The boat chunters further out to sea. We sit on the roof and watch the flying fish that accompany us as we head out towards the reef. Patches of sandy bottom appear, and the boat halts next to a collection of buoys. As we anchor, I hold my daughter’s hand, and we leap from the rooftop into the aquamarine sea.
Laughing euphorically, we surface; all around us are fish, more than I have ever seen in my life. My daughter, apprehensive at first, fixes her mask and gazes at the world beneath the waves. Her delight is written all over her face… she is six, and this is the first time she has snorkelled a coral reef. Onboard the boat, my other kids and friends are fixing masks and leaping, jumping into the water; we spend 2 hours peering beneath the waves. Huge parrotfish, batfish, surgeonfish and angelfish dart among the corals. My kids spot Nemo and Dory. We arrive onshore, salty mermaids with enormous grins.
We are in Watamu, the palm tree-strewn, white sand beaches of Kenya’s coastline. Just an hour on a plane from Nairobi, Watamu is a place of sleeping mangroves and virgin beaches littered with ghost crabs. Dhows traverse the coastline disgorging tourists at snorkeling spots, whilst fishermen take canoes to the water to catch crayfish in the lagoon. It is a timeless place of sea and salt and shells, where the seasons don’t change. Always hot, tropical and near-deserted, this is as far from the mainstream beaches of Europe and America as you can get. This is the wild place you’ve been searching for since you read The Beach back in your youth.
Back at the house, we have turned our bodies ‘European pink’ in the sun. Suitably ridiculous looking and in considerable discomfort, we leave discussions on the benefit of suntan cream and decide to hit The Crab Shack. We pile into tuk-tuks as red as our faces and bump along dusty tracks to the lagoon, followed by hordes of giggling children.
We arrive at a mangrove boardwalk at the far end of Mida Creek. Palm trees tower over mangrove trees that dip beneath the lagoon waters. We spot hiding mudskippers, terrapins and giant crabs. It is a damp, sticky, windless world of complete languid beauty. The mangrove boardwalk takes us through the surreal forest, and whilst the boardwalk scares the kids at first, they are soon running up and down chasing tiny black crabs.
The Crab Shack teeters at the end of the boardwalk with views across the lagoon; this is the best place in Watamu for sundowners. We eat tiny crispy samosas filled with crabmeat and sip on cold beers. The sun shimmers on the water, and the sky turns red. We consider one of the 3kg crabs that they catch in the lagoon for supper, but the kids have gleefully pointed out enormous webs in the trees, which are festooned with orb spiders. The thought of walking through them in the dark feels less than appealing, so we return to the tuk-tuk and head home.
The next day, we hit Papa Remo Beach. Some of us walk the six km there from our hotel on Turtle Bay. An easy hour-and-a-half walk, it takes us across the three beaches that form Watamu. At the southern end, Turtle Bay sits next to Mida Creek and Watamu Marine Park proper. Walking north, we cross a small headline into sleepy and secretive Watamu Beach, a crescent moon of tidal beaches and big houses hidden in tropical forest.
Across another headland, we enter a ghost village at the northern end of Papa Remo Beach. The abandoned resort is painted black by time and tide; crumbling stone buildings have been taken over by Agama lizards and monkeys. Past the resort, the glittering beauty of Papa Remo Beach is revealed to us. This is the best beach in town. Sandbars snake their way between beds of shallow coral and seaweeds.
Lukewarm plunge pools lay between the sandbars. We spend hours chasing blue-spotted rays through the shallows and spying puffer fish trapped in rock pools. A fisherman takes us out to the tidal break, where we feed moray eels that are lured out of the rocks by fish on a stick. We collect shells and old sea urchin husks before collapsing in the shallow pools and lying prone beneath the azure blue sky. Time for a drink, we head to Papa Remo restaurant and order giant margaritas cocktails and incredible crispy pizza-covered baked eggplant and feta cheese. We are salted, sanded sated and utterly content. This is the way to holiday.
Watamu is a 90km stretch of white sand coastline that sits opposite Watamu Marine Park. The white sand coves are broken up by rocky headlands and protected by coral islands. One km out to sea is Watamu Marine Park protected by a reef. Inside the reef, the water is a placid playground perfect for snorkelling and kitesurfing; beyond the reef, divers can head down to 28 metres to spot sharks, manta rays, whale sharks and barracuda.
The water is alive; even a metre out to sea, you can spot rays, eels and all manner of tropical fish. Watamu Marine Park shelters Olive, Ridley and Green turtles and all along the coastline, you will see turtle nests protected by a circle of sticks. At the right time of the year, you may see them hatch and scurry down to the shore.
Where to Stay
The larger resorts are all on Turtle Bay beach. Family-friendly Turtle Bay, posh and expensive Hemmingway’s, exotic Medina Palms and mid-range Ocean Sports Village. The rest of Watamu is made up of large houses and villas. At the southern end of Watamu is Mida Creek, a lagoon that heads 12km inland. Mangrove trees line the lagoon, and further palms make up the tiny Mida Forest. Here you can find cheaper villas, blissfully peaceful but very hot during the hotter months of December to April as there is little wind.
Getting to Watamu
Local flights fly into Malindi, which is the nearest airport and fly several times a day from around 70 USD. Flying from Nairobi to Mombasa is cheaper, approx. 50 USD, but you will need to take a two-hour taxi journey.
The SGR Train travels from Nairobi to Mombasa twice a day. The morning train takes 6 hours. A local tip is to get out one stop before Mombasa at Marikani to avoid the city traffic and reduce time on both the train and in the taxi.
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