Kenya Marine Tour destinations offer different Kenya safari tour experiences compared to the Savannas. Kenya borders the Indian Ocean to the East and has a 1,420-kilometer coastline. It is along this and the Indian Ocean where you find Kenya Marine Tour destinations.
Kenya is a tourism giant and its wildlife diversity and unique tour destinations make it exceptional. The country having marine protected areas makes it among the safari tour favorites for many. This is because there are few safari destinations with such organized and protected marine wildlife areas. Let us briefly look at the major Kenya Marine Tour destinations you must visit while in Kenya.
Watamu Marine Park & Reserve
Watamu Marine Park is located north of Mombasa Kenya’s largest city. The marine park is also a reserve and it is a renowned haven for the green turtle. Watamu has several unique coral gardens that are home to many sea wildlife species.
Dolphins are the major large sea mammals you can spot on a visit here. The park also offers an opportunity to catch up with the whale sharks and Killer whales migration that does not occur in any other Kenya Marine protected area.
You can engage in several Marine tour activities while here including dolphin watching, Snorkeling, Kayaking, and snorkeling. The Mida Creek is another unique attraction at Watamu. It is a natural water inlet surrounded by tall mangrove trees of over 30 meters. This acts as a breeding ground for fish, crabs, and other species. It is also home to several birds you can have Kenya birding excursions here.
There are new Kenya coast safari adventures that you can engage in while at Watamu. They include dining in the Mida Creek, cultural visits to the Watha tribe, and a visit to the slave caves of Kadaina Island. Such attractions and experiences make Watamu a must-visit of all Kenya Marine Tour destinations.
Kisite Mpunguti Marine Park
Kisite Mpunguti Marine Park is among the most visited Kenya Marine Tour destinations. It is located on the South Kenyan coast and protests some of Kenya’s impressive islands. The reserve is diverse, unlike other Kenya Marine tour destinations.
It is home to over 64 coral genera, 12 seagrass species, 10 mangrove species evenly distributed along its four arid coral islands. All these are home to the countless marine species in the Marine Park. Kisite Island has an exposed sand bar that is ideal for snorkeling. Mpuguuti Island on the other hand is unique for its high coconut crabs population. It has many nesting sites for the African fish eagles an impressive bird species.
Large sea animal species you can spot here include Hawksbill sea turtles, green sea turtles, dolphins, and humpback whales. The humpback whales are however seasonal and can only be seen when it is their migratory season between the Antarctic and Indian Ocean. All these are easily seen feeding along the mangrove vegetation.
Kisite Mpunguti Marine Park is also a birders’ haven with over 450 bird species. The endangered Coconut crab and the hermit crabs are also other marine species at the marine park. For a better representation of Kenya’s Marine wildlife experiences, we recommended Kenya marine tours to Kisite Mpuguuti.
Kiunga Marine National Reserve
Kiunga Marine National Reserve is located in Lamu and offers some of the best underwater Kenya Tour experiences. It covers a land area of 270 kilometers and is among the largest Kenya Marine tour destinations. Kiunga protects a beautiful marine ecosystem that also comprises 50 calcareous offshore islands and coral reefs.
The Kiunga marine ecosystem is diverse with not just coral reefs but also sea grass, and mangrove forests. All these are home to the major marine wildlife species including dugongs, dolphins, whales, and sea turtles.
On a visit to Kiunga Marine, you engage in water sports activities including windsurfing, snorkeling, and waterskiing. The reserve also has beautiful white sand beaches where you just relax and sunbathe. Kiunga Marine Reserve is the most unique Kenya Marine tour destination because of the rare dugongs and tall mangrove vegetation.
Malindi Marine Park
Malindi Marine Park is Africa’s oldest Marine park. It is located north of Mombasa and is most famous for its impressive zebrafish species. Malindi is a designated Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO because of its marine wildlife diversity and significance. The marine park has a rich colonial coastal history with figures like Vacso-Da-Gama.
Kenya marine tours to Malindi feature a visit to the Vasco-Da-Gama pillar, glass bottom boat rides, bird watching, or a swim in the ocean. Malindi Marine Park also has provisions for marine and macro photography. This focuses on those interested in capturing moments and following the life of marine wildlife.
Some of the unique marine species exclusive to Malindi include Rays (Batoidea), reef sharks, sea turtles, and large schools of Barracuda among others. Malindi is the best Marine Kenya tour destination for marine Wildlife specials thereby offering exclusive Marine tour experiences.
Mombasa Marine National Park
Mombasa Marine National Park is Mombasa’s leading tour destination. The marine park is strategically between two creeks, the Tudor and Mtwapa creeks thereby making it a natural harbor for several wildlife. Mombasa Marine Park is one of the best places to see several fish species including the star and stone fish. Crabs, turtles, and cucumbers sea urchins are also present here.
Other unique features at Mombasa Marine Park include a lagoon and a fringing reef of Bamburi-Nyali. Mombasa Marine Park has warm tropical temperatures throughout the year making it the ultimate Kenya Marine Tour destination.
The large marine wildlife species you can experience here include sharks, Rays, turtles, and starfish. Away from these Mombasa is a historical Kenya coastal city with Fort Jesus as the leading historical attraction. The Mombasa area is also ideal for destination weddings and just relaxing at the beaches. All these Kenya marine tour destinations are incredible and can be visited exclusively. Kenya Marine tours are ideal for those with limited time just like Rwanda Day trips from Kigali.
In case you have more time you can combine a visit to two or more for a diverse Kenya coastal safari. The ideal Kenya safari tour combines a savanna experience to Masai Mara or northern Kenya with a coastal experience.
English
Afrikaans
Albanian
Amharic
Arabic
Armenian
Azerbaijani
Basque
Belarusian
Bengali
Bosnian
Bulgarian
Catalan
Cebuano
Chichewa
Chinese (Simplified)
Chinese (Traditional)
Corsican
Croatian
Czech
Danish
Dutch
Esperanto
Estonian
Filipino
Finnish
French
Frisian
Galician
Georgian
German
Greek
Gujarati
Haitian Creole
Hausa
Hawaiian
Hebrew
Hindi
Hmong
Hungarian
Icelandic
Igbo
Indonesian
Irish
Italian
Japanese
Javanese
Kannada
Kazakh
Khmer
Korean
Kurdish (Kurmanji)
Kyrgyz
Lao
Latin
Latvian
Lithuanian
Luxembourgish
Macedonian
Malagasy
Malay
Malayalam
Maltese
Maori
Marathi
Mongolian
Myanmar (Burmese)
Nepali
Norwegian
Pashto
Persian
Polish
Portuguese
Punjabi
Romanian
Russian
Samoan
Scottish Gaelic
Serbian
Sesotho
Shona
Sindhi
Sinhala
Slovak
Slovenian
Somali
Spanish
Sudanese
Swahili
Swedish
Tajik
Tamil
Telugu
Thai
Turkish
Ukrainian
Urdu
Uzbek
Vietnamese
Welsh
Xhosa
Yiddish
Yoruba
Zulu