Mombasa County
HALLER PARK
Located along Mombasa-Malindi Highway, the formerly known Bamburi Nature Trail is 13.3km from Moi International Airport Mombasa.
Attractions found within the park include, various species of birds, butterfly pavilion, crocodile pen, fish farm, a 120-year-old tortoise named Mzee, game sanctuary, among others.
Activities include: nature walks, cycling, giraffe feeding, bird watching, watching hippos (Sally, Cleo and Potty).
FORT JESUS
The impressive Fort Jesus on Mombasa Island is a significant historical landmark in East Africa and a popular attraction for local and international visitors. Located approximately 9.6km from Mombasa Moi International Airport) along Nkrumah Road, Mombasa.
This place is a rich historical site not to be missed.
Attractions: Historical site, Mombasa butterfly house, passage of arches, display of Swahili culture.
Activities: watch colorful butterflies in a natural environment as they feed, sight-seeing.
OLD TOWN
Old Town is an area of Mombasa, Kenya. Situated on the south-east side of Mombasa Island, the Old Town covers an area of 72 hectares (180 acres), and is inhabited by a mix of local, Arab, Asian, Portuguese and British settlers.
MOMBASA MARINE PARK
Mombasa Marine National Park protects mangroves, seagrass beds, sandy beaches, and coral reef. Seahorses, stingrays, and eels are among the marine creatures inhabiting the reserve, and the MV Dania is a popular wreck dive here.
Activities: viewing marine life using a glass-bottom boat, snorkeling, diving, boat riding, bird watching, water skiing, fishing.
MAMBA VILLAGE
Mamba Village Centre in Nyali is East Africa’s largest crocodile farm and is located along Links Road, Nyali. Here, you can learn about the life cycle and behavior of these fascinating reptiles.
Attractions: crocodile farm, snake park, fish farm,
Activities: Holding baby crocodiles, watching crocodiles feed and fight, horse riding, eating crocodile meat
MAMA NGINA WATERFRONT
Mama Ngina drive is located next to Likoni ferry. It offers scenic view of the Indian ocean and cool temperatures away from the Mombasa Island heat.
Activities: Leisure walks, horse riding, sight-seeing
TAMARIND MOMBASA DHOW
Located approximately 12.3km from Moi International Airport, the restaurant is located along the Tudor Creek, Tamarind silos road
Attractions: seafood cuisine, clear view of the Indian Ocean and Mombasa Old Town, floating boat restaurants
Activities: enjoy various delicious cuisines, boat rides, sight-seeing, entertainment from local bands.
NGOMONGO VILLAGE
This is a famous sustainable eco-cultural tourist village in Mombasa. This area was formerly a limestone quarry that was rehabilitated into a sustainable ecosystem. The area consists of tribal villages showcasing their tribal life before civilization.
Attractions; indigenous cultural lifestyle, ostriches, themed cultural dances, boat session on the lake.
Activities; Traditional dances, visiting the little gift shop for some souvenirs, ostrich watching, boat riding.
WILD WATERS
This is Kenya’s largest water parks that boasts of having a variety of fun-filled family activities for all ages.
Kwale County
Shimba Hills National Reserve
Located 33km from Mombasa, the reserve is one of the largest coastal forests in East Africa after Arabuko-Sokoke Forest, this reserve is rich in flora and fauna and hosts the highest density of African elephant in Kenya.
Attractions: Scenic Sheldrick Falls, dense Mwaluganje forest, various viewpoints, variety of birds, such as, the red-necked spur fowl, Zanzibar red bishop, a variety of wildlife sable antelope, bushy tailed mongoose, fruit bats, etc.
Activities: Game drives, trekking, picnic, bird watching, sun downing, sight-seeing
Kaya Kinondo Forest
Kaya Kinondo, also known as Kaya Ngalaani, is a gazetted National Monument under the National Museums Act located in the south of the Kenyan coast in Msambweni District along Diani beach road. The Kaya is owned communally by the local community and is managed through a set of traditional rules and regulations (taboos) enforced by a council of elders as it used to be since time in memorial.
