Jabi Boat Club – No Longer Ideal for Families

Jabi boat club (website, Instagram), which according to TripAdvisor is Abuja’s fourth most popular “thing to do” , describes itself as a “family entertainment center” offering “state of the art water based sporting facilities”. In reality, it is a really beautiful location which used to be an upmarket family location but is now more of a nightclub/bar.

The boat club is located inside the Nera Hotel and there are no signs (that I saw) so you need to know where you’re going. Once inside the Nera Hotel, there’s a nice private car park.

The boat club itself looks like more of a nightclub so I initially thought we were in the wrong place. We continued walking down the path to a swimming pool at the end but were told that the nightclub-looking building was actually the boat club.

The location itself is really nice. There’s a sandy beach of sorts leading down to the lake, which of course provides a picturesque backdrop. The main bar/restaurant is a two/storey beach-bar-style building, which gives a chilled out and friendly vibe. The wooden deco feels a little bit hippy and one can imagine that Bob Marley or Jack Johnson were once popular choices here.

However, the ambiance of the place is unfortunately spoiled (in my humble and old farty opinion) by the incessant alcohol advertising throughout. The tinny metal chairs are all provided by Budweiser, as is much of the rest of the decorations.

Most disspointingly, however, is that most of the “state of the art water based sporting facilities” are no longer working. The canoes/kayaks were apparently not a thing anymore and the two jet skis are no longer functioning. The only water activity available was the large boats for hire, for which the prices are as follows:

• 15 minutes – 25,000 naira
• 30 minutes – 45,000 naira
• 60 minutes – 90,000 naira

In summary, it seems as if the Jabi Boat Club was designed to be a great place for expats to hang out with their families but has instead turned its focus towards the young party-goers market. I certainly can’t blame them and I’d love to head down for a party, but it’s a shame it’s also not a nicer place to take the kids.