is fed and drained continuously, and the temperature of what is arriving upstream of it is lethal. Stay in the designated pool and out of the ponds above it.

What a Visit Is Like

The setting does a lot of the work. The pool sits among volcanic hills with steam rising from the ground in several directions and the park’s cliffs behind, and at the end of the afternoon it is one of the more unusual places in Kenya to be sitting in warm water. There are changing facilities, saunas and somewhere to eat, and the site covers several hectares.

Reactions divide sharply and it is worth knowing why before going. Visitors arriving expecting a natural thermal pool in wilderness find pipework, a concrete edge and industrial traffic on the roads nearby, and some are disappointed. Visitors who arrive understanding that they are swimming in a power station’s warm water usually enjoy it a great deal. The same split runs through the western end of the park generally, where the geothermal development is visible from everywhere.

Practicalities: swimwear and a towel, since neither is a given; something for the feet, because the surrounds are hot underfoot in the middle of the day; and a plan for the drive out, as the spa is at the far end of the park from the main gate.

Getting There, Hours and Charges

The spa is inside the park boundary at the Olkaria end, reached through the Ol Karia gate at the western side or by driving across the park from Elsa Gate. Most visitors do the second, arriving after the classic ride out to the gorge, and the park’s road hours govern the day: gates run from 6am to 6pm.

Two charges apply and they are separate. Kenya Wildlife Service park entry is paid at the gate as normal and Hell’s Gate sits in the scenic parks band of the conservation fee schedule, set out on the Hell’s Gate National Park page. The spa then charges its own admission, which is KenGen’s and is not on the Kenya Wildlife Service schedule.

KenGen’s dedicated spa website was not reachable when this page was checked on 21 September 2026, and the company’s own site links to it rather than publishing rates elsewhere, so no admission figure is given here. The figures circulating on travel pages are of uncertain vintage and do not agree. Confirm the current charge and the current opening hours with KenGen before making the spa the reason for the drive, and be prepared for it to be closed for maintenance, which has happened before.

The natural order of a day is Fischer’s Tower and the ride in, then the gorge, then the spa, then out before the gates close. Beds are on the Lake Naivasha shore twenty minutes away.

Questions Visitors Ask About the Olkaria Geothermal Spa

Is it a natural hot spring?

No. It is fed with hot brine piped from geothermal wells in the Olkaria field and cooled through a series of ponds before it reaches the pool people swim in. It is the visitor facing end of a power station’s water, which is what makes it interesting rather than what makes it less so.

How hot is the water?

The pool used for swimming is bath warm. The receiving pond above it takes brine at around 90 degrees Celsius on KenGen’s own description and is not for entering. Only the lowest and largest pool is for bathing.

Is the spa inside Hell’s Gate National Park?

Yes, at the western end near the Ol Karia gate. That means Kenya Wildlife Service park entry applies in addition to the spa’s own charge, and the park’s gate hours govern when the drive across is possible.

What does it cost?

KenGen sets the charge and it is separate from park entry. The company’s dedicated spa website was unreachable when this page was checked, and the figures on travel pages disagree, so the amount should be confirmed with KenGen directly.

What should be brought?

Swimwear, a towel, footwear for hot ground and drinking water. There are changing facilities and somewhere to eat on site, but arriving equipped is simpler than arriving hopeful.

Is it worth the drive across the park?

At the end of a day cycling and walking the gorge, for most people yes. As a destination in its own right from Nairobi, probably not, because the appeal is the contrast with a dusty day rather than the pool by itself.

2 Places to Visit in This Area

Other sites in Hell’s Gate National Park, each with its own guide.

Fischer's Tower Hell's Gate Gorge

Safaris That Visit Hell's Gate National Park

Every safari listed here that visits Hell's Gate National Park. Each is sold and run by an independent tour company. This site lists them and passes on enquiries; it takes no booking and charges you nothing.

Walking Safaris