Attractions: The forest is rich in nature and culture, variety of indigenous plants, different types of butterflies and insects, a variety of rare, migratory and endangered bird species, endangered black and white Angolan colobus monkeys, historical sacred sites
Activities: Nature walks, bird watching, traditional dancing, photography, cycling.
Mwaluganje Elephant Sanctuary
It is located 45 km southwest of Mombasa and is adjacent to the Shimba Hills National Reserve. The sanctuary was formed in the early 1990s as a cooperative project between the people of the surrounding Mwaluganje community
Attractions: Elephants, cultural experience, Cha Shimba River Valley, ‘’God’s bridge and time rock’’,
Activities: Game drive, bird watching, nature walks
Colobus conservation
The Colobus Conservation is situated in Diani, South Coast Kenya, approximately 30 kilometers south of the Likoni Ferry (Mombasa) along the Diani beach road.
Attractions: colobus monkeys, nature trails
Activities: feeding primates, nature walks
Kisite Mpunguti Marine Park and Reserve/ Wasini Island
Located south of Wasini Island off Lunga-lunga highway, Kisite Mpunguti Marine National Park is one of the scenic marine parks in Kenya.
Dolphins frolic in the Shimoni Channel, and humpback whales swim these waters between August and October. Other marine life includes moray eels, angelfish, grouper, snappers, and green sea turtles.
Attractions: Scenic marine life, coral gardens, dolphins, coconut crabs, green sea turtles, Shimoni caves
Activities: Boat rides, sea food meals, diving, snorkeling, dolphin spotting, deep sea fishing, camping, sunbathing in the middle of the ocean.
CHALE ISLAND
Diani Chale Marine National Reserve located in Diani was gazetted as a park in 1995 with an aim to protect the coral reef. It stretches from Tiwi Estuary in the north to Chale Island in the south. This marine park offers a dazzling array of technicolored fish and spectacular coral gardens which makes it a must visit while in Diani.
Attractions: Diani-Chale marine national park and reserve, Chale beach, coral gardens,
Activities: Traditional dhow fishing trips, snorkeling, sailing, water sports such as water skiing and wind surfing, boat rides in glass-bottomed boats, scuba diving,
Kilifi County
Mtwapa La Marina
Located along Mtwapa Creek, the restaurant is one of the best within the area.
Attractions: Seafood cuisine, yatch cruise
Arabuko-Sokoke National Forest
The Arabuko-Sokoke Forest is East Africa’s largest remaining indigenous coastal forest located approximately 110km in Malindi.
Attractions: various species of birds such as the spotted ground thrush and Clarke’s weaver, butterflies, amphibians, plants and animals such as the golden-rumped elephant shrew, bushy-tailed mongoose.
Activities: Picnic, game drives, reptile viewing, bird watching, nature walk, photography
Vasco da Gama Pillar
Located on the sea front road along the beach, this historical monument dates back the 14th, century. It was built by one of the greatest Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama in 1498.
Attraction: Monument,
Activities: Sight-seeing, photography
Hell’s Kitchen
Located off the Lamu road, after the Sabaki River in the Marafa Depression, this natural landscape of eroded gulley and valleys has interesting features in it like the cathedral and towering columns. It has a centuries-old pillar tomb with porcelain bowls of the Ming dynasty.
GEDI RUINS
Located in Malindi, this historic site is not only rich in history and culture but is also enriched with a variety of flora and fauna.
Attractions: Kipepeo butterfly house, snake park, museum, wildlife such as monkeys,
Activities: Bird watching, snake viewing, dancing with the local community, nature walk, photography.
MALINDI MARINE NATIONAL RESERVE
Attractions: Marine life, sea bed and sea grass, sea turtle
Activities: Glass-bottom boat rides, viewing marine life, snorkeling, diving, wind surfing, sunbathing, beach walks, camping, water skiing.
WATAMU MARINE PARK
Located approximately 120km north of Mombasa and 28km south of Malindi, the reserve is considered one of the top world’s beaches.
Attractions: different types of corals, over 500 species of tropical fish, whale sharks, turtle, lion fish, migratory birds
Activities: Scuba diving, snorkeling, boat rides, sun bathing, bird watching.
MNARANI RUINS
Mnarani ruins is located in Kilifi District, Coast Province. It overlooks Kilifi Creek from the southern side, some 200 meters from the Mombasa-Malindi road. The ruins consisting of two mosques and a group of tombs.
Attractions: ruins of first mosque, remnants of coral reefs, museum, snake park, sultan’s pillar tomb, nature trails
Activities: Photography, nature walk, snake viewing, bird watching
LAMU
Lamu Town is a small town on Lamu Island, which in turn is a part of the Lamu Archipelago in Kenya. Situated 341km by road northeast of Mombasa.
Attractions: Lamu museum, Lamu fort, donkey sanctuary, Lamu cultural festival (usually held in the last week of August), Swahili cuisines, Riyadha mosque and Islamic center, Lamu Island,
Activities: Engage in traditional dances, boat rides, shopping, beach walks, enjoy Swahili cuisines
Kiunga Marine National Reserve
Further north, in the famous cultural county of Lamu, you can find the Kiunga Marine National Reserve which incorporates a chain of about 50 offshore islands and coral reefs in the Lamu Archipelago, running for some 60 km parallel to the coastline. The protected status of the reserve ensures the conservation of many critical ecosystems both on land and in the water.
Attractions: several islands with splendid coral reefs, seagrass beds, sandy beaches and dunes, various species of sea turtles
Taita Hills
Taita Hills Wildlife Sanctuary and Lumo community wildlife sanctuary
Occupying a corner of the lobby in the Sarova Taita Hills Game Lodge, this engaging little open-sided museum tells the story of WWI as it played out in East Africa. There are artefacts found on the nearby former battlefields (from bullets made in 1912 to glass shards from bottles of Indian hair oil), archival photos, informative and detailed panels on the course of the war and major personalities.
LUMO Community Wildlife Sanctuary is a community owned wildlife sanctuary in Kenya. It is located near Mwatate in Taita-Taveta County in the former Coast Province, approximately 220km from Mombasa. The sanctuary is formed by the Lualenyi, Mramba Communal Grazing Area, and Oza Group Ranch, hence the acronym “LUMO”.
LUMO Community Wildlife Sanctuary is adjacent to Tsavo West National Park and the Sanctuary. It hosts cape buffalo, elephant, leopard, masai lion, masai giraffe, zebra, hartebeest, impala, waterbuck, Thomson’s gazelle, lesser kudu, dik-dik, and other smaller animals, including a great diversity of birdlife
Attractions: savannah plains, a man-made reservoir and a riverine forest that follows the course of the Bura River, this unfenced wilderness has since found new life as a game reserve offering an abundance of zebra, buffalo, impala, gazelle, elephant, eland, waterbuck, reedbuck, giraffe, vervet monkey, lion, jackal and prolific birdlife. Taking this tour means that you will have the freedom to game drive within the Conservancy
Activities: Game drive, bird watching
NGANGAU FOREST
Ngangao Forest is one of the few remaining indigenous cloud forest fragments of the Taita Hills, Kenya. It is located on a rock surrounded by the villages of Makandenyi, Maghimbinyi, Mgambonyi and Kitumbi. It lies 10 km from Wundanyi and can easily be reached by road. There is even frequent public transport from Wundanyi to Makandenyi (at least 10 vehicles daily). The very basic “Ngangao forest camp” is located next to the forester’s house at the edge of forest
Attractions: various species of birds, indigenous trees, nature trails, scenic views of Kishenyi Dam and Mt Kilimanjaro, Kenyatta and Shomoto caves, Mwachora peak
Activities: nature walks, hiking, camping, sight-seeing, cave exploration, team building, photography, bird watching, lecture at Ngangao forest information center.
