Africa · Kenya
Watamu & Malindi
Half a century of protection on one of Africa's oldest marine reserves
Photo: phil from uk · CC BY 2.0
Watamu Marine National Park was gazetted in 1968, among the oldest marine reserves in Africa, and half a century of protection shows in the fish density on its coral gardens. Diving is shallow and easy inside the lagoon, with a canyon system and coral bommies just beyond the reef edge. Whale sharks pass through between November and February, humpbacks migrate north in the southern winter, and Mida Creek's mangroves back the whole system with nursery habitat.
About diving in Watamu & Malindi
The centres here sit on the beach, and the day is shaped by the tide over the reef flat: boats are pushed off the sand, run out through a gap in the fringing reef and are usually back within a couple of hours. Sites are close enough that a two-tank morning is standard, which leaves the afternoon for Mida Creek, the Arabuko-Sokoke forest inland or a second short dive. A few shallow entries can be made straight off the beach, so diving fits around a family holiday rather than dictating it.
The ground underwater comes in three levels. Inside the lagoon there is sand, seagrass and scattered coral heads in a few metres of water, forgiving enough that courses are run there. The reef edge is a shelf of old boulder corals whose resident fish barely shift off them. Past the edge the bottom breaks up and steps down, and that is where the deeper sites and what current there is are found. North of Watamu the Sabaki River empties just above Malindi, and its silt can leave that end of the coast far murkier after heavy rain.
Warm, shallow water and light current make this a sensible place to learn, to come back to diving after years away, or to dive with children old enough for a junior certification. The trade-off is a hard-stopped season: the south-easterly kusi and the long rains put the boats away from April to June, and schedules only firm up again through July and August. For divers who like small animals, the night dives on the shallow coral heads are the thing to plan around.
Best time to dive Watamu & Malindi
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Prime | Prime | Good | Off-season | Off-season | Off-season | Fair | Good | Good | Good | Prime | Prime |
| Sea surface | 27°C81°F | 28°C82°F | 29°C84°F | 29°C84°F | 28°C82°F | 27°C81°F | 26°C79°F | 26°C79°F | 26°C79°F | 27°C81°F | 28°C82°F | 28°C82°F |
| Daytime high | 32°C90°F | 33°C91°F | 33°C91°F | 32°C90°F | 30°C86°F | 29°C84°F | 28°C82°F | 28°C82°F | 29°C84°F | 31°C88°F | 31°C88°F | 32°C90°F |
| Rain | 20 mm0.8 in | 20 mm0.8 in | 56 mm2.2 in | 132 mm5.2 in | 234 mm9.2 in | 75 mm3.0 in | 43 mm1.7 in | 29 mm1.1 in | 52 mm2.0 in | 94 mm3.7 in | 141 mm5.6 in | 87 mm3.4 in |
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime | Prime | Good | Off-season | Off-season | Off-season |
| Sea surface | |||||
| 27°C81°F | 28°C82°F | 29°C84°F | 29°C84°F | 28°C82°F | 27°C81°F |
| Daytime high | |||||
| 32°C90°F | 33°C91°F | 33°C91°F | 32°C90°F | 30°C86°F | 29°C84°F |
| Rain | |||||
| 20 mm0.8 in | 20 mm0.8 in | 56 mm2.2 in | 132 mm5.2 in | 234 mm9.2 in | 75 mm3.0 in |
| Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Good | Good | Good | Prime | Prime |
| Sea surface | |||||
| 26°C79°F | 26°C79°F | 26°C79°F | 27°C81°F | 28°C82°F | 28°C82°F |
| Daytime high | |||||
| 28°C82°F | 28°C82°F | 29°C84°F | 31°C88°F | 31°C88°F | 32°C90°F |
| Rain | |||||
| 43 mm1.7 in | 29 mm1.1 in | 52 mm2.0 in | 94 mm3.7 in | 141 mm5.6 in | 87 mm3.4 in |
2011–2025 averages. Sea surface: NOAA Coral Reef Watch, measured at the surface, so deeper water can run colder. Daytime high and rain: NASA POWER.
Oct–Mar is the season, with whale sharks Nov–Feb; the kusi monsoon and long rains shut most centres from April to June.
Best months: January, February, November, December
Watamu water temperature and weather by month
The sea surface runs from 26 °C (79 °F) in August to 29 °C (84 °F) in April. Most rain falls from April and May, peaking at about 230 mm (9.1 in) in May; January and February are the driest. Daytime highs reach 33 °C (91 °F) in March and drop to 28 °C (82 °F) in July. The coldest water here is about 25 °C (77 °F), so pack a 3 mm full suit.
Dive types & marine life
Green turtles are the constant, grazing the seagrass margins and tucked under coral heads, with grouper, morays, eagle rays over the sand and dense shoals of small reef fish. Whale sharks pass Nov-Feb, and humpbacks move through offshore roughly July to September, as the boats are getting going again after the closed months. Night dives turn up octopus, cuttlefish and nudibranchs.
- Reef
- Coral garden
- Drift
- Muck & macro
- Night
- Sea turtles
- Whale sharks
- Whales
- Reef sharks
- Groupers
- Reef fish swarms
- Nudibranchs
- Octopus & cuttlefish
- Eagle rays
Best dive sites in Watamu & Malindi
Reef
Black coral and metre-wide basket sponges at 30 to 40 m
Reef
A massive brain coral formation at 15-18 m beside the buoy line
Reef
A grotto of juvenile fish with a resident large moray
Wall
A drop-off named for the dolphins that buoyed it
Reef
A flower-like anemone full of shrimps and pipefish
Wreck
Glassfish and sweepers over a sponge-crusted trawler
Reef
A reef dropping from 10 m to 27 m, with nudibranchs in a range of colours
Reef
Octopus on the northern reef, where turtles are very common
Reef
A wide variety of lionfish and leaf fish on mixed coral
Coral garden
A brain coral and a rare red anemone at 12 to 20 m
Wall
A sandy channel between two reef walls, with an arch full of glassfish
Reef
Watamu's inner reef at 8-10 m, with green and hawksbill turtles
Whale Island
Rock islet at the mouth of Mida Creek with strong tidal drift.
How to get to Watamu & Malindi
Most people fly into Moi International at Mombasa and drive up the coast, or take a domestic flight into Malindi. Watamu and Malindi are the two bases, about half an hour apart, both with centres on the sand. Boats launch off the beach and the sites are close in; a few shallow reefs can also be reached from shore, and marine park fees are charged on top of the dive.
Photos from Watamu & Malindi
Jenny Kellett · CC BY-SA 4.0
Jenny Kellett · CC BY-SA 4.0
Dive videos
Scuba Diving Watamu | Turtle Bay | Kenya · Shazaad Kasmani on YouTube
Scuba Diving in Watamu - Kenya · King's Africa on YouTube
Photo credits
- Waves crash against a rocky headland near Watamu as small fishing boats ride the swell offshore by phil from uk, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Shallow turquoise lagoon at Watamu with rocky islets and a traditional dhow at anchor by Jenny Kellett, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Crescent of white sand beach and turquoise water at Watamu backed by palm trees and coral outcrops by Jenny Kellett, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
In The Logbook
- Nudibranchs: species, habits and where to diveMacro & muck · 13 min read
- Where to dive with sea turtlesBig animals · 15 min read
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