Watamu & Surrounds Trips & Tours

Dazzling beaches, a world-class marine park and a dose of history – welcome to Watamu.

Little, laid back and gloriously low key, Watamu is a slice of unadulterated tranquillity on Kenya’s Indian Ocean coast. This isn’t the place to come if you’re looking for the razzmatazz of glittery hotels and cocktail bars – you’re more likely to find old men playing games of bao and untethered donkeys trotting down the village streets than people sipping piña coladas. But the beach is blindingly white and beautiful, and the Watamu Marine National Park offers sublime diving and snorkelling among pristine coral and multi-coloured fish straight out of Finding Nemo. Don’t miss seeing the Gedi Ruins, a mysteriously abandoned Swahili city, or Mida Creek, a tangle of mangroves and tidal wetlands with a profusion of feathered wildlife.

Things to do

What to do in Watamu

Located north along the coast from Mombassa, the blinding-white beaches of Watamu sit within a world-class marine park, where coral reefs provide a home for 500 species of tropical fish, sea turtles and other creatures of the deep. Naturally, snorkelling and diving is at the top of the list, with scenes below the surface rivalling those above. Head further out by boat for a day of deep sea fishing, where you could hook a marlin or sailfish between November and April. There are watersports aplenty including kite and board surfing, stand-up paddleboarding and scenic sails - and you can’t get better than being on a dhow at sunset. Explore the tangled mangroves and tidal wetlands in a kayak, your eyes peeled for birdlife, or head inland to the fascinating Gedi Ruins - no one has ever figured out why they were abandoned.

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