Watamu and Malindi

Overview

Watamu sits on a stretch of coast where the reef comes close inshore and breaks the sea into three shallow, turquoise bays that are calm enough to swim at almost any tide. Watamu Marine National Park, gazetted in 1968, was one of the first in Africa, and the coral gardens, turtle nesting beaches and the Mida Creek mangrove system behind the village make this the most rewarding piece of coast in Kenya for anyone who cares about what is in the water. Local Ocean Conservation runs a well-regarded turtle rehabilitation centre in the village. Inland, Arabuko-Sokoke is the largest surviving coastal forest in East Africa and holds six globally threatened bird species, and the Gede ruins - a Swahili town of coral-stone houses, mosques and a palace, abandoned in the seventeenth century and swallowed by forest - are one of the most atmospheric historic sites on the coast. Malindi, 20 minutes north, is a bigger, older resort town with a strong Italian presence and its own marine park.