WATAMU KENYA

On the Indian Ocean coast of Kenya, lies, Watamu, a small town and a hand full of lovely Watamu Hotels lying on a headland sandwiched between the Watamu Bay and the Blue Lagoon. Watamu is one of the few hidden gems in Kenya.

Watamu’s shoreline features offshore coral formations and white sand beaches arranged in various different bays and beaches. Here you can visit beaches such as the Garoda Beach, Blue Lagoon Bay, Turtle Bay, Watamu Bay, Kanani Reef, Ocean Breeze, and Jacaranda Beach. All these are protected as part of the Watamu Kenya Marine National Park, which is considered as one of the best diving and snorkeling areas on the East Coast of Africa.

Due to its silver sand beaches and crystal clear water, it is rated the third best beach in Africa and has some of the best beach resorts and hotels in Kenya.

Adapted from the Swahili language “tamu” meaning sweet and “wa” to mean, the name Watamu means “sweet people”. This depicts that while you are here you’ll meet sweet people in terms of services and help in case you get lost. The Watamu residents are generally friendly and ready to help under all situations.

Watamu Hotels and Resorts

Watamu is a tourist town and there are many Watamu hotels that provide accommodation that cuts across all budgets.

There are however few Watamu Hotels that are open all year round that guaranteed awesome service.

When traveling with children to a Watamu Hotel and in need of an all-inclusive resort in Watamu, Turtle Bay Beach Club Watamu is a great Family resort to consider. Turtle Bay Beach Club Watamu has a very vibrant Kids Club that has kept many parents begging their children to check out when the Watamu holiday is over.

If you are looking for a nice high-end luxury Watamu hotel, Lonno Lodge Watamu and Medina Palm are good places to consider for a quiet getaway. There are other smaller Watamu hotels for intimate getaways but few will watch the service provided by these two Watamu hotels.

Other good Watamu hotels to consider are;

• Seven Islands Resort Watamu
• Hemingways Resort Watamu
• Blue Bay Cove – Watamu
• Temple Point Resort Watamu
• Garoda Resort Watamu,

Watamu is a great destination for weddings and private parties.  Medina Palms stands out as one of the popular hotels for celebrity and high-end wedding functions.

Things to do in Watamu

While in a Watamu hotel you can visit the Mida Creek Reserve, the Bio-Ken Snake Farm, have nature walks and have an interesting turtle watch. Watamu has a number of resident expert guides who will be able to name many of the fish and corals encountered during your snorkeling.

The most spectacular area for goggling is around the Coral Gardens, where species of Surgeonfish, Snappers, Parrotfish, Angelfish, Pufferfish, Butterflyfish, Triggerfish and many, many others offer an unbelievable display of variety and color. Several types for Ray and occasionally young (and harmless!) Sharks can also be seen. As well as the main Coral Gardens there are countless other interesting places to snorkel in the park, especially for the confident and intrepid snorkeler!

There are many operators of glass-bottomed boats to take you goggling, usually to the Coral Gardens. This can be organized while in any Watamu hotels. For confident swimmers, goggling can be undertaken directly from the beach, but beware of tidal currents, especially near the entrance to Mida Creek.

Getting to Watamu Hotels.

There are no direct flights to Watamu. However, there are daily scheduled flights to Malindi which is a 20 min drive to Watamu.   Most of the flights going to Malindi depart from Wilson Airport and Jomo Kenyatta International AirportKenya. The following flights take off from Wilson Airport; FlySAX, AirKenya, and Safarilink while JamboJet and Fly540 take off from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.

For international and local clients going to a Watamu hotel, one can land at Moi International Airport Mombasa and a shuttle transfer can be organized to the hotel. Daily Luxury bus service is available from Nairobi Kenya to Watamu hotels